Strange journey to Wild Things for USC native Fraudin
Matt Fraudin’s story is one of equal parts hard work, bad timing, good results and frustration.
Fraudin, a right-handed pitcher signed by the Wild Things last week and a native of Upper St. Clair, was on the radar of many major college baseball coaches during his high school days at USC and is a name familiar to professional baseball scouts who like tall pitchers that generate a lot of strikeouts.
That the 6-5, 220-pound Fraudin played his college baseball at Gardner-Webb in the Big South Conference instead of at an ACC or SEC school was more the result of bad luck than results on the field. The same could be said for Fraudin joining the Wild Things instead of being with a major league affiliate this summer.
Fraudin signed with the Wild Things last week and is hoping the move will jump-start his career. He made his first professional start Saturday night in the Wild Things’ game against the Florence Freedom, allowing one run in five innings. He struck out two and walked one. The game did not end in time for this edition.
“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Fraudin admitted. “For the last three years, I’ve had a lot of people tell me I’m a better pitcher than this guy or that guy who got drafted. I was wondering how many more chances I was going to get.”
Fraudin was a pitcher who had a successful sophomore season at USC and the major college coaches noticed. Schools such as Louisville were getting in touch with the WPIAL kid who possessed a powerful fastball and sharp breaking ball. Fraudin was thinking big-time college baseball and the sport was about to throw him a curve.
Fraudin’s plans changed before throwing a pitch for USC during his junior year. His right forearm was sore and caused him to miss the entire season. The injury was eventually diagnosed as scar tissue in the shoulder. He underwent surgery to remove the scar tissue, but that wasn’t until December of his senior year, which gave him a late start to his final season with the Panthers.
By that time, the coaches from the major colleges had moved on to other more healthy recruits. Fraudin, however, had a good senior year, leading USC to the WPIAL playoffs. He pitched the Panthers to a win over Plum in the first round of the postseason and the pitching coach at Gardner-Webb, located in Boiling Springs, N.C., took a liking to Fraudin’s potential. He chose Gardner-Webb over offers from other mid-major schools, including teams in the nearby Mid-American Conference.
“I wanted to go to a warmer climate,” Fraudin explained. “I wanted to go somewhere you wouldn’t get rained out all the time or had games postponed because of cold weather.”
In four years at Gardner-Webb, Fraudin compiled a 17-22 record and 3.11 ERA while playing in the underrated Big South Conference, which includes perennial power Coastal Carolina and this year’s league champion, Radford. Fraudin became Gardner-Webb’s Friday night starter as a sophomore, when he was 8-5 and gave up only 76 hits in 106 1/3 innings. During his junior year, Fraudin struck out 108 batters in 108 1/3 innings and had a 2.41 ERA. He was named the national pitcher of the week after throwing a one-hit shutout against William & Mary.
The big sophomore and junior seasons, and discussions with scouts, led Fraudin to believe he would be selected in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. Fraduin followed the draft, all 40 rounds and three days of it, on his computer but never did see his name. He went undrafted. It was a bitter disappointment, but all it did was fuel Fraudin’s desire to prove the scouts wrong.
“I was talking to teams my junior year leading up to the draft,” Fraudin said. “I thought I’d get drafted. After not getting drafted, everybody said your senior year will be it.”
This spring, with the NCAA switching to Rawlings baseballs with low seams, there was more offense in college baseball. As a result, Fraudin’s numbers jumped to a 4-5 record and 4.00 ERA. But he averaged 11.9 strikeouts per game (109 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings).
Again, Fraudin was led to believe he would be drafted, but this time he wasn’t following along online. Instead, he played golf and any other thing that could keep his mind off the draft. It was a good move because again he went undrafted.
“I got a lot of calls after my senior year,” Fraudin said. “Multiple scouts told me they were putting my name in as a guy to draft. After the draft, I went to several workouts. I went to North Carolina for a workout with the Kansas City Royals. I also had workouts with St. Louis and the New York Yankees.”
The Royals scout liked what he saw from Fraudin and said he would tell his bosses about the kid from Gardner-Webb. He never heard again from the scout.
Between workouts with major league scouts, Fraudin kept his arm in shape by throwing in his family’s back yard.
“A few years ago,” Fraudin said, “we built a pitcher’s mound in the backyard. I set up a net and taped a strike zone to it. Then I would set up a trash can to simulate a batter.”
He was undefeated against the trash can.
Fraudin did hear three times after the draft from an independent team in the California-based Pacific Association. The Wild Things also had him drive to Consol Energy Park for two workouts. Washington finally gave Fraudin a chance last week when it offered a contract. He made his pro debut by tossing a perfect inning of relief Wednesday against the River City Rascals, retiring the side on three ground balls.
“I’m hoping that I prove that I can pitch at this level and prove that I am healthy,” Fraudin said.
Washington manager Bob Bozzuto said he plans to use Fraudin as a spot starter and long reliever.
“This is a weird week because we need six starters,” Bozzuto said.