Two of Mississippi State’s best Bulldogs are now Yankees.
According to the New York Post’s George King, the New York Yankees signed left-handed relief pitcher Jacob Lindgren for $1.1 million on Saturday.
The Yankees selected Lindgren, who was a junior this past season at MSU, with the 55th overall pick in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft earlier this month. King reports Lindgren who was the Yankees’ first pick in the draft, will start the season at short-season Single-A Staten Island or Low-A Charleston.
The news comes on the same day junior right-hander Jonathan Holder also signed with the
Yankees. Terms of the contract weren’t available. The Yankees selected Holder in the sixth round (182nd overall).
Lindgren (6-1, 0.81 ERA) earned first-team All-America honors by Baseball America and second-team All-America accolades by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. In 55 1/3 innings in 26 games, Lindgren had three saves and allowed 23 hits and 25 walks. He struck out 100. Lindgren led the nation with 16.3 strikeouts per nine innings and ranked first among all relievers nationally in total strikeouts.
Lindgren also was named a finalist for both the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award and the Olson Award. He led the league in Southeastern Conference-games only in ERA (0.55), opponent batting average (.114), fewest hits allowed (13), fewest runs allowed (four), and fewest earned runs allowed (two).
Holder (7-1, 2.22) leaves MSU as the program’s all-time leader in saves (37). His 21 saves last year is a single-season record. This season, he had seven saves in 23 appearances. In 52 2/3 innings, he allowed 42 hits and nine walks. He struck out 71.
As of press time, the Yankees signings of Lindgren and Holder mean three of the four MSU players drafted have been signed. On Thursday, the Milwaukee Brewers announced the signing of right-hander Brandon Woodruff (11th round). Woodruff was 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 15 games. In 37 1/3 innings, he allowed 47 hits and 25 walks. He struck out 29.
The Detroit Tigers selected second baseman Brett Pirtle in the 23rd round (700th overall pick). Pirtle was voted second-team All-SEC by the 14 league coaches for the second-consecutive season after hitting a team-high .363 in 63 starts with 35 runs, 31 RBIs, and 10 doubles. Defensively, the coaches named him to the SEC All-Defensive Team after he broke the school records for fielding percentage (.981), assists (211), and chances (321) at his position.
MSU continued to move to replace its draftees Thursday, as East Central High School left-hander Konnor Pilkington gave a verbal commitment to MSU, according to reports,
Pilkington went 9-2 with a 1.01 ERA as a junior and led East Central to the Class 5A South State Finals, where it lost in three games to West Jones. New Hope defeated West Jones in three games to win the state title.
Pilkington, a first-team All-State pick by the Mississippi Association of Coaches, had been recruited by several other schools, including Southern Miss.
n Vallot wins Mr. Baseball honors in Louisiana: At Lafayette, Louisiana, Entering his final year of high school baseball, Chase Vallot’s goals were quite simple and from the looks of what St. Thomas More was returning from the 2013 state runner-up team, very attainable.
Vallot merely wanted to cap his high school career by winning the Class 4A state championship and enjoy a better season than he did in any of the previous three campaigns.
Vallot achieved those goals and then some.
The Cougars rolled their way to the Class 4A state championship and Vallot played an instrumental role in them doing so as he turned in arguably the best season of his career in which he hit .545 with 13 home runs, 15 doubles, one triple, and 60 RBIs.
That stellar season has netted Vallot the Farm Bureau-Louisiana Sports Writers Association Mr. Baseball award given to the state’s top player.
It is important to note that the progression has been as important as the honors for Vallot, who batted .365 with 12 home runs and 32 RBIs as a junior.
“My freshman year I was just kind of going through the motions because I had to sit out that year and my sophomore year I struggled a little bit and didn’t even play that much,” Vallot said. “But that just made me want to work even harder because I wanted the opportunity to start and my first two years just made me want it even more. This past season was by far my best year. I would say that it was better than my junior year and that was a goal of mine.”
The banner senior season has brought a ton of a honors for Vallot, who was drafted by the Kansas City Royals earlier this month. Vallot was selected as the Class 4A All-State team for the second consecutive year and was picked as the 4A Outstanding Player.
He also was tabbed as the Louisiana Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year and was the 40th selection by the Royals in the Competitive Balance Round A of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Vallot, who had signed a national letter of intent to attend MSU, has elected to forgo college and signed a contract with the Royals, where he is in Arizona for minicamp.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.