Hunt eagerly working to improve his skills

When Francisco Liriano was recently called up to be a part of the Minnesota Twins rotation, it gave the club a noteworthy, if not historic, common thread among their five starters: all five spent time in the Minnesota system before reaching the Major Leagues. Not a single free-agent signee among them.

Shooter Hunt knows this. While still an amateur, Hunt played on the Twins scout team under the direction of one of Minnesota's scouts. He learned then about the organization's great ability at developing their young arms.

When the First-Year Player Draft began this June, Hunt didn't have expectations. When the first round got into the twenties, Hunt saw the possibility to go to his favorite boyhood team, the New York Yankees. When the Bronx Bombers passed on Hunt, the Twins became his next best option.

"I knew the Twins do a great job with their pitching staff," said Hunt, who saw his wish granted with the 31st overall selection, the start of the supplemental first round. "I knew a fair amount about the organization and all about their developmental system."

With knowledge of the system, it didn't take long for Hunt to realize the laundry list of improvements he needed to make, culled from the traits of that Twins starting staff.

"Fastball command is huge, just getting that. The Twins pitchers up there right now have great command on their fastball, which has helped them out so much," said the 21-year-old right-hander. "And the changeup, which I didn't really have to use in college, now I'm wanting to use it."

In college, first at the University of Virginia but ultimately at Tulane, Hunt was a revelation. He won 15 games of the 32 games he appeared in while with the Green Wave for two seasons, striking out 230 batters in the process. If it wasn't easy for Hunt, he never showed it.

Of course, it's hard to say that professional baseball has been a drop-off. Hunt's first assignment was to Elizabethton in the Appalachian League, where he made his debut July 4 with three no-hit innings. In his next start, Hunt again didn't allow a hit, this time with 10 strikeouts over five innings. On July 16, Hunt gave up his first hit, and his first run as a professional, but he also struck out 12 batters in six innings. After his fourth start, Hunt was promoted to Beloit, having allowed four hits in 19 innings while striking out 34 batters in the process.

"It's a lot easier without classes," Hunt jokes. "I'm working on becoming an even better student of the game. I just wanted to come in and do as best as I could. I've thrown a lot of innings, so I just wanted to come in and learn the system, get acquainted with everything the Twins do."

Clearly it has worked, as Hunt looks like yet another bullet point in Twins scouting director Mike Radcliff's success column. Of course, it's not hard to imagine why, as Hunt is armed with a 95 mph fastball and hammer breaking ball. Still, while some organizations get a player into the system and wait to get him acquainted before instruction, the Twins were quick to begin straightening out Hunt's bad habits.

"We've worked on a lot of stuff. We've really tried to harness my balance point," said Hunt. "And getting consistent with everything, which is my goal with everything. You have to be consistent to move up the ladder."

For many baseball players, the end of the season allows for the opportunity for rest, for picking up old hobbies, for forgetting about the game and instruction for a few months. For Shooter Hunt, the end of the baseball season will be the hardest day of the year.

"I'm a baseball junkie, so there's not much else," said Hunt. "I don't golf or fish or anything, I just enjoy going out and playing. Just getting ready for my first full season, I'll be eager and getting prepared for that."

Hunt can't remember a time when baseball wasn't a part of his life, and growing up in northern New Jersey that meant the Yankees were his life. Now an ace, it wouldn't be surprising to hear that Hunt's idols were the Yankees pitching stars from the 1990s: David Cone, Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera.

Not quite.

"I liked most of the position guys, like Derek Jeter or Bernie Williams," Hunt said.

With his Yankees fandom out the window, Hunt is not completely letting go of his roots. However, instead of boasting about his favorite team, Hunt talks about where he grew up. He is proud to come from a budding hotbed of baseball talent.

"The last few years, it's had some great talent come out of it," said Hunt, no doubt referencing 2007 first-round pick Rick Porcello, among others. "All that hating on the North for baseball can't be said anymore, North Jersey especially. It really prepared me for each stage I've been to since."

Among those stages, Hunt references the Cape Cod League as the most important in his development. In 2006, his time with the Falmouth Commodores proved a tryout as Hunt looked for a new place to attend school. In 2007, then entrenched at Tulane, it was about strengthening his resume for scouts as well as making friends and improving his talent. Hunt's Commodores had a who's-who of college baseball talent, with teammates Aaron Crow and Christian Friedrich also winding up in the first round of the 2008 Draft.

"We had a pretty good rotation," Hunt said with a smile. "It was the best experience. They gave me all the opportunities to succeed up there. There was nothing better than being up there. The coaching allowed me to be where I am right now."

The friendships might be most important, however. When Hunt was slipping on Draft day, perhaps lower than his expectations, he found solace in talking to Friedrich, who was enduring the same modest disappointment. Recently, Hunt found inspiration in hearing that former Falmouth teammate and friend Eddie Kunz had been called up to pitch in the New York Mets bullpen.

"That was real cool to hear about that, because I was just playing with him two years ago," said Hunt. "I know Eddie puts in so much hard work, so it tells you that hard work can put you there."

At this point, inspiration is coming from all angles. From his old friends to his new organization, Hunt is finding proof everywhere that the Major Leagues, his dream, might not be so far away.

"The first couple games just being around the team, it was like, 'This is what I do now.' This is what I've always wanted to do since I was three years old, and now it's time to get going."