Despite fighting through injury, Ethan Frey has become an answer for LSU against lefties
After conversing with coach Jay Johnson and LSU's training staff, the first people Ethan Frey turned to about his injury were Tommy White and Gavin Dugas. Ethan Frey, a junior at LSU, has become an effective hitter for the team against left-handed pitchers despite a shoulder injury suffered during a game against Xavier. After consulting with coach Jay Johnson and LSU's training staff, Frey turned to Tommy White and Gavin Dugas for advice about his injury. Despite missing six games due to the injury, Frey returned last week as a pinch hitter and started twice in LSU's three-game series against Florida. His success against lefties has been attributed to his ability to produce at the plate while dealing with a bad shoulder injury. Frey credits his success to LSU's athletic training staff in rehabbing his injury and is looking forward to starting throwing soon.
Опубликовано : 4 недели назад от Koki Riley в Sports
After conversing with coach Jay Johnson and LSU's training staff, the first people Ethan Frey turned to about his injury were Tommy White and Gavin Dugas. White had suffered a similar injury last year, although a more serious one since it was a recurring ailment. Dugas, his former teammate, battled through shoulder pain from mid-April up until the end of last year.
Nevertheless, they were resources Frey could talk to after he'd just subluxed his right shoulder diving back into first base against Xavier. " 'I need help,' " Frey said to White. " 'What did you do to help you out that can help me out and get back faster?' " Frey's injury came at a bad time. It was his third start of the season and he already had two hits and had driven in three runs. He was proving to be one of the few bright spots in an LSU lineup that had been underwhelming against Xavier. "He was on the verge of playing a lot until he slid and subluxed his shoulder," Johnson said. But Frey didn't let his misfortune infect his hot streak at the plate. He missed the next six games but returned last week as a pinch hitter against Louisiana Tech, and then started twice in LSU's three game series against Florida.
In Friday's game, he went 2 for 4 with a run-scoring single. On Sunday, he went 1 for 2 with a walk. He also entered the game as a pinch-hitter on Saturday. Frey wouldn't get into the specifics of how much pain he was in after his first start against the Gators but he still isn't 100% — he said he hoped to start throwing again soon. "He was taking some swings two days after (the injury)," Mac Bingham said. "It looked like, visually, maybe it was a little painful but he came back and said it was totally fine. It wasn't a coincidence that Frey's success at the plate against the Gators came against left-handed pitching. As a right-handed hitter, he faced left-handed pitchers Cade Fisher on Friday and Jac Caglianone on Sunday. His pinch-hit appearance on Saturday also came against a left-handed reliever Frank Menendez.
Xavier's starting pitcher the night Frey got injured was a lefty. Jackson Rodriguez, the Southeastern Louisiana relief pitcher Frey doubled off of in the ninth inning of LSU's 4-3 comeback victory in Hammond, is — you guessed it — also left-handed. His success against lefties earned him the leadoff spot in LSU's order on Friday against Arkansas ace and left-hander Hagen Smith, although he finished the game 0 for 4 at the plate. "In preseason practice, we have obviously 10 (left-handed pitchers), so I liked that he got a lot of looks against a lot of high-level guys and you could start to see what he was putting together, whether that be off of Griffin Herring or (Nate) Ackenhausen or Jake Brown," Johnson said. "He's a good hitter period. But I like the at bats he's putting together."
Regardless of his talent for hitting southpaws, Frey wouldn't be on the field if it weren't for the work he's done with LSU's athletic training staff, led by athletic trainer Isaac Trujillo, in rehabbing his injury. "I'm really close with our trainer (Isaac Trujillo)," Frey said. "We've been working hard every day. It's been kind of the big thing between me and him it's just like, what can I do extra today to make my shoulder better?" But what's also helped has been taking advice from Dugas and White, both of whom know how to produce at the plate while nursing a bad shoulder injury. "Just spend as much time as I can in the weight room. Don't try to rush it back," Frey said when asked what advice Dugas and White shared with him. "If you're trying to progress faster, it's just going to make the healing station longer. That was not what I wanted. So I just took my time, do what I could do the days I could, and just added a little bit every day."
Темы: Louisiana State University, Academia