SLIPPERY ROCK — As a young baseball player, Adam Shafer never pictured himself as a pitcher.

Now, at age 28, the former Philadelphia Phillies farmhand is the pitching coach of the Slippery Rock Sliders.

"I played pretty much everywhere in college," Shafer said. "Third base, catcher, outfield, first base. ... I only played around with pitching on the side."

While a member of the Lindenwood (Mo.) University baseball team, however, Shafer and his pitching skills were noticed by one of the coaches.

"We needed an extra arm at the time, and he asked me if I'd give it a try," Shafer said.

Shafer wound up pitching 14 innings in college and threw 93 mph as a right-hander. Still ignored as a professional prospect, he opted for an opportunity to pitch in Australia.

Phillies scout Sal Agostinelli saw him pitch there and offered Shafer a contract.

"Teams can draft guys over there at age 16, so a lot of big league scouts check that league out," Shafer said. "Sal was there to look at some other kids and I got signed."

Shafer had spent two years in the Frontier League with the River City Rascals, a team in his home state of Missouri. He was 4-5 with 13 saves and a 2.45 earned run average during that time.

Pitching for Clearwater of the Florida State League and Class AA Reading (Pa.) in 2006, Shafer combined to post a 3-3 record with 18 saves. With those two clubs in 2005, he was 1-6 with nine saves and a 3.64 ERA, including 61 strikeouts in 54Z\c innings pitched.

The Phillies offered Shafer a Class AA job this season as well, but he declined.

"At 28, I wasn't really a prospect anymore," he said. "Plus, I got married, we had a baby. ... My priorities in life changed. I asked for my release.

"I looked around in late January for a better offer with another club, but being right-handed and old by minor-league standards, it was hard to find a job.

"If I was left-handed, I'd be in the big leagues by now for sure," he added.

One thing the Phillies brass suggested to Shafer during his time with the organization was to look into coaching at some point.

"I know how to have fun in this game, how to relax," he said. "Being a bullpen guy, I could always relate with and communicate to other pitchers down there."

He knows how to bounce back from adversity as well.

While pitching hurt for Reading, Shafer endured a stretch of surrendering two walk-off home runs and a game-tying homer in three successive appearances, then going on the disabled list for six weeks.

Sliders manager Greg Jelks recognized the coaching potential of Shafer and didn't hesitate in offering him a job.

"I knew him for five years as a player," Jelks said. "He was the first guy I offered the job to.

"Adam is still a young guy and he'll relate well to young pitchers. I'm impressed with his baseball knowledge and baseball skills."

The Sliders entered their inaugural season with one pitcher — left-hander Zac Cline — assured of a spot in the starting rotation.

"Everyone else is a work in progress," Shafer said. "But the trick here is that this is not a developmental league. This is a win now league. You have to go out there and produce.

"We have 18 pitchers in camp and most of them are in their first year of pro ball. The biggest adjustment they have to make is to the grind of everyday baseball."

Shafer said these pitchers are used to their teams playing games two or three times a week. Now they may have to pitch two or three times a week.

"By late in the season, you're dog tired," he said. "But you've still got to be physically and mentally ready to pitch. It's my job to get these guys to that point."