After one year in the minor leagues, Nathan Nery was not where he wanted to be. An 18th round pick in the 2006 draft, Nery appeared in 14 games for Aberdeen last season. He was saddled with a 3-4 record and a 5.17 earned run average and knew he had to make some changes.

“Last year, he was around 82-84 [mph] and throwing the ball against the backstop. He was everywhere,” Aberdeen manager Andy Etchebarren said. “Working with him this year though, he has made great improvements.”

Those improvements came in spring training while Nery was working with the Orioles Florida operations pitching coordinator Dave Schmidt. Working on mechanics, Schmidt helped Nery lengthen his stride by nearly two feet.

“They say that a pitcher’s stride should be the same as your height,” Nery said after a spot start in Aberdeen on Monday. “My stride was about 4-feet last year and I am 6-5.”

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Once Schmidt helped the 21-year-old adjust his stance, things started improving for Nery in a hurry.

“He started getting on top of the ball and started getting his velocity up,’ Etchebarren said. “He is throwing 87-91, which is where he should be throwing.”

Through 15 games with Aberdeen this summer, he has pitched 13.1 innings and has the lowest ERA in Aberdeen at 1.35. Though it is still early in the year, he also seems to have curtailed the number of walks he issues. In 2006 he had 34 strikeouts and 28 walks in 47 innings pitched, but in 2007 Nery has six walks and 14 strikeouts.

The left-hander has improved this summer working out of the bullpen for Aberdeen using primarily his two-seam fastball. He uses his change-ups and sliders sparingly because he does not have full command of them yet.

The spot-start on Monday was in place of Aubrey Miller, but Etchebarren could not comment if Nery would begin to start on a regular basis again.

“It does not matter to me,” Nery said. “My experience this year out of the bullpen is great. If I go back there now, it is fine with me. I will do whatever they call for.”