A week ago tonight, Justin Slaten just got the win from the mound for the Frisco RoughRiders who defeated the Midland RockHounds 5-3. He pitched three innings where he allowed no runs on just one hit, one walk and struck out six batters.
This is his first year in Frisco after spending last year in North Carolina with the Hickory Crawdads. The 2016 Hallsville High School graduate attended University of New Mexico before being drafted in the 2019 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers, the team he grew up watching.
“We were in spring training and it was just one of those things,” Slaten said. “I pitched last year in North Carolina and kind of had a feeling I was going to come into Frisco this year but everything in spring training is very hush-hush. They don’t tell you exactly where you’re going. So I just had that mindset of, ‘Well, I’ve still got to work for it,’ and finally when they released the rosters, I saw I was going to Frisco. I was very happy about that.”
Being closer to home has meant a lot to the former Bobcat.
“It’s meant the world to me,” he offered. “My parents didn’t get to see me pitch professionally until this year and it’s meant the world to me to be close to them and have that support, and maybe on an off-day even take a trip home and mentally reset. It’s been awesome. It’s really meant a lot to me.”
Although he hopes to get called up to the majors to play for his favorite team, Slaten is enjoying his baseball journey.
“I’d say minor league baseball is an acquired taste but it certainly helps when you’re surrounded by a really good group of guys who really care about not only themselves, obviously everybody wants to make it to the big leagues but also really care about their teammates and really care about pushing others and making them better and this clubhouse makes this team one of the best teams I’ve ever been on,” Slaten explained. “These guys are guys you want to be around every single day, coming in every single day, going to work, guys who are challenging you, questioning you, and helping you also try to take that next step with them.”
So far this season, Slaten has started five games, pitched in 12 and a total of 32.1 innings where he has struck out 44 batters. In his minor-league career, he has a record of 5-14 and 176 strikeouts.
“I would say confidence was the biggest thing,” Slaten said when asked what the biggest difference between this year and last year is. “For me, last year I started off not having the year I wanted to have so I struggled a little bit with finding the confidence to know I could get these types of hitters out. Looking back, I think to when I was a junior in college, the No. 1 thing for me was I was so confident, I could throw the ball right down the middle and get good results. So a little bit last year, getting around and walking guys at times was definitely a shot to the confidence but I came in this year fully confident that I have the stuff to pitch at this level, to be on this level and let that take over.”
Slaten admits there are moments that seem a bit surreal.
“Whenever you’re pitching well and you know you’re on the radar and people are watching you, it definitely does at times get a little bit surreal when you start thinking about taking that next step and making it to the big leagues but for the most part, I try to put the attitude on and be where my feet are because that’s something I fell victim to last year in wanting to get out of North Carolina and wanting to come to Frisco to be closer to home,” he said. “I’ve taken a better approach this year.”
He said he often thinks about people in Hallsville and representing his home town and East Texas community.
“I think about the guys, whenever I go back home and go to the field, some of the different players there I’ve gotten to meet and talk to, it’s definitely pretty cool because as a 24-year old playing minor league baseball, you don’t expect it to be a huge deal,” he offered. “You go home and you see it means something to these kids. It really helps. My brother is now playing on the team, so being able to share with them as much knowledge as I have and talk to them but also encourage them in their own journeys.”
When asked what kind of advice he’d give to someone trying to get to where he is, Slaten said, “The best advice I think I can give is just to continue to stay on your own journey and know that at times, if things aren’t going as planned or if things aren’t happening in way you think they should, just be confident of where you are in your own journey and know everything is going to fall into place if you put the work in.”
Nathan Hague has been the sports editor of the Marshall News Messenger since 2014. His passion for sports along with the realization he would never play them professionally led him to to a career of covering sports and the people who play and coach them.
