Thursday, March 28, 2024

The fresh four

Freshman baseball players forgo MLB, take on leadership roles at MSU

April 23, 2012

Mick VanVossen was beaming from ear to ear. And why wouldn’t he be? Minutes earlier, the freshman pitcher for the MSU baseball team emerged from a huddle of his teammates and coaches offering sincere felicitations over his first career collegiate victory. After all, VanVossen pitched 6.1 innings, surrendering six hits and one earned run to beat a talented Notre Dame team, 8-2, on April 10 at McLane Baseball Stadium at Old College Field.

Beyond the fence ­­­­­­— overlooking an almost giddy VanVossen as he addressed the media — were several members of his family, including his grandmother who shuffled from side to side along the fence filming his every movement with a Flip camera and a pronounced smile. A moment forever etched in their minds.

But it was a moment that almost didn’t happen.

Nearly a year ago, the 6-foot-3, 195 pound pitcher from Forest Hills Central in Grand Rapids was one of four MSU baseball recruits to hear their name called in the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

The Spartans already had lost noted first baseman Jeff Holm, center fielder Brandon Eckerle and pitcher Kurt Wunderlich to graduation and quickly would have to replace the likes of VanVossen, catcher Blaise Salter, first baseman Ryan Krill and outfielder Jimmy Pickens if they left for the draft.

But after spending years watching guys such as former basketball star Mateen Cleaves and former quarterback Drew Stanton star at MSU, the chance to join those ranks in a college environment propelled VanVossen and fellow recruits to eschew Major League Baseball for the time being and join the Spartan baseball program.

“You know, just playing college ball, you grow relationships with your teammates and your coaches and everything of that kind of sort,” said VanVossen, who was selected by the Texas Rangers in the 49th round of the 2011 MLB Draft. “But, I feel like in pro ball, everybody’s kind of in it for themselves, and that’s a big jump going from high school being with your parents and family just to being on your own. That was too big of a jump for me at that point. I feel myself maturing here and it just feels right.”

Four Men Out
Jake Boss Jr. knew the challenge ahead in his fourth season with the program.

After losing the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and MSU’s all-time hits leader, the head coach of the MSU baseball team would be tested as the goal was to develop depth within the program to not only replace a talented group of graduates, but eventually surpass them.

Part of that plan for this season centered around a core nucleus of freshmen, all of whom had the opportunity to turn professional out of high school. Salter, Krill and Pickens were picked in the 38th, 40th and 41st round by the Detroit Tigers, respectively, and would have had the opportunity to sign and play immediately within the minor league ranks.

Although moments of doubt flashed across Boss’ mind of whether he might lose some of his most skillful recruits, his mindset rests in doing what is best for both the player and for the program, Boss said.

“We tell all our guys that we recruit that if the money’s right and the round and if you’re offered what you’re looking for as far as signing bonus, then we would be happy to see you sign a pro contract because I think that’s good for recruiting, good for everybody,” Boss said. “But at the same time, you want to recruit good students and guys that have a priority on education and guys that value that education and are ready and willing to get at least three years of schooling before they turn pro.”

For guys like Salter — the grandson of legendary Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan — the chance to come to MSU and mature as a person trumped the opportunity to play at a higher level, for now.

“I felt like with where the program was going with coach Boss and with the program going in the right direction, I felt like professional baseball can wait for a little bit,” Salter said. “I can come here and grow up with everything moving away from home and learning how to live by myself without my parents every day. I feel like that was one of the big factors.”

East Lansing-bound
With the program coming off its first Big Ten championship season since 1979 and ranking among the top in the conference in overall attendance from a season ago, choosing the new facilities of MSU and Big Ten competition in comparison to the life of a minor league baseball player wasn’t all that difficult for MSU’s “Core Four.”

At least for Pickens, there wasn’t much of a doubt on playing at MSU.

“It wasn’t really a thought in my mind that I wasn’t coming to State. I think I knew,” Pickens said. “It didn’t matter if I got drafted or not, I was coming to State no matter what. You come to a program, especially a college program, and you want to get better. You surround yourself with people that want you to get better, and that’s the biggest thing here.”

In their first seasons, Salter and Krill are tied for fifth on the team in batting average at .293 and have made significant contributions in the middle of the Spartan order. Despite struggling with a .240 average, Pickens leads the team with five home runs and is third on the team with 25 RBIs. VanVossen also has drawn praise similar to that of a young Tony Bucciferro for his performance, crafting a 2-0 record and a 3.22 ERA in 10 appearances this season.

Based on the early showing by MSU’s baseball quartet, professional baseball will come calling again one day — likely after their junior seasons the earliest they could be eligible for the draft again. But for the time being, though, the charms of East Lansing trumped the allure of The Show, and the MSU baseball program and the players stand to collectively reap the benefits of it.

“(It’s) what we were hoping for when we started the season,” Boss said. “You never know what you’re going to get from freshmen, but I think you can compare it a little bit to the basketball team and maybe Branden Dawson, where maybe he struggled a little bit early but by the end of the year, he was one of the best guys that they had. I think you can kind of make that comparison with our freshmen.”

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