Around the Curve | Nielson and Deese Provide Curve Relief
Two familiar faces in the Curve bullpen were the first to put on the Altoona Mud Turtles uniforms early this season. Lefty Cy Nielson and righty Jaycob Deese both pitched for the Curve for the first time in the 2024 season. Nielson grew up in Utah and attended BYU where
Two familiar faces in the Curve bullpen were the first to put on the Altoona Mud Turtles uniforms early this season. Lefty Cy Nielson and righty Jaycob Deese both pitched for the Curve for the first time in the 2024 season.
Nielson grew up in Utah and attended BYU where he turned in several strong seasons out of the Cougars bullpen and was selected in the 8th round by the Pirates in 2022. Cy has developed into one of Altoona’s top relievers in 2026, earning 26 strikeouts in 26 innings and keeping his opponent off the board in 14-of-17 outings after a throwing two scoreless innings of relief for the Curve on Tuesday, June 2 at New Hampshire. When asked about what his key to success in 2026 has been, Nielson pointed out two a slight tweak in his arsenal and a fast developing relationship with Curve Pitching Coach Kevin Walker.
“Walk’s a great guy,” Nielson noted from the dugout at Hartford’s Dunkin Park during the team’s two-week road trip. “I think we mesh well together, he understands what I need and how he can deliver things. He comes from that experience of ‘Hey, you might not be throwing 100, but, your going to come in and get three big lefties out in a row’ and you can make a whole career out of that, just like I did.”
Walker has aided several Curve pitchers this season, like starter Khristian Curtis, with focusing pitchers on what they can control on the mound and preparing for the next pitch. Nielson also noted that he’s made a slight adjustment to his pitch mix this season that has helped him keep hitters off-balance.
“I developed a cutter, but it’s technically a slider according to our models,” Nielson shared about the pitch. “Without giving away too much of a scouting report, I like to use it when I’m behind in counts of when I need a strike pitch. It’s helped me keep guys off the heater.”
With the new weapon and a renewed mentality on the mound, Nielson expanded upon his view of what hitters at Double-A are tell him as a pitcher.
“Hitters are good,” Nielson said with a laugh. “This is a game of failure. It we, as pitchers, are in the zone, we’re going to succeed. I’ve really tried to focus on being on in the zone and less about what the hitter does. What the hitter does is something I can’t control.”
It’s that mentality that Curve pitchers have taken on this season, a message that has certainly reached righty Jaycob Deese. Deese, who hails from Houston, Texas, was selected in the 17th round in 2022 out of the University of Houston and first reached Altoona in 2024 on the strength of a great fastball. These days, Deese works as one of the team’s first relievers out of the bullpen where he’s embraced a sinker/slider combination that leads to a high rate of groundballs hit by hitters. In 2024, Deese struggled to keep hitters in the ballpark at both Greensboro and Altoona but embraced the sinker last season in the Grasshoppers bullpen where he recorded a career-best 60% groundball rate. That’s carried over to his 2026 season where he’s also been able to avoid more bats and pick up at least one strikeout in 10-of-12 outings with Altoona through play on June 2.