Former MSU pitcher makes Major League debut on Monday
Two of Mississippi State's starters on the run to the College World Series in 2018 were Konnor Pilkington and Ethan Small and both have now put “Major League Baseball pitcher” on their resumes.
Just a few weeks after Pilkington made his debut with the Cleveland Guardians, Small followed him to the MLB as he was promoted to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Small, considered the Brewers' top pitching prospect, was promoted to fill the void left by an injured Freddy Peralta.
Small is joining another former Bulldog Brandon Woodruff who has been a staple in the Brewers' starting rotation for several years.
On Monday, Small made his MLB debut with Milwaukee against the Chicago Cubs. He was charged with two runs and four hits with four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. The lefty ran into control problems in the third when he walked four. Small was tagged with a no decision as the Brewers came back to defeat the Cubs 7-6.
“I felt like I was on cruise control through the first two, then I got to the third and made a couple of bad pitches and it just kind of snowballed,” Small told The Associated Press.
Following the game, Small was optioned back to Triplea Nashville, but prospects for his return to Milwaukee at some point this season remain high.
In just over two seasons in the minor league system, Small was strong. He's dealt with walks but has very rarely seen that make a mark on the scoreboard as he's 7-5 over 33 starts with an stout 1.78 ERA. In 136.2 innings, Small has surrendered 88 hits and just 27 earned runs with 67 walks and 177 strikeouts.
This year in Triple A at Nashville has been particularly good. Small has a 1.88 ERA with eight earned runs in 38.1 innings. He has 21 walks to 49 strikeouts.
It's not particularly surprising that Small has reached the big leagues. He was one of the great MSU left-handed pitchers in school history joining the likes of Eric Du