D1Baseball.com ranks Braden Olthoff the 11th best pitcher in college baseball, but he may actually be the No. 1 pitcher. Count his two outings in the Fall Ball World Series, and numbers for six appearances in a Tulane uniform are mind-blowing: 35 innings pitched, 16 hits allowed, four runs allowed, one earned run allowed, four walks and 61 strikeouts. He also is a rock solid individual who appears perfectly built to avoid feeling pressure to match his dominance of last season. He'll just go out and do it again anyway as a mature, driven guy who thought he would be in professional baseball by now but went undrafted in the COVID-affected three-round MLB draft.
Olthoff's last start at Palomino College in 2019 was a seven-inning, three-hit, zero-run, 12-strikeout performance, so he has given up one earned run in his last 42 innings against college hitters. His last loss was Feb. 23, 2019, when he served as Palomino's closer and gave up four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. He had five saves that year, but he moved to starting pitcher soon after that performance, and the rest is history.
Here is what Olthoff had to say at Media Day:
On building on what he did last year
"I try not to think about it too much. Whenever I get a recognition or think about last year, it does just kind of drive me even harder and makes me want it even more. I feel like I’ve always held myself to a high standard. I’ve always had a pretty good work ethic, so now that I did do what I did last year, I don’t ever want to pitch lower than that again, so that just kind of drives me even harder to pitch even better, work even harder and produce on the field for my team. I’m definitely excited to go out there and pitch again. It’s been a while since I’ve faced another opponent in that box, so I’m definitely excited."
On feelings as watched draft
"I was definitely disappointed. I definitely talked to some teams and got some interest, but it was more just with the short season last year and from talking with a lot of scouts, a lot of people didn’t get to see me in time. I was a junior college guy, so I don’t think I was very high on a lot of people’s radar. If I had pitched a few more weeks or gone the full season, I think I would have gotten drafted where I deserved, but I’m very happy to be back here. We definitely have some unfinished business. I definitely want to go to a regional and even compete in the College World Series. Coming back I’ll get my degree now and be able to compete and finish everything that we left off last year. I was disappointed about the draft no doubt, but I’m not worried about it now. Everything happens for a reason. Everything works out in time."
On repertoire and command of all of his pitches
“I actually didn’t start pitching until my senior year of high school, but when I pitched then I was topping at 85 miles per hour. I didn’t really have the cleanest mechanics, but I always did have my command for my fastball, curveball and changeup, and then once I got to junior college, I got with a really good pitching coach, Bobby Shore. I was able to develop a lot more there, and then by the end of my second year out of junior college, I was able to develop a slider that I’d never thrown until then, and once I got to Tulane I polished up my changeup and got it a lot better. When I’m out there on the mound, I’m just competing against the other team. I don’t think too much about my mechanics, which is why I’ve been so successful throwing strikes. Some guys have a lot of mechanical cues that they have to focus on, but for me, it’s really simple—just close hard, ball out in front.”
On no longer having red duffle bag he had all of last year (Travis Jewett joked about in his presser before Olthoff talked, saying he was worried that Olthoff, a creature of routine, had changed something up)
“The red bag, unfortunately I had that from Palomar in my junior college days, but I left a banana in there and it got kind of rotten and all over some of my gear, so I had to change it out. I got a black duffle bag now, but I think that one will work out just fine, but there were definitely a lot of jokes last year about the red duffle bag, so I won’t forget that one.”
On importance of routine
“It’s very important to me. I always want to be healthy. I don’t want to ever have an injury, so that’s where the routine started. Whether I’m throwing 60 feet or I’m going to go out there and throw seven innings, I do my same routine every single day. That’s the best way to have my body feeling good. It’s important for everyone to develop a routine. It doesn’t need to be as long as mine or as thorough as mine, but just having something that you can do every single day, that gets you in a routine and helps you out a lot as a player."
On having mindset to build off of perfect season
“Yeah, I definitely feel comfortable building off of last year. I continued to do that this fall. I picked up where I left off with my work ethic and mny routine, which is going to keep me pitching the same hopefully. Last year’s numbers were pretty incredible and even kind of surprised me a bit. I hope I pitch the same this year, but that’s definitely the mindset. Now that I’ve had that success, that’s how I want to pitch and go out there every time.”
On pitching staff as a whole
“Our pitching staff definitely improved. We have our whole weekend rotation back. We only lost Connor Pellerin to the draft and then Keagan coming back and a lot of other bullpen pieces. What’s going to help a lot is the coaches planned on a lot of us going to the draft, so they brought in a whole new rotation that was supposed to replace us, so we have our whole weekend rotation back plus all those guys. We’re very deep on the mound. The four-game series will actually benefit us because of how much pitching we have, so I’m really excited to see how that format works out. I think our pitching will definitely carry our team.”
On how hard he throws
“I top out at 94 but I’d say I’m more 90 to 92. At the start I sit in that range, but I feel like when I pitched last year it was in the cold. Once it gets warmer in the season, I think my velocity will jump up a bit and whenever it’s a bigger game, I can get a little more adrenaline to throw even harder. When I go out there I don’t really think about trying to throw it as hard as I can. I’m more of a command spot guy, but if I ever do need to rev it up, I have a little more in the tank.”
On last time he got roughed up
“I faced a lot of adversity specifically my freshman year at Palomar. We had a very deep staff then. We had 10 sophomores and only three freshmen, including me, and there was even a point where I didn’t pitch for a whole month because I was struggling a bit. By the end of the season I caught some more opportunities and ended up pitching really well to finish up my freshman year, but that adversity made me who I am today and I’ve learned from that a lot, so if there’s any adversity or I ever get hit this year or in the future, I’m not too worried about it. (Pitching coach Daniel) Latham does a really good job as well. You can always go in there and watch film with him and talk about pitch tendencies and whether my changeup works to lefties or righties and how many I’m throwing, the swing and miss rates and all that kind of stuff, so getting here to Tulane now and having more resources available is only going to help me out.
Olthoff's last start at Palomino College in 2019 was a seven-inning, three-hit, zero-run, 12-strikeout performance, so he has given up one earned run in his last 42 innings against college hitters. His last loss was Feb. 23, 2019, when he served as Palomino's closer and gave up four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. He had five saves that year, but he moved to starting pitcher soon after that performance, and the rest is history.
Here is what Olthoff had to say at Media Day:
On building on what he did last year
"I try not to think about it too much. Whenever I get a recognition or think about last year, it does just kind of drive me even harder and makes me want it even more. I feel like I’ve always held myself to a high standard. I’ve always had a pretty good work ethic, so now that I did do what I did last year, I don’t ever want to pitch lower than that again, so that just kind of drives me even harder to pitch even better, work even harder and produce on the field for my team. I’m definitely excited to go out there and pitch again. It’s been a while since I’ve faced another opponent in that box, so I’m definitely excited."
On feelings as watched draft
"I was definitely disappointed. I definitely talked to some teams and got some interest, but it was more just with the short season last year and from talking with a lot of scouts, a lot of people didn’t get to see me in time. I was a junior college guy, so I don’t think I was very high on a lot of people’s radar. If I had pitched a few more weeks or gone the full season, I think I would have gotten drafted where I deserved, but I’m very happy to be back here. We definitely have some unfinished business. I definitely want to go to a regional and even compete in the College World Series. Coming back I’ll get my degree now and be able to compete and finish everything that we left off last year. I was disappointed about the draft no doubt, but I’m not worried about it now. Everything happens for a reason. Everything works out in time."
On repertoire and command of all of his pitches
“I actually didn’t start pitching until my senior year of high school, but when I pitched then I was topping at 85 miles per hour. I didn’t really have the cleanest mechanics, but I always did have my command for my fastball, curveball and changeup, and then once I got to junior college, I got with a really good pitching coach, Bobby Shore. I was able to develop a lot more there, and then by the end of my second year out of junior college, I was able to develop a slider that I’d never thrown until then, and once I got to Tulane I polished up my changeup and got it a lot better. When I’m out there on the mound, I’m just competing against the other team. I don’t think too much about my mechanics, which is why I’ve been so successful throwing strikes. Some guys have a lot of mechanical cues that they have to focus on, but for me, it’s really simple—just close hard, ball out in front.”
On no longer having red duffle bag he had all of last year (Travis Jewett joked about in his presser before Olthoff talked, saying he was worried that Olthoff, a creature of routine, had changed something up)
“The red bag, unfortunately I had that from Palomar in my junior college days, but I left a banana in there and it got kind of rotten and all over some of my gear, so I had to change it out. I got a black duffle bag now, but I think that one will work out just fine, but there were definitely a lot of jokes last year about the red duffle bag, so I won’t forget that one.”
On importance of routine
“It’s very important to me. I always want to be healthy. I don’t want to ever have an injury, so that’s where the routine started. Whether I’m throwing 60 feet or I’m going to go out there and throw seven innings, I do my same routine every single day. That’s the best way to have my body feeling good. It’s important for everyone to develop a routine. It doesn’t need to be as long as mine or as thorough as mine, but just having something that you can do every single day, that gets you in a routine and helps you out a lot as a player."
On having mindset to build off of perfect season
“Yeah, I definitely feel comfortable building off of last year. I continued to do that this fall. I picked up where I left off with my work ethic and mny routine, which is going to keep me pitching the same hopefully. Last year’s numbers were pretty incredible and even kind of surprised me a bit. I hope I pitch the same this year, but that’s definitely the mindset. Now that I’ve had that success, that’s how I want to pitch and go out there every time.”
On pitching staff as a whole
“Our pitching staff definitely improved. We have our whole weekend rotation back. We only lost Connor Pellerin to the draft and then Keagan coming back and a lot of other bullpen pieces. What’s going to help a lot is the coaches planned on a lot of us going to the draft, so they brought in a whole new rotation that was supposed to replace us, so we have our whole weekend rotation back plus all those guys. We’re very deep on the mound. The four-game series will actually benefit us because of how much pitching we have, so I’m really excited to see how that format works out. I think our pitching will definitely carry our team.”
On how hard he throws
“I top out at 94 but I’d say I’m more 90 to 92. At the start I sit in that range, but I feel like when I pitched last year it was in the cold. Once it gets warmer in the season, I think my velocity will jump up a bit and whenever it’s a bigger game, I can get a little more adrenaline to throw even harder. When I go out there I don’t really think about trying to throw it as hard as I can. I’m more of a command spot guy, but if I ever do need to rev it up, I have a little more in the tank.”
On last time he got roughed up
“I faced a lot of adversity specifically my freshman year at Palomar. We had a very deep staff then. We had 10 sophomores and only three freshmen, including me, and there was even a point where I didn’t pitch for a whole month because I was struggling a bit. By the end of the season I caught some more opportunities and ended up pitching really well to finish up my freshman year, but that adversity made me who I am today and I’ve learned from that a lot, so if there’s any adversity or I ever get hit this year or in the future, I’m not too worried about it. (Pitching coach Daniel) Latham does a really good job as well. You can always go in there and watch film with him and talk about pitch tendencies and whether my changeup works to lefties or righties and how many I’m throwing, the swing and miss rates and all that kind of stuff, so getting here to Tulane now and having more resources available is only going to help me out.