Ethan Small became the 65th former Mississippi State baseball player to reach Major League Baseball when he started the first game of a doubleheader for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday in Chicago.
Small lasted just 22/3 innings and was charged with two runs and four hits with four strikeouts. The left-hander ran into control problems in the third when he walked four. He did not factor in the decision as Milwaukee won 7-6.
“It still doesn’t seem real,” Small told mlb.com. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid. Tough result at the end of the day, but I’m happy we got to experience it all together.”
Said Brewers manager Craig Counsell: “Look, we saw his stuff work in the strike zone, no doubt about it. It’s just the next step of pitching. Your misses have to be better. Your full-count pitches have to be a little better. Your stuff doesn’t have to be better, but your misses have to be better.”
Small was called up by the Brewers earlier Monday after going 3-1 with a 1.88 earned run average in 38 1/3 innings for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds this season, allowing 22 hits and 21 walks while striking out 49.
During three minor-league seasons, Small has a combined record of 7-5 with a 1.78 ERA in 33 starts. He has 177 strikeouts in 1362/3 innings, allowing 88 hits and 67 walks. His career minor-league WHIP is 1.13.
Matt Swarmer made his first start for the Cubs, marking the first time in Brewers history that both teams started pitchers making their big-league debuts.
Small joins Konnor Pilkington, his teammate on MSU’s 2016 SEC championship squad, as former Bulldogs making their MLB debuts this season. Pilkington’s first game was on April 15 for the Cleveland Guardians.
The Lexington, Tennessee, native finished his Mississippi State career third on the all-time strikeouts list with 318, and was one of just six pitchers to register multiple 100-strikeout seasons for the Bulldgs. In 2019, Small was named the National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation and American Baseball Coaches Association.
Small was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 26th round of the 2018 MLB Draft but did not sign. Small was a first-round choice the following year, taken 28th by the Brewers in a year that saw 11 Mississippi State players drafted.
Small will join former Bulldogs Brandon Woodruff and Hunter Renfroe on Milwaukee’s active roster.
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