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Published Feb 15, 2021
NC State Wolfpack baseball 2021 preview: Relief pitching
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Matt Carter  •  TheWolfpackCentral
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Some of the names for the NC State Wolfpack baseball bullpen will come among the candidates that do not win a starting job, outlined here.

Here are a few more to watch in the bullpen this year.

Kent Klyman

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Klyman is one of NC State’s best relievers in school history, and he was the lone senior from the 2020 team that decided to take advantage of regaining his eligibility.

The 6-foot-7, 261-pound lefty from Williamsburg, Va.’s 77 career appearances already ranks 10th all-time in NC State history, and 19 more this season would set the school record.

If he can maintain his career ERA of 2.53 over 36.2 innings this spring, he would rank sixth all-time in career ERA with the program. He’s also four saves shy of tying for seventh in that category of the school’s record books.

Klyman had two saves in his five appearances last year, allowing just one earned run and five hits in 6.1 innings pitched.

Baker Nelson

Nelson emerged as a trusted bullpen arm in 2019 when he was a freshman, making 25 appearances, third-most on the staff. He pitched much better than his 6.59 ERA would indicate that year, and the numbers reflected that in his fast start to 2020.

The 6-foot, 189-pound righty from Fuquay-Varina, N.C., allowed only two earned runs and five hits in 9.1 innings spanning seven games last season, striking out seven while walking only one batter.

Dalton Feeney

The 6-foot-3, 226-pound righty from Bismarck, N.D., has always posted good numbers from the pen for NC State. He has a career 2.17 ERA over 42 games, six of which were starts, and 58.0 innings.

Feeney had a team-high seven saves in 2019, when he had a 1.86 ERA in 23 games.

He arrived at NC State with high expectations after being rated the No. 113 draft prospect in 2016 by MLB.com and No. 232 by Baseball America.

Cameron Cotter

Cotter has only pitched one season due to injuries, but he was very good in 2019. He had three saves in 22 appearances (three of them starts) and allowed only 32 hits in 39.0 innings while striking out 36 batters.

The highlight of his year was a shutdown 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout mixed in against Wake Forest for the save in an exciting ACC Tournament win over the Deacons. Cotter, a 6-foot-3, 220-pounder from Summerfield, N.C., did not allow an earned run in seven of his last nine games in 2019.

Canaan Silver

Silver started the 2019 season as a starter for the Wolfpack and made 15 appearances, eight of them starts. In 2020, the 6-foot-2, 189-pound lefty from Nebo, N.C., transitioned to the bullpen and was tied for the team-high with seven appearances before the year was shut down.

His season-long ERA was skewed by a rough outing against Charlotte in his final appearance, but before that he had allowed just six hits and two earned runs in his first six games, a span of 6.1 innings. He had three walks and six strikeouts in those appearances, too.

Logan Bender

When Bender was a redshirt freshman at Campbell he was named a freshman All-American after going 5-2 with a 3.42 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched. Bender then went to Catawba Valley Community College where he posted video game numbers during an All-American campaign (0.78 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 57.2 innings).

Bender was hit hard by Coastal Carolina in his first season with the Wolfpack, but in his other five appearances of the 2020 year he had thrown 3.2 innings and allowed three hits with four strikeouts. Command will be key for Bender, who walked six batters in his overall 4.1 innings pitched.

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