Mighty Mulder Moving Up as A’s Next Ace

Mark Mulder ended his rookie season in a crumpled heap on the floor of the Oakland Athletics’ weight room.

Since then, nothing has been able to keep him down.

Showing power, exceptional control and a knack for learning from his mistakes, Oakland’s 6-foot-6 left-hander has made that tricky transition from being a can’t-miss prospect to a superstar in the making.

With 12 victories since the start of May, he has been one of the AL’s most dominant pitchers this summer and helped make Oakland a top wild-card contender.

Mulder’s natural athletic ability has been obvious since he began beating his father at golf when he was 9. But in coming back stronger than ever from a herniated disc in his back, Mulder has shown a resiliency that doesn’t come naturally.

Mulder describes the last 11 months -- ever since that weightlifting injury ruined his first chance to pitch in the postseason -- as a learning experience.

“I’m definitely a better pitcher since I got hurt,” Mulder said. “Something like that forces you to re-evaluate everything you do. I learned a lot about the way I approach the game, and what I needed to do to get better.”

He played just one season of minor league ball and pitched his way into Oakland’s rotation in 2000 for an up-and-down rookie year. But the 24-year-old Mulder appears to be everything the A’s expected when they chose him with the second overall pick in the 1998 draft.

“He could be a great one,” A’s manager Art Howe said. “He’s got all the tools and ability that any pitcher could want, and after his injury, I think he got that extra mental kick that makes good pitchers into great ones.”

In Mulder’s last start, he pitched into the eighth inning against Boston for his sixth straight victory and his 14th of the season. In the AL, only Roger Clemens had more heading into the weekend.

But Mulder hasn’t just been getting victories -- he has overwhelmed many of the game’s best hitting teams. He posted three shutouts in July, including back-to-back blankings of Arizona and Los Angeles.

“When you talk about the guys who might be the next big ones, he’s one of the first names you mention,” Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros said. “He’s everything you want in a young pitcher.”

Though his massive frame suggests a power pitcher, opponents praise Mulder’s ability to mix his pitches, and his coaches love his control. Mulder issued just 20 walks in 19 starts since the beginning of May.

His pitching prowess aside, Mulder is the type of pure athlete who makes other players envious. He’s a scratch golfer who has never taken a lesson -- he says he learned the game from watching other golfers on TV.

“It could be hard for a guy who’s that naturally talented to make the adjustment to the hard work you have to do in the major leagues, but Mark has done it,” A’s general manager Billy Beane said. “He’s committed to making the most of himself.”

Beane said drafting Mulder was an easy decision, but it wasn’t quite that clear-cut.

Mulder had a solid but unspectacular career at Michigan State, and he still needed to build up his strength and stamina to support his lanky frame.

A strong summer in the Cape Cod League sent his stock skyrocketing, and the A’s bought.

Mulder was heralded as the team’s next great pitcher when he started at Triple-A in 1999, but at the same time, Tim Hudson emerged as Oakland’s top young starter.

Barry Zito, with his eccentricities and exceptional curveball, became a fixture in the rotation last season as Mulder struggled to find his groove.

With the successes of Hudson and Zito, Mulder hasn’t faced any of the daunting pressure endured by star pitching prospects Rick Ankiel in St. Louis or Kerry Wood in Chicago.

“He doesn’t have to come in and be our ace, and that’s made it very easy for him to focus on his game without worrying all the time about letting his teammates down,” Howe said.

During his rookie season, Mulder won nine games in 27 starts of wildly varying quality. Then, while lifting weights Sept. 13, he herniated a disc in his back, knocking him out for the season shortly before the playoffs.

His rehab focused on building his overall strength, and Mulder hasn’t missed a turn this season. He went undefeated in May, and after a couple of hard-luck losses in June, he was the AL’s pitcher of the month in July with a 4-1 record and a 1.74 ERA.

Still, Mulder cites a loss at Texas on July 1 as one of the most educational experiences of his career. He took a two-hit shutout into the eighth inning of that game, but a three-run homer by Bo Porter crushed him.

“That taught me that every pitch is just as important as another one,” Mulder said. “The things I’ve learned this year have almost all been about the mental game. I learn more in one night on the mound than I did in all the time I spent playing baseball before I got here.”

The high point of his season came in his very next start in Phoenix, when Mulder put on an overwhelming display in a one-hitter against the Diamondbacks.

He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, faced just 28 batters and never even went to a three-ball count. Arizona got just three balls out of the infield, and Mulder struck out nine.

“That was one of the best games I’ve ever seen a guy pitch,” A’s second baseman Frank Menechino said. “He was totally on it. That’s what we expect out of him.”

Menechino should know. He, Mulder and third baseman Eric Chavez share a house in the East Bay during the baseball season. Mulder’s infielder buddies praise his pitching, but when asked to describe his off-field quirks, they’re short on words.

“He’s just a pretty regular guy who’s also a really great pitcher,” Chavez said.