Mississippi State baseball signee Fristoe can't wait to get to Starkville

Jackson Fristoe has a frame that pretty much already looks built for the big leagues. Standing around 6-foot-4 and weighing north of 200 pounds, the big right-handed pitcher almost assuredly has professional baseball in his future. In fact, it could have all started last week with the just-passed MLB Draft. But there was a situation in Starkville that Fristoe currently found to be just a little bit sweeter.

"I wasn’t disappointed at all," Fristoe told Cowbell Corner on Monday regarding not hearing his name called in the MLB Draft. "I had a few options if I wanted to go. There were some early picks where I had options. There were a few rounds there where they were giving me the option if I wanted to go and asking what it would take. It just wasn’t the right situation for me to go at this point. We just decided to go to college and go to Mississippi State for two years. I’ll be sophomore-eligible (for the 2022 draft), so I'll go (to MSU) for two years and win as much as possible and get drafted in the first round after my sophomore year."

It shouldn't come as too much of a shock that Fristoe isn't in a huge hurry. He has all the stuff to ensure big league franchises will one day come calling again. There's a four-seam fastball Fristoe says currently tops out at 95 miles per hour. He also throws three off-speed pitches – a slider, curveball and changeup. It's a repertoire that has big-time potential to take Fristoe a long way in the future.

Then there's the other reason why Fristoe doesn't have to rush to pro ball. He sees a golden opportunity for himself wearing MSU maroon and white.

"I’m excited," Fristoe said. "I’m ready to play. I’m ready to play in front of the best fans.

"I’m excited to get to work with (Mississippi State head coach Chris) Lemonis and (pitching coach Scott) Foxhall. I think me and Foxhall will be a really good team and work together really well. I’m really excited to get there and work with him and take my game to the next level."

The relationship Fristoe has quickly built with MSU coaches is one of the biggest reasons he'll soon be Starkville-bound. Originally, Fristoe – from Paducah, Kentucky – had committed to his home-state Kentucky Wildcats when he was a high school freshman. Last summer though, pitching coach Jim Belanger left Kentucky to go to Florida State. That changed everything for Fristoe and he soon found a home with the Bulldogs.

"Whenever (Belanger) left, I just wanted to start fresh and didn’t want to be in a situation where I was stuck with a pitching coach I didn’t know completely if I’d like it or not," Fristoe said. "After he left, I just talked with my adviser and we figured it was the best thing to do to open it back up and look back at our options since I was older and more mature and had been through a few years of high school.

"Then Mississippi State stood out. Going on an unofficial visit, I just really knew I loved the coaches off the bat. They just made everything seem like I was already family when I went on the visit."

About a year later now, Fristoe is thrilled to be a Diamond Dawg. And, he's chomping at the bit to get going.

Fristoe's senior season of high school this past spring, like many seasons around the country, got wiped out due to the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The lengthy delay has him eagerly anticipating a return to the mound.

"I’m just ready to just get out there and compete at this point after not playing in forever," Fristoe said.

There's little doubt the Bulldogs have to be just as ready to get Fristoe's talent on display at Dudy Noble Field, too. While pro baseball gets moved to the back burner, Fristoe's full, undivided attention is now on becoming a star in Starkville.

"It’s 100 percent where I want to be," Fristoe said. "Everything feels right there for me. I love the coaches. Everything there just seems like it was meant to be for me to play there."

Starkville! Let’s get a ring!! @HailStateBB pic.twitter.com/rEzeYtSSOY
— FRISTOE (@jacksonfristoe6) June 12, 2020