Inside the hot streak of MSU’s Skelton
STARKVILLE — The suggestion wasn’t anything radical. It was simple. And, really, catcher Dustin Skelton heard Mississippi State hitting coach Jake Gautreau try to explain this message to him before in various other ways.
Just this time, he was listening instead of hearing, and something clicked. The result is one of the reasons why Skelton surprisingly made the AllRegional Team last week. Now, he heads to Vanderbilt for a super regional on the first sustained hot stretch of his Mississippi State career.
On May 19, Skelton was hitting .209. During batting practice around that time — this was before Mississippi State played in the SEC tournament — Gautreau told Skelton that he wanted the sophomore to focus on seeing the inside part of the baseball, regardless of where the ball is being pitched.
“Really?” Skelton responded, as he recalled. “You think it’s that easy?”
“I’ve been watching your swings in BP,” Gautreau said, “and I just think it’s that simple so let’s try it.”
Skelton has been doing that the last couple of weeks now.
It is working, and now Mississippi State heads into the super regional with a lineup deeper than it has been all season. Skelton (he is typically eighth in the order) is 10 for 18 over his last five games, which includes four games in the Tallahassee regional and one in the SEC tournament. He hit his first career home run on June 1. He is now hitting .269. Before this stretch, Skelton has never had multiple hits in consecutive games in two seasons at Mississippi State.
“If you’re looking at the inside part of the ball, you’re going to allow it to travel,” Skelton said. “If you’re thinking that a pitch is coming away and you’re looking at the inside part of the ball, you’re going to be able to hit the inside part of the ball because your swing is going to be so much quicker and so much shorter to the baseball.”
That’s Baseball 101, but it is conceivable that a small adjustment was all Skelton needed to string together a few games with multiple quality at-bats. Skelton’s recent success isn’t a product of luck, either; he has made hard contact, particularly up the middle and to the opposite field. There is reason to think this can all be somewhat sustainable for Skelton, too. He was drafted in the 36th round by the Blue Jays – he went that late because of his questionable chances of signing – in 2016, was a Dandy Dozen as a senior at Magnolia Heights and was one of the top 10 players in Mississippi during his high school career.
“He has always been advanced behind the plate,” Magnolia Heights coach Chris McMinn said. “And as an eighthgrader, he would get a single and always try to stretch it to a double. He caught our attention at an early age and got in the lineup.”
Things didn’t happen as quickly in Starkville. Skelton appeared in only 17 games (68 at-bats) and hit .206. He entered this season looking to claim the starting catcher role after Josh Lovelady’s graduation, but ended up splitting time with JUCO addition Marshall Gilbert. Skelton started early on because of his defensive skills and ability to handle the pitching staff well, but saw his playing time decreased when he struggled to get on base and Gilbert began producing at the plate.
While platooning — and struggling offensively — Skelton leaned on his brother Dalton for advice. Dalton signed with Delta State out of high school, struggled to play there, transferred to Jones County, won a national championship and then transferred to Louisiana Tech, where he became the everyday shortstop.
“I knew I didn’t want that happening to me,” Skelton said.
Skelton often asked Dalton: How did you overcome all of that?
Skelton now has Dalton’s answer, the advice he gave Skelton, memorized. Those words, his prior success and a minor adjustment have renewed Skelton’s confidence.
“You have to go out there every single day like you got something to lose,” Skelton said. “You just have to go out and be the player you were in high school and just think that there is no one out here better than you. You have to have the confidence and the work ethic to be who you were in high school.”