The Mariners had already announced which prospects they were sending to compete in the Arizona Fall League, but the rosters posted today featured a swap.  Tacoma Rainiers reliever Dan Cortes has been removed from the Peoria Javelinas pitching staff and Clinton Lumberkings starter Tom Wilhelmsen will head to Arizona to take his place.

Wilhelmsen was originally drafted out of high school by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002, but after a successful 2003 debut he saw his baseball career fall apart.  He tested positive for marijuana multiple times following that season, and was eventually sent to a treatment facility and suspended for the 2004 season.  Through all of that, Wilhelmsen’s interest in baseball began to fade and he left the game in 2005.

After a few years of bartending and traveling the world, Wilhelmsen got the itch again in 2009.  He cleaned himself up, started getting into shape and won a gig with the Tuscon Toros of the independent Golden League, where he showed flashes of what made him a good pitching prospect as a teenager with the Brewers while getting good results.  The Brewers called him back, but after a pinched nerve in his shoulder ended his season they released him.

Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, the Director of Scouting with the Brewers when they drafted Wilhelmsen all those years ago, gave him a quick tryout and signed him to a minor league deal in February.  Fast forward to today and Wilhelmsen is pitching very well in the Midwest League, where he was an All Star eight years prior.  Between Arizona, Everett and Clinton Wilhelmsen has thrown 67.1 innings mostly as a starter, producing an ERA of 2.15 with 66 strikeouts to just 18 walks, numbers better than his previous time in the low minors.

Wilhelmsen has said that he was simply too immature to handle pro baseball as a teenager, but this return has shown that the raw ability is still very much present.  The 6’6 Wilhelmsen’s velocity is back as he’s touched 96 MPH with his heater this season.  He is said to have a pretty good breaking ball as well.

Wilhelmsen will soon move to the Arizona Fall League where he will face better competition than he has seen up to this point, and by a pretty good margin.  It could be quite a challenge for Wilhelmsen, but at age 26 the Mariners are putting him on the fast track as he tries to catch up following those lost years.

What can we expect from Wilhelmsen going forward?  That’s hard to say.  While Wilhelmsen didn’t have much of an advantage in field experience this season, there are still reasons to discount the stats because of his age relative to the level, such as his physical maturity, for one.  Can he keep it going as he reaches the higher levels? We’ll see.  Despite the strikeout totals, he doesn’t appear to be missing many bats, getting a lot of called strikeouts against inexperienced hitters.

But for now, that doesn’t really matter.  It’s just nice to see a story like this.  You don’t always get second chances, so it’s nice to see a talented guy straighten himself out and get one.  Hopefully he continues to run with it.

For more backstory, check out Geoff Baker’s article from back in March.