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Lindgren Becomes Pump Jacks Second Big Leaguer

May 23, 2015 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


Less than one month after the first former East Texas Pump Jack reached the major leagues, the team is celebrating its second big leaguer.

Jacob Lindgren, a member of the Pump Jacks' championship team in 2012, was called up by the New York Yankees Saturday afternoon. Lindgren was the Yankees' top draft pick last June before his rapid ascent to the majors.

Lindgren had been dominant in 15 appearances for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, allowing just three earned runs in 22 innings pitched for a 1.23 ERA. The lefty was 1-0 with three saves, striking out 29 batters while walking just 10.

The Yankees made Lindgren their top pick in 2014, the 55th pick overall, kicking off a whirlwind first professional season that saw him earn the nickname "The Strikeout Factory." In 19 games last year, Lindgren posted a 2.16 ERA while vaulting through four different levels, from the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League to the Double-A Trenton Thunder. Opposing hitters managed a paltry .135 average with a whopping 48 strikeouts in 25 innings.

A freshman starting pitcher with the Jacks in 2012, Lindgren made eight starts and posted a 2-5 record with a 3.60 ERA. The Mississippi State product showed a glimpse of things to come when he came out of the bullpen for the first time all summer in the final game of the TCL Championship Series. He earned the clinching win with 2.2 hitless innings in which he struck out three.

Two years later, the Bulldogs moved Lindgren from the starting rotation to the bullpen and his career took off. He earned first-team All-America honors by going 6-1 with a 0.81 ERA in 26 relief appearances. Lindgren's signature slider helped him strike out 100 batters in just 55.1 innings to lead the nation with 16.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He became just the third Mississippi State pitcher in the last 15 years to strike out 100 batters in a season, and the only one to do so from the bullpen.

Lindgren joins Scott Copeland as former Pump Jacks to reach the major leagues. A member of the 2008 inaugural season Pump Jacks, Copeland was promoted to the Toronto Blue Jays two weeks ago and promptly made two scoreless appearances. He was sent back to the Buffalo Bisons at the end of the weekend, but the White Oak native was recalled to the big club last Tuesday.

The Pump Jacks will begin their first season in Tyler this week, with players arriving in East Texas on Monday. The Jacks will kick off the season with a six-game road trip beginning Thursday in Dallas against the Texas Marshals.

East Texas will play its first-ever game in Tyler on Thursday, June 4, when they welcome the Acadiana Cane Cutters to Irwin UT Tyler Ballpark.

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