Now SEC Freshman of the Week, Fristoe may be just getting started
The year was 1925. As the old story goes, New York Yankees first baseman Wally Pipp claimed he had a headache and he couldn't play on this particular June day. A youngster by the name of Lou Gehrig stepped in and well, for the next 15 years or so – a span of 2.130 games – Gehrig was in the lineup for the Yankees.
While the exact details of that account vary, the fact remains the same. When it was time for Gehrig to shine, he did and went on to become one of the greatest ballplayers that ever lived.
In Mississippi State circles, a comparable situation might be playing out right before everyone's eyes. Pitcher Jackson Fristoe came to the Bulldogs as a highly-touted kid with limitless potential. However he was joining a team slated to have three possible MLB first-round draft picks in its weekend starting rotation. But when this season began with two-thirds of that rotation on the shelf, Fristoe stepped in and all he has done up to this point is stake a claim for himself that he's not going anywhere.
Fristoe was picked as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week on Monday. This after the Kentucky-born hurler tossed six perfect innings of a combined no-hitter for the Bulldogs in a 13-0 win over Kent State on Sunday. It's just the latest sign that Fristoe is no Bulldog fill-in. He's a possible star in the making.
"It's a lot of poise for a young kid," State head coach Chris Lemonis said of Fristoe after his Sunday outing. "A lot of poise, and you've got to look at the radar gun to see if it's a mid-90s fastball, but it's also a plus slider and he's really learning how to command it. I think that's the biggest thing is putting the ball in good spots on the plate and it's just hard. He is a big kid, throws hard and you can't run on him. He does a lot of good things out there and the fun part for me is I feel like every week we see him he's getting better. He's improving. He's one of those guys that takes a lot of pride in his daily work and you can see it coming out in his game all the time. I just feel like he keeps getting better and better."
Better? That's right. It's not debatable that after only three college starts, Fristoe is growing and has tons of room to actually improve even more. And just take a glance at the splendid beginning to a career that he's looking to improve upon.
In Fristoe's three starts, he has totaled 13 innings and allowed only five hits and two runs. He's struck out 19. He's got a 1.38 earned run average and opposing batters are hitting a minuscule .119 against him.
Mississippi State pitcher Jackson Fristoe was chosen as the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday. It continued an impressive start to the hurler's career. (Photo courtesy of Mississippi State athletics)
Fristoe's innings have increased in every start. His walks have gone down in every appearance. Two of his three showings have actually been hitless outings, as all five of the hits against Fristoe came in his four innings against Tulane.
Of course this past Sunday's work was Fristoe's best of the year. And it was indisputably also the best start by any Mississippi State pitcher this season. Prior to Sunday, only one Bulldog starting arm had made it through five innings – that being Houston Harding against Southern Miss just last Wednesday. No State starter had pitched into the sixth. Well Fristoe easily made it through six. It was 18 Kent State batters up and 18 down.
Fristoe did it all on 87 pitches, so he might have had even more left in the tank. Given Fristoe's youth and the fact State can ill-afford to see harm come to Fristoe with the rest of the rotation either coming back from injury or struggling, Lemonis went the safe route and took Fristoe out of Sunday's game.
"When (Fristoe) got to 85 pitches we felt like that's where we wanted him at," Lemonis said. "He's got such a bright future and you don't want to push him, and the game was still in (question) at that point."
Lemonis and the Bulldogs have a track record of being cautious with pitchers and their arms. So it's no surprise at all MSU would decide to err on the side of caution when it comes to one of its most promising young guns. But it certainly seems like it's a decision Lemonis and company might be forced to make on a consistent basis this year if Fristoe keeps doing what he's doing.
"I feel really good about my game right now," Fristoe said Sunday. "Each start I kind of learn something new about what I'm doing out there – each week, from start to start. I go out with a different mindset to practice every single day on what I want to do and what I want to get better on and what I think that I need to do to change my game up to keep getting better and better every start."
No, ultimately Will Bednar or Eric Cerantola – the two pitchers whose early-season issues provided Fristoe his chance – aren't going down in baseball lore like Wally Pipp. Bednar, coming back from a neck ailment, made his first appearance of the season in dominant fashion out of the bullpen this past weekend. He could soon work his way back into filling a weekend rotation spot.
And while Cerantola and even ace Christian MacLeod have had a couple of shaky starts, it seems safe to say both guys will regardless have big parts to play in 2021, somehow, someway.
But Fristoe is for sure having a Gehrig-like start to his MSU career. Circumstances have given him opportunity and three weeks in, he's seizing every bit of it.
"It's a great spot to be in," Fristoe said. "Just having some guys give me the chance to go out there and give me those starts and Coach Lemonis having the confidence in me to put me out there in those situations...At first it's one of those things you keep getting used to. So I think just keep going out there every single time and it just keeps getting more comfortable for me."
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