"It's crazy, especially when you're out there competing and the adrenaline is going," he said. "It's cool."

At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, Lindstrom has a closer's physique, but he's not staking a claim to the job.

"I'm concerned about making the team first," he said. "I think slowly, but surely I could develop into a closer."

Lindstrom complements his fastball with a slider he throws in the 80s. Command wasn't a problem last year, when he walked 21 and struck out 70 in 58 2-3 innings with an ERA of 3.37, but he has been told his best pitch is too straight.

"They say I need to get more movement on my fastball," he said. "But it doesn't have much time to move when I throw a good one."

New teammate Dan Uggla faced Lindstrom when both played in the Arizona Fall League.

"His fastball explodes," Uggla said. "It's one of those things you can't teach. If you aren't cheating or ready for it, you aren't going to hit it."

During his two years in Sweden, Lindstrom picked up a ball only once — for a game of catch. But he believes the trip helped his fastball in the long run, because all the bread and cheese he ate added 15 pounds to his frame.

"They have unbelievable bread," he said. "I came home and turned that extra fat into muscle."

Lindstrom began his missionary work after one year of college, even though he was touted as a top prospect certain to be drafted. One scout told him he could be in line for a $700,000 signing bonus.

Instead, Lindstrom took a two-month course to learn Swedish, then spent two years spreading the message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He went to seven cities in Sweden and has no regrets about putting baseball on hold.

"The people I met and the experiences, you can't learn that anywhere else," he said.

Lindstrom wasn't always warmly received. Knocking on doors at an apartment building, he encountered a Swede he estimated at 6-foot-6 and 350 pounds. When the man learned Lindstrom and a companion were Mormon, he sent them on their way by shoving them into the elevator.

Three months later, Lindstrom was about to board a bus when he recognized the driver — his 350-pound acquaintance.

"He shut my foot in the door, and stomped on the gas," Lindstrom said. "He gets on the microphone and says, 'You crazy Mormons, trying to steal people's money.' He didn't like us very much."

Lindstrom said it was hard not to take such rejection personally. Still, he's looking forward to a return trip to Sweden late this year.

"I'm going to go after we make the playoffs," he said, "and the World Series."