STARKVILLE — Almost a week ago, Ethan Small was walking off the mound at Dudy Noble Field, having just given the Mississippi State baseball team 6 1/3 innings of one-run, four-hit pitching. His walk to the dugout was met with an ovation that was over a year in the making.
“A year ago I was in bed with a brace on watching it on TV,” Small said. “Knowing how far I’ve come and getting that was probably one of the cooler moments of my life.”
All signs point to more of those moments ahead.
After missing last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Small has returned in form good enough to lock down the Saturday spot in MSU’s starting rotation. The lefty takes a 3.04 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.259 walks and hits per inning (WHIP) into MSU’s weekend series at Missouri (16-5, 1-2 Southeastern Conference), nearing the midway point of a season that’s a bit of a maiden voyage.
“I wouldn’t say I expected anything going into it, really. I went into it with an open mind,” Small said. “Tommy John is such a weird thing: you can not be hurting but also feel like your arm doesn’t feel the same as it used to. It’s a weird thing, hard to explain if it’s never happened to you.
“I’m inching toward it. I wouldn’t say I feel like I did before, but I’m also not in pain whatsoever. It’s hard to explain.”
The signs of progress are clear: after allowing 14 hits and eight runs over his first two starts, Small’s last three have spanned 16 2/3 innings with just 10 hits and four runs, striking out 25.
MSU interim coach Gary Henderson is seeing progress in the qualitative factors, too. In his six-inning start against Utah Valley, Henderson saw Small struggle with his breaking ball the first time through the lineup just to find it and use it effectively for the second round. Against Vanderbilt, Henderson could have ended Small’s start after six innings but sent him out to retire a left-handed batter leading off the seventh; Small got the job done, taking him over 100 pitches before bringing in a right-handed reliever.
By all measures, the return season has been a success to date — Small is currently eighth in the SEC with 39 strikeouts and tied for fourth in the league with 13 of those being looking strikeouts. Small still believes he has more to offer.
“I don’t think I’m ever satisfied with how I do. I think I’m better than what I have been doing, but I guess I’m on the incline as far as that goes,” Small said. “I remember last time I had 6.1 innings but two walks; maybe I won’t walk the guys next time.
“I think my changeup is pretty unbelievable right now; I knew I could be good with it, but maybe not as consistent in the past as I wanted to be. I think that’s where it is right now.”
Small credited his ability to locate pitches in the bottom of the zone, particularly his offspeed pitches, for his success, but there may be another part of it that’s kept him going in the unpredictable return from Tommy John: the schedule of a starting pitcher.
When Small injured his elbow, he was a relief pitcher; his transition to starting and the consistent schedule that comes with it, he believes, has helped his return.
“I like the consistency of the rotation, the routine, it’s the exact same thing every week and it’s allowed me to get better,” Small said. “Having the same thing to do every week, I think it helps create consistency on the day you do pitch.”
The job will never get easier for Small, as he is about to face a Missouri lineup that draws more walks than any other in the league (134, 6.3 per game) and is fourth in the league in runs scored (174, 8.2 per game). As he marches forward, the injury and the time between it and now is far from his mind.
He uses it only as a reminder of how much he’s enjoying pitching.
“You don’t think about it, but you know what you’ve been through and you tell yourself, ‘With how hard I’ve worked, I deserve success,'” Small said. “I was out in 110 degree weather with our trainer Jason Wire throwing bullpens every three days, on my hands and knees dying because it was so hot. You think about that, and this is nothing; pitching against Vanderbilt on a Saturday, this is what I’ve wanted, this is fun.
“That other stuff is out of the way, now I get to play baseball.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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