Gavin Stone: Small Town, Huge Vision

Tucked along the St. Francis River lies a small piece of America that has played home to an extremely huge vision.  Lake City is a town in Northeast, Arkansas that is known for its peace and quiet, sense of community, and, now, as the hometown of the Dodgers Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Gavin Stone. 

Stone is blessed to have been given a lot of natural-born ability, but he’s equally blessed to have been taught how to earn everything he gets. The great people of Lake City have mentored the young Dodger’s prospect on many of life’s lessons and have provided him with a place that he will forever call home.  

In fact, he spent a lot of his time during this off season back home in Lake City, talking with Coach Campbell, watching his younger brother play basketball, and visiting with family and friends. 

It’s time he cherishes, and that will never change, no matter how huge his vision becomes.

Hometown Star

Stone played 5 sports at Riverside High in Lake City and was fortunate enough to play for Hall of Fame coach, Buster Campbell, a coach which he greatly admires.  With over 900 wins in his career, Campbell is known as the Dean of Northeast Arkansas coaches and has touched the lives of an unknown amount of Lake City athletes, including Stone. His younger brother, Maddox, is going through the program now, and his older brother, Kollin, who pitched both collegiately and professionally, played for Campbell as well. 

The roots run deep, and so do the relationships, and the lessons learned will carry with the Young pitcher through his entire journey. 

“Coach Campbell was huge for me being such a strong leader, and he always checks in on me.  He always calls and anytime I have free time I go and talk to him.  He’s such a great influence for all the little kids still going through the program like my little brother Maddox who is in the 7th grade, so it’s cool that he gets to learn from him. He’s a great guy and I’m super thankful I got to play under him.”

Stone is extremely proud of the fact that he comes from a small town and is very thankful for all of the opportunities and the support his family, friends, and coaches gave him back home in Lake City. 

As a Rebel, at Riverside High in Lake City, he became a 2-time All-State baseball player, was All-Conference 4 times, was the Most Valuable Player of the Arkansas High School All-State Game, and also averaged 25 points a game on the hardwood. He also found time to be a part of the Bowling team, ran track, and played tennis, so he did it all, and is super thankful to have been given the chance to be that involved.  

“Being from Riverside, being from a small town, was super cool because I got to play all those sports. The Riverside area, Lake City and Caraway, are great towns with great people and so I’m super thankful to have friends moms, and dads, and all of the people who helped raise me with my family and stuff like that.  So that town holds a special place in my heart, that’s for sure.”

University of Central Arkansas

After High School, the Riverside High grad chose the University of Central Arkansas to further his career where he was going to have the chance to play for the school’s winningest-ever coach, Allen Gum, and their pitching coach, at the time, Nick Harlan.

Harlan has since become the head coach of the Bears after Gum retired.

He chose UCA because he loved the area, and the coaches at UCA, and it felt like it was a great fit.

“It honestly was a really easy decision.  Being from a small school I didn’t have very many offers so as soon as I talked to coach Gum and Coach Harlan, who is now the Head Coach at UCA, I really gelled with those guys and the supporting cast.  It seemed like a great fit for me because I came into college as a 2-way player and they were going to allow me to do that it was a Division 1 program and I really liked the school. Conway is a beautiful town and I really like the area, so it was an easy decision for me.”

Under the direction of Gum as the Head Coach and Nick Harlan as his pitching Coach, the talented Arkansan threw the school’s 3rd no-hitter in its history and pitched both as the team’s closer as a Sophomore, then as the Friday Night starter during his Junior year.  As a Sophomore, he posted a 1.52 ERA as the team’s closer, and then backed that up with a 1.30 ERA in the Covid shortened 2020 Season as a Junior as the Friday Night starter.

The transition back and forth between roles was a big challenge for Stone, but a challenge that he accepted every step along the way.

“Being closer was Awesome!  I honestly didn’t know if I would like it because I was the Tuesday starter as a Freshman.  So coming into the closer role as a Sophomore I wasn’t sure if I would like it but I was willing to do anything to pitch, and we needed a closer, so I was willing to fill that role. Over time I grew to love it because the adrenaline rush you get is so cool.  Then, when I went back to a starting role my Junior year, I was a little worried because I hadn’t thrown more than 60 pitches in a game so I didn’t know how good my durability was going to shake out in a starting role.  But I learned to love that again, especially after the no-hitter and it was awesome to get to do both roles to see where I fit at the next level.”

Speaking of the no-hitter he mentioned, it came in his last start as a UCA Bear and it was a very special moment for him because he got to experience it with his best friends in the world, his teammates, and also his coaches whom he greatly admires and appreciates.

“It was awesome! It was awesome to get to share the moment with those types of guys because they are my best friends and it was so “sic” that we all have those memories together.  Being there and being in that moment is something I’ll remember forever and I’m super thankful for the coaches that got me there. Coach Harlan does a great job and so for him and Coach Gum to get to enjoy that moment was awesome to be able to share that with them.”

Every kid’s dream is to get drafted and Stone is no different, but he also knew that he had a great situation at UCA, so when the 2020 draft was shortened to 5 rounds he wasn’t stressed because he was perfectly fine going back to UCA. By getting drafted in the 5th round by the Dodgers, he became the highest-ever pitcher and 3rd highest draft pick of any position in UCA’s history, so, although he loved his time at UCA, turning pro was a fairly obvious decision.

“There were a lot of emotions in the period between Covid shutting things down and the draft so it was crazy. But I knew we were going to get the Covid year back, then I also had my Senior year so I was perfectly fine going back to UCA and learning more from my coaches.  But, obviously, I wanted to get drafted. I mean, that’s every kid’s dream as a baseball player but I knew I had a good situation either way.  Draft night there was a lot of stress though because it was so long.  It felt like 10 hours and I was the 2nd to the last pick so I was literally watching it from 4:00 to 11:00 so it was crazy. It was crazy but I am glad I got picked where I got picked because I love who I got picked by, the Dodgers.”

Dodger Beginnings

Although the 2020 Minor League season was canceled, Stone spent his time back in Arkansas training in his hometown, Lake City, over the Summer, then, at times, back at UCA during Fall.  He feels very fortunate to have had the opportunities he was given during 2020 to continue to train and master his craft.

“So when we got sent home from College I went back home to Lake City.  None of the gyms were open or anything so I started working out in my buddy Garrett Weaver’s garage.  All Summer we worked out in his garage and whenever Fall came I got to go back to UCA here and there but it was still a littlehit-and-misss.  It was great to get to go back home because, knowing what I know now, I’m very thankful for having that time to spend at home because we’re on the road a lot so it was really nice to be able to spend that time at home.”

In 2021, his 2nd year as a professional, but first season, the former Riverside Rebel spent most of his season in Low A Rancho Cucamonga before being moved up to High A Great Lakes for his last 4 starts.  He threw 91 innings, had 138 strikeouts, only 25 walks, and posted a 3.76 ERA.

At the end of 2021, Stone was hitting 98 with his fastball and had developed his change up to the point to where he felt like it had become his best pitch. He created a ton of momentum that season which gave him a springboard into 2022, where he jumped 3 levels and became the Dodgers Minor League Pitcher of the Year. 

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In the past, Stone has featured a 4-seam fastball that has reached as high as 98, a 2-seam fastball that sinks down in the zone at 95-96, a changeup with tumble and fade that some think is the best changeup in the Minor Leagues, a curveball with good 12-6 action, a slider, and a cutter.

Coming into 2023, Stone plans on scrapping the 2-seam, and plans on throwing his curveball a little more to keep hitters off balance.

Like most great pitchers, the 6’1 175-pound right-hander centers everything around his fastball and is very good at hitting what the Dodgers call the 4 hole which is to his glove-side.

Although he is “scrapping” his 2-seam, he can still change eye levels by carrying the bottom of the zone with his 4-seam, then pairing that by throwing it up in the zone as well to take advantage of the High Spin Rate of the pitch.

Stone’s changeup is a great off-speed pitch for many reasons, one being that it gives such a difference in miles per hour off of his fastball.  But, it is much more than just a change of speeds. He can throw it to lefties and get it to “jump” back over the plate, he can get it to “fall off the table”, he can use it to get “arm-side” run that moves away from lefties, or he can just simply use it as a “get me over” as a strike pitch to get ahead in the count.  You can see all these different actions of his changeup, in sequence, in the following video.

Stone also has a 12-6 shaped breaking ball that, depending on how he chooses to elevate the pitch,  can be used as a “get me over” strike pitch to get ahead in the count or as a wipeout strikeout pitch that dives down below the zone.

Stone also has a a slider and a cutter that can break underneath the swing of lefties, or slide away from righties.

Clear Vision

The Dodgers have 5 veteran starters with Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May and Noah Syndergaard so the math would suggest that the rookie pitchers, including Stone, will have to be used in relief to get innings. At least some.

One of the great aspects of Stone is his diverse toolbox and the pitch mix he possesses.  He is quietly competitive and so calm and collected that, from a mentality perspective, he will have no issues in a relief role. That could span anywhere from a closer to a high-leverage, late-inning reliever, and, in any event, Stone is equipped to handle it.  

Also, in a 1 inning relief role, Stone would be able to maximize his fastball and, thus, has shown that he can push 100 mph in that role, so that would play into the favor of his success as well.

But, on the other hand, he has a fastball, change-up, curveball, slider, and cutter, and threw a 2-seam last year, so he definitely has starter stuff. So, as you can see, his stuff can crossover and so can his mentality, as his past history at UCA proves in which he was both a closer and a premier starter.

Here is what his coaches at UCA had to say to KARK 4 news about whether Stone will be a starter or reliever.

“I think he has the potential to be a starter because I’ve seen him maintain his velocity for 100 pitches and he is just a tremendous athlete.” 

The Dodgers have 5 veteran starters, so the 5 rookies, Stone being one of them, is going to have to be open-minded to different roles to get innings. That favors Stone because he has pitched in every role at high levels and his mentality crosses over very well, so his skill set promises to bring a lot of value to this year’s staff. So, although he is not on the 40-man roster yet, I do think there is a better chance than not that he makes his MLB debut this year and is given the chance to make an impact. 

Another great aspect of Stone is that he has always had a “team-first” mentality, so he will do whatever the club asks him to do, he won’t complain, and he’ll do everything he can to help the team win. 

He gets that mentality honestly.

It was raised in him by his friends and family back home in Lake City and his coaches starting with coach Campbell and spanning to his time at UCA.

After all, he’s a small-town boy with small-town values that simply has a huge vision.  A vision that, as he continues to show just how good he is, is turning into a crystal clear reality.