Andrew Gagnon became the Long Beach State Dirtbags Friday night starting pitcher on March 12, 2010 against no. 21 Wichita State and responded by striking out 12 batters that night.
Fast forward to 2011 and the previously obscure lanky right-handed hurler from Brentwood, California has yet to relinquish the role while continuing to earn the prestigious title that signifies his place as the team’s best pitcher.
For those that don’t know, it is known all over the nation that college baseball programs throw out their best pitcher on Friday night games in order to set the tone for their upcoming weekend series’. This ensures that the nation’s best talent is always playing on Fridays.
“He’s one of the better pitchers on the west coast and maybe the nation,” Troy Buckley, Dirtbags head coach said. “He’ll be [in professional baseball] at the next level pretty soon.”
This goes all without mentioning the Dirtbags abysmal run production when Gagnon starts. In the Brentwood native’s 13 starts the Dirtbags have scored only 16 runs, the lowest run total they have produced for any of their starting pitchers this season.
“…we haven’t given [Gagnon] much this year, but when we do we feel confident we can win,” Matt Duffy, Dirtbags infielder said.
Nonetheless, Gagnon is still viewed by many scouts across the nation as legitimate prospect for this year’s upcoming MLB first-year player draft held every June. He possess a fastball that can reach up to 94 miles per hour, while his off-speed pitches consist of a plus slider, decent curve ball and work-in-progress change up.
“He has good stuff, MLB type stuff,” Buckley said. “The main goal with him is to establish his fastball first then go from there.”
As Gagnon ages his lanky frame will fill out, as is the case with young players, that will enable him to gain a couple more mph on his pitches. The only knock on Gagnon at the moment is that he is too reliant on his fastball, which he tends to leave up over the plate more as the game goes on.
Mentally, Gagnon is as strong as he has ever been. Coming in as a freshman to the Dirtbags prestigious program he would often look over-matched against opponents as he was on the mound. His freshman season statistics showcase those struggles as Gagnon compiled a 6.32 ERA in 72 2/3 innings pitched. However, since then he has improved every year he has been with the ‘niners, including this year.
“It's fun for me,” Gagnon said. “It gets the thrills going. My freshman year I wouldn't do that. All those runners would have scored—my thought process would have changed [with runners in scoring position]. But now it doesn't faze me."
This year Gagnon has posted great numbers for someone that has constantly face top-tier talent. Continuously, he has raised his performance against the best individuals in the nation. Against the consensus number one overall player in this upcoming draft, Anthony Rendon, Gagnon retired the Rice University third baseman in the three at-bats they faced each other.
In order to further his talents Gagnon took a cross-country trip this past summer to play in the well-known Cape Cod League in New England. The Cape, as its known, is where Gagnon made his national debut demonstrating his talents for many scouts to see. His performance would speak for itself as he would go on to start for the East team in the Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star game held at legendary Fenway Park.
This accomplishment not only looked great in the many minds of Major League Baseball, but set Gagnon up as someone to watch out for. No longer was he just one other starting pitcher for the Dirtbags according to the nation, he was the starter for the Dirtbags. Fortunately, the fans that frequent Blair Field on Friday nights have known all about Gagnon since…March 12, 2010.
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