Nathan John Cornejo (born September 24, 1979) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 2001 to 2004 for the Detroit Tigers.

Early life

Cornejo was born in

Wellington, Kansas Wellington is a city in and the county seat of Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,715. History 19th century Wellington was platted in 1871 and named for the Duke of Wellington. It w ...

. His father, Mardie Cornejo, appeared in 25 games in 1978 as a

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather ...

for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

. The younger Cornejo attended Wellington High School.

Playing career

Nate Cornejo was drafted in the first round of the

1998 MLB draft The 1998 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual Major League Baseball Draft, amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1998. A total of 1445 players were drafted over the course of 50 rou ...

by the Detroit Tigers. He was the 34th player selected in the draft. Following the draft, he made his professional debut as a member of the

Gulf Coast League Tigers The Florida Complex League Tigers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Tigers. The team plays its home gam ...

. Cornejo recorded a 1–0 record in 5 appearances, posting a 1.26

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

over 14.1 innings. For the 1999 season, Cornejo was promoted to the Single–A

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpa ...

of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. He made 28 starts, posting a 9–11 record and a 3.71 ERA. In 174.2 innings, Cornejo struck out 125 batters and walked 67. Cornejo split the 2000 season between the Single–A

Lakeland Tigers Lakeland is primarily a toponym. It may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeland, Queensland Canada * Lakeland (electoral district), a federal electoral district in Alberta * Lakeland County, a former municipal district in Alberta * District of ...

of the Florida State League and the Double–A

Jacksonville Suns The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Jacksonville, Florida, and are named for shrimp caught in the area. The team pla ...

of the Southern League. In 12 starts for Lakeland, he compiled a 5–5 record and a 3.04 ERA, with 60 strikeouts and 31 walks over 77 innings. Cornejo started 16 games for Jacksonville, posting a 5–7 record and an earned run average of 4.61. In 91.2 innings for Jacksonville, he recorded 60 strikeouts and 43 walks. He was selected to play in the 2001 All-Star Futures Game. In a preview of that game, the ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was f ...

'' compared him to future All-Star

Matt Clement Matthew Paul Clement (born August 12, 1974) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Clement played for the San Diego Padres (–), Florida Marlins (), Chicago Cubs (–) and Boston Red Sox (–). While on the Red Sox active roster, he ...

. In 2002, '' Baseball America'' listed Cornejo as one of the top 100 prospects in baseball. In his lone full season with Detroit in 2003, Cornejo finished the season with a 6–17 record. He had the lowest strikeout rate of any starting pitcher in over 20 years, striking out just 46 batters in 194.2 innings. Cornejo played for the Detroit Tigers until and was released to free agency in 2005. He was signed by the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

to a minor league contract in April 2006. Cornejo pitched four games in the minors before officially retiring on July 2, 2006.

References

External links

Detroit Tigers players 1979 births Living people Baseball players from Kansas People from Wellington, Kansas Major League Baseball pitchers Gulf Coast Tigers players West Michigan Whitecaps players Lakeland Tigers players Jacksonville Suns players Erie SeaWolves players Toledo Mud Hens players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players {{US-baseball-pitcher-1970s-stub

Early life

Playing career

See also

References

External links