After being drafted last year by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round out of Rice, Jon Duplantier pitched all of one professional inning.
And then injuries set in.
An elbow injury limited Duplantier to an inning on June 21 for short-season Class A Hillsboro. A hamstring injury also kept him out of instructional league.
That time away from the game went through his mind Friday as he prepared to make his first minor-league start for the Cougars.
“I was just pumped to get back out there,” Duplantier said. “I had butterflies all day. My mom (Devra) was in town. It was just a good experience all the way around.”
The results were just as good. The 6-foot-4 right-hander from Katy, Texas worked five scoreless innings in a no-decision as the Cougars won 3-0. He allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked two.
“I thought he threw well,” Cougars pitching coach Rich Sauveur said of Duplantier. “He was very poised on the mound. I think he learned a lot in college, I really do. (Rice) has put out some good pitchers.
“He lost focus there for a couple of batters. He walked back-to-back guys, but he made an adjustment on his own. I didn’t even go out there.”
That’s one thing that stands out to Sauveur about Duplantier, who has shown the mental wherewithal to understand when something is going wrong and find a way out of it.
“That’s the sign of a good pitcher,” Sauveur said. “He seems to know what is going on. I think he’s going to really benefit from pitching at this level. He can dominate. He has a very good arm and a very good head on his shoulders.”
Duplantier was a highly decorated pitcher at Rice, earning third team All-American honors last year. He also was named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year.
Relying heavily on a sharp-breaking curveball and a fastball that can hit 96 mph, Duplantier ranked second in Division I with 148 strikeouts in 111 innings.
Duplantier picked up where he left off against Clinton, retiring the first 10 hitters.
“At first, I struggled throwing the slider,” Duplantier said. “The change-up worked for me early on. I thought my fastball had good life and I was throwing it with pretty good command. I always want a little bit better command of the fastball. It’s something I’ve struggled with over the years.
“Once we got into the second inning, the slider started working well and I didn’t even need to throw the spike curveball, which was the bread and butter in college.”
Having a polished college pitcher like Duplantier is nothing new to Sauveur. His first comparison for Duplantier was Taylor Clarke, who played for the Cougars in 2016.
Clarke, a College of Charleston product, went 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA in six starts for the Cougars before advancing quickly in the organization. He ended up making 17 starts for Class AA Jackson, where he’s also playing this season.
“He overmatched hitters in this league,” Sauveur said of Clarke. “I think this kid is going to be close. I’m not going to put him in the Taylor Clarke category yet, but he’s got the stuff, there’s no doubt about it.
“He has a very live arm, a sharp slider, and he has a very good change-up.”
Sauveur also had advice for those situations that happen off the mound, encouraging Duplantier to remember Friday’s moment with his mother.
“It was right after he warmed up,” Sauveur said. “He didn’t want to take the picture. I was like, ‘Dude, that’s your mom, right? Take a picture.'”
Paul Johnson is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.
