Nate Dohm aiming for junior season jump in efficiency

Last season, then-sophomore pitcher Nate Dohm served as a bright spot in what was an otherwise disappointing year on the mound for Mississippi State.

Dohm posted a 6-4 record last season on a 4.07 ERA. He did his best work out of the backside of the bullpen, but did draw two starts throughout the season. With the injuries that the roster suffered, Dohm was shuffled around often and never was truly given time to settle into a role.

Now, with everyone back healthy and plenty of new and old arms lying in wait with him, all signs point towards Dohm being one of the key closing pitchers for Mississippi State in 2024.

“(This whole winter) I’ve just been trying to get better every single day,” said Dohm in a recent media availability. “The roles, they’ll take care of themselves. The coaches will make their decisions, and I’ll let that decision be their decision. For me it’s just about going out and getting better every single day.”

First year pitching coach at Mississippi State, Josh Parker, has worked with Dohm closely as well. Under the previous coach, injuries mounted up, and mechanics sometimes took a back seat to result-driven play. That philosophy is no more, according to Dohm.

“(Parker) sees little things that you may not feel when you’re throwing,” said Dohm. “He kind of helps you slow yourself down, realize you’ve got to make an adjustment somewhere, and then he kind of shows you how to do that, which is a big thing for me, being able to see that and then kind of feeling what he shows me helps me get better.”

That adjustment process wasn’t easy for Dohm, though. He went on to note that during fall ball, his body was naturally resistant to the more finer details of Parker’s mechanics coaching. That was a battle for Dohm, as it would be any pitcher who’s thrown their whole competitive careers the same way and been good enough to reach this level.

“Now, I’ve never felt this good on the mound,” said Dohm. “I’ve never felt so smooth. The ability to move smooth down the mound, I think that will translate to maybe (more) velocity, but for me, I’m just really focussed this year on command of not just the fastball, but also the off speed. That will be the big piece for me this year.”

Dohm made sure to mention that he feels the biggest improvements he made this off-season was in his off speed delivery. The Zionsville, Indiana, native said that he felt as though he struggled at times last season when called upon to deliver breaking ball accuracy, and that he believes with this newfound comfort on the bump that those deliveries will be much more successful.

For Dohm and the rest of the Bulldog pitching staff, a bounce back year is a necessity. The bats were good last year, but far too often, poor fielding and pitching led to the Diamond Dawgs walking away with a loss. If the offense can play at a comparable level to last season whilst Dohm and company deliver on their new-found skillets, Mississippi State Baseball could regain its spot among the upper echelon of the country’s most competitive baseball conference.