I love writing about the Mets prospects, but during the other hours of my day, I am a sports writer for Bowman County Pioneer News in my home state of North Dakota. Now you also might wonder how could I be a Mets fan living in North Dakota, well that is a story for another day.
Back in November I shared a post on our website about Dickinson, North Dakota native and Mets third base prospect Cole Frenzel and wanted to share it with our loyal readers here on MMN. Hope you enjoy:
Posted Nov. 1, 2013
By COLE BENZ
Pioneer Sports Writer
Roger Maris, Phil Jackson, Darin Erstad and Chris Coste each have made their way from their North Dakota birthplace and into professional sports.
Cole Frenzel hopes to join them.
Frenzel, a baseball player currently with the Mets’ farm team in Savannah, Ga., began his journey as a native of Dickinson.
Playing for Dickinson High School, his baseball team garnered attention from scouts early as word of their success spread.
Frenzel could see professional baseball was becoming an option during his sophomore and junior seasons in high school when scouts began speaking with him.
Originally drafted out of high school in 2009 by the Texas Rangers in the 48th round as a shortstop, Frenzel opted for college, something he always had his heart set on.
“We had a lot of good teams growing up, so we got a lot of exposure,” Frenzel said. “I kind of narrowed it down to the five (schools) I wanted to go to.”
Ultimately, he chose the University of Arizona where he would play until getting picked again.
With their seventh round pick in 2011, the New York Mets made their selection, opting to take Frenzel.
“The Mets were talking to me the entire time,” he said. “They were pretty consistent the whole time.”
At the time of his selection he actually was on the field playing with his college team in the regional championship, a game they would lose and effectively end their season.
He described that day he was picked as bittersweet, still reeling from the loss yet knowing a professional team wanted him with their organization.
Frenzel would make his debut with the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets’ Short-Season A affiliate, an experience he boasts about.
“Brooklyn is a great place to play, we had more fans in Brooklyn than I did in college,” he said. “They get 7,000 to 8,000 fans out every night. The fan base is great; you really want to win there.”
After a year-and-a-half in Brooklyn, the Mets promoted Frenzel to their Class A affiliate, the Savannah Sand Gnats of the South Atlantic League.
When asked about the adjustment from one level to the next, Frenzel really talked about the pitching he faced.
“The pitching is a little bit better, you see more offspeed pitches for strikes,” he said.
Playing mostly at third base, Frenzel’s high point in his professional career occurred this past season, when his team won their league championship.
“It was fun, postseason baseball is a different atmosphere,” he said.
His team clinched the South Atlantic League Championship by defeating the Hagerstown Suns, an affiliate of the Washington Nationals organization. “We had a great group of guys, and played great baseball,” Frenzel added.
As his seasons finish, Frenzel likes to take time off and doesn’t do any kind of training. He allows himself roughly three weeks off before he returns.
Frenzel said he isn’t quite sure where he’ll be playing next year; that’s a decision he said is sometimes already predetermined. He reports to spring training on Feb. 1 and from there he’ll find out.
“They have a plan for you,’ he said. “It does play a little factor into how well you play in spring training, it could be a difference maker, but they kind of know where to push you.”
Frenzel meets players from all around the country and carries his North Dakota pride with him wherever he goes.
“I hold a lot of pride,” he said. “Not a lot of people know about North Dakota.”
He appreciates the state so much that he shared some of his experiences with his teammates, inviting a couple of them out the past couple of offseasons for some hunting trips.
Frenzel also said he is really blessed for his surroundings.
“Everyone is so supportive,” he said. “They just want to see you succeed wherever you go.”
Something, he said, is attributed to the friendliness of the entire state of North Dakota.
When asked what it would be like to join a short list of professional athletes to come out of the state, he simply said “it would be a true honor.”
If your going to drop names of pro athletes from North Dakota surely your own Jimmy Kleinsasser should make the list at least alongside 73 year old rookie Coste ? His accomplishments and longevity as a pro athlete are things Coste’s mother never dreamed of Chris Coste doing.
chago, you’re totally right! Big error by me leaving Kleinsasser out, I even attended the same university as him! My only defense is that his time with the Minnesota Vikings made me start to think of him as a Minnesotan. Good catch, and my apologies to the Kleinsasser nation!