#STATEToTheShow Features 11 Diamond Dawgs

STARKVILLE – Major League Baseball will officially embark on the 2022 season on Thursday as will 11 Mississippi State players and coaches currently on MLB Opening Day rosters.

Headlining that group are a pair of All-Stars from last season in Adam Frazier and Brandon Woodruff. Frazier, however, has a new home as the second baseman for the Seattle Mariners while Woodruff has reunited with his college teammate Hunter Renfroe with the Milwaukee Brewers this year.

Frazier batted a career-best .305 with 176 hits, 36 doubles and 10 steals for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres last season. Woodruff earned his second All-Star nod with a career-high 211 strikeouts across 30 starts.

Renfroe also posted a personal-best production year for the Boston Red Sox in 2021 with 33 doubles and 96 RBIs to go along with a 31 home runs.

Kendall Graveman has some new threads this season as well after pitching in the 2021 World Series for the Houston Astros. Graveman has joined the Chicago White Sox and will serve as a setup man at the back end of the bullpen.

Konnor Pilkington is set to become the 64th MSU player to appear in the Major Leagues after making the Opening Day roster for the newly-named Cleveland Guardians out of spring training.

Pilkington pitched at State from 2016-18 and was part of the 2016 SEC Championship team and led the Diamond Dawgs to the College World Series in 2018. The Hurley, Mississippi southpaw was drafted in the third round by the White Sox following his junior season in Starkville.

Pilkington reached Double-A last season. In 22 games (21 starts), he went 7-6 with a 3.04 earned run average with 120 strikeouts in 100 2/3 innings of work. The 24-year-old was traded to Cleveland's franchise in late July and finished the year with the Akron RubberDucks.

Former first round pick Dakota Hudson will make his return to the St. Louis Cardinals pitching rotation this season. Hudson was limited to just two mound outings late last season after recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Nathaniel Lowe settled in as the everyday first baseman for Texas last year and returns to the Rangers lineup this spring. Lowe collected a career-best 24 doubles, three triples, 18 homers and 72 RBIs in 2021.

Former SEC Pitcher of the Year and first round draft pick Chris Stratton is coming off his best statistical season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stratton posted a career-best 7-1 record and career-low 3.68 ERA in 68 relief appearances.

Former SEC triple crown winner and first round pick Brent Rooker will now start his third season with the San Diego Padres organization after an Opening Day trade that occurred on Thursday morning. Rooker belted 29 home runs across the Majors and Minors last season.

State also has former players representing the program in the MLB coaching ranks as well. Former three-time American League Manager of the Year Buck Showalter was tabbed the new skipper of the New York Mets during the offseason.

Showalter, whose .459 batting average in 1977 is still an MSU record, has won over 1,551 career games managing at the MLB level for the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers and Orioles.

Chris Young is back for his third season as the Chicago Cubs' bullpen coach while former Big League third baseman Travis Chapman returns to The Show as the first base and infield coach of the New York Yankees.

In addition to all of the Bulldogs on MLB rosters, Mississippi State also has 24 active players working their way to The Show in Minor League Baseball.

Former SEC Pitcher of the Year and first round draft pick Ethan Small struck out six in 4 1/3 innings for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds on Tuesday while Jacob Robson ripped a solo homer his first at bat of the season for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens.

Check back as HailState.com tracks the progress of all the former Diamond Dawgs in MLB and MiLB with weekly #STATEToTheShow statistical updates.

For more information on the Bulldog baseball program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateBB" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Mississippi State University Athletics

#STATEToTheShow Features 11 Diamond Dawgs

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