More than two months after I interviewed him, I finally went back and found the file for the Q&A I promised at the beginning of November.
The last two years this staff could not get the ball over the plate.
"Understatement (laughs). Understatement."
What can you do to fix that?
"For starters, just kind of changing the mindset of these guys and what the expectations are on the mound and getting them to understand the importance of how many strikes can we throw and letting teams put the ball in play, pitching to contact. Some of the things that I've seen that I thought we got away from the last couple of years, it was like, look, if we can just get back to buying in to pitching to contact. And some of the guys are making big strides in that department and some guys are taking a little more time on that end of it and getting mechanics cleaned up. It's a long process."
This team had some pitchers with obvious potential last year if they could get the ball over the plate.
"No doubt. There's a bunch of guys like that. It's a really, from a talent standpoint, it's very high. We've got stuff and velocity and size and strength and endurance and all the things you look for from pitchers, but we have to be better pitchers. We've got a lot of throwers. Trying to get them to understand how to pitch a little bit more, how to manipulate counts and how important strike 1 is and working ahead of guys.
"Some of the guys, it's second nature for them, guys like Kaleb Roper, Keagan Gillies or even Chase Solesky now that he's healthy. Strikes are easy for those guys, they really are, and it's a matter of just keeping them in that environment. It's been fun so far (laughs again)."
Ross Massey lost the plot for the last couple of years. The only time he got the ball over the plate, it looked like he was aiming. What have you seen in him?
"You know, I've spent a lot of time with him so far. We've done a lot of video. We took more video yesterday (November 1st). We've identified some key things we think are creating some of that. Now we're on the path of tackling the adjustments we need to make on his end. We kind of know what we need to do. Now it's a matter of putting in the work and hoping that the result gets there for us. What an experienced arm. I keep reminding him how great a redemption story he could be if he could bookend his career from his freshman year and his senior year, and who cares what the other two years were because those are behind us. Finish strong. He works really, really hard and cares a lot. He's putting in really good work. We're starting to turn a corner, so hopefully we can keep that going in that direction."
You had a good job at a good program in Southeastern. Was it an easy decision coming back here?
"It was easier than people thought it would have been for me. What a great situation I was in (at Southeastern) working every day with one of my best friends in a school that's 22 miles from the house I grew up in. But only natural to want to go back to your alma mater and want to go back to a place you're really proud of. So history rich in baseball here. Seen it from the outside for the last seven years, coaching against them and knowing what's here and what these guys are about and what the school's about and the baseball program's about. I just felt like it was a little bit of a no-brainer for me. I know it was for Matt (Riser) and coach (Jay) Artigues and all those guys. They were looking at me like you shouldn't even second-guess what you're doing, like you need to go, see you later. We wish you weren't leaving but it's time to go.
"It's been exciting because coach (Travis) Jewett's been above and beyond welcoming for me and trying to give me every tool that I need for us to be successful here, so that part's been awesome for me."
Jewett is entering a big year for him in his third year. How much pressure do you feel to get it right?
"For me, none. It's not like there's an elephant in the room. There's really not. We haven't won for two years. We're not hiding behind that and trying to gloss it over. We haven't done what we needed to do the last two years, but the talent is here. From a position standpoint we are going to be very, very talented. Very, very talented. We have eight of our nine returners back and Kobi Owen healthy again. We've got some pieces that are tremendous from that side. I told (hitting) coach (Eddie) Smith what we think is going to be our weekend rotation and our top two bullpen arms are as good as anybody in the league or better. I feel really comfortable with those guys. Our first five or six guys are really good. I'm working hard to try to develop some depth behind those guys, and I honestly feel like the key to our season this year is going to be staying healthy with our top-end guys and having four or five more guys emerge into key contributors for us on the mound. Who those guys are, I don't know yet. We've got some guys starting to separate themselves, but I'm not afraid of the challenge of it. I knew what it was when I came over here. No secret on that end. I like to compete. I think we'll be fine."
Was it more a mental thing with these guys or a physical thing?
"It's a mixed bag. It was a real mixed bag. There were a lot of things that led to being whatever it was, 280th in the country in walks per nine (innings). It was something like that. It was a bunch of things, from roles to recovery to mechanics to mental capacity to pitch selection. It's all a combined effort. When you struggle that mightily it's not usually one thing. It's a lot of things. Now do I think we're going to turn around this year and be top 50 in the country. No, that's not realistic. But we will be in the top half. With the offense we have this year and the position players and the defense we have this year, that's going to be enough."
You call all the pitches, right?
"I do. Now they have some freedom, but it's earned. They have to earn my trust a little bit and make sure we're pitching within our philosophy."
The last two years this staff could not get the ball over the plate.
"Understatement (laughs). Understatement."
What can you do to fix that?
"For starters, just kind of changing the mindset of these guys and what the expectations are on the mound and getting them to understand the importance of how many strikes can we throw and letting teams put the ball in play, pitching to contact. Some of the things that I've seen that I thought we got away from the last couple of years, it was like, look, if we can just get back to buying in to pitching to contact. And some of the guys are making big strides in that department and some guys are taking a little more time on that end of it and getting mechanics cleaned up. It's a long process."
This team had some pitchers with obvious potential last year if they could get the ball over the plate.
"No doubt. There's a bunch of guys like that. It's a really, from a talent standpoint, it's very high. We've got stuff and velocity and size and strength and endurance and all the things you look for from pitchers, but we have to be better pitchers. We've got a lot of throwers. Trying to get them to understand how to pitch a little bit more, how to manipulate counts and how important strike 1 is and working ahead of guys.
"Some of the guys, it's second nature for them, guys like Kaleb Roper, Keagan Gillies or even Chase Solesky now that he's healthy. Strikes are easy for those guys, they really are, and it's a matter of just keeping them in that environment. It's been fun so far (laughs again)."
Ross Massey lost the plot for the last couple of years. The only time he got the ball over the plate, it looked like he was aiming. What have you seen in him?
"You know, I've spent a lot of time with him so far. We've done a lot of video. We took more video yesterday (November 1st). We've identified some key things we think are creating some of that. Now we're on the path of tackling the adjustments we need to make on his end. We kind of know what we need to do. Now it's a matter of putting in the work and hoping that the result gets there for us. What an experienced arm. I keep reminding him how great a redemption story he could be if he could bookend his career from his freshman year and his senior year, and who cares what the other two years were because those are behind us. Finish strong. He works really, really hard and cares a lot. He's putting in really good work. We're starting to turn a corner, so hopefully we can keep that going in that direction."
You had a good job at a good program in Southeastern. Was it an easy decision coming back here?
"It was easier than people thought it would have been for me. What a great situation I was in (at Southeastern) working every day with one of my best friends in a school that's 22 miles from the house I grew up in. But only natural to want to go back to your alma mater and want to go back to a place you're really proud of. So history rich in baseball here. Seen it from the outside for the last seven years, coaching against them and knowing what's here and what these guys are about and what the school's about and the baseball program's about. I just felt like it was a little bit of a no-brainer for me. I know it was for Matt (Riser) and coach (Jay) Artigues and all those guys. They were looking at me like you shouldn't even second-guess what you're doing, like you need to go, see you later. We wish you weren't leaving but it's time to go.
"It's been exciting because coach (Travis) Jewett's been above and beyond welcoming for me and trying to give me every tool that I need for us to be successful here, so that part's been awesome for me."
Jewett is entering a big year for him in his third year. How much pressure do you feel to get it right?
"For me, none. It's not like there's an elephant in the room. There's really not. We haven't won for two years. We're not hiding behind that and trying to gloss it over. We haven't done what we needed to do the last two years, but the talent is here. From a position standpoint we are going to be very, very talented. Very, very talented. We have eight of our nine returners back and Kobi Owen healthy again. We've got some pieces that are tremendous from that side. I told (hitting) coach (Eddie) Smith what we think is going to be our weekend rotation and our top two bullpen arms are as good as anybody in the league or better. I feel really comfortable with those guys. Our first five or six guys are really good. I'm working hard to try to develop some depth behind those guys, and I honestly feel like the key to our season this year is going to be staying healthy with our top-end guys and having four or five more guys emerge into key contributors for us on the mound. Who those guys are, I don't know yet. We've got some guys starting to separate themselves, but I'm not afraid of the challenge of it. I knew what it was when I came over here. No secret on that end. I like to compete. I think we'll be fine."
Was it more a mental thing with these guys or a physical thing?
"It's a mixed bag. It was a real mixed bag. There were a lot of things that led to being whatever it was, 280th in the country in walks per nine (innings). It was something like that. It was a bunch of things, from roles to recovery to mechanics to mental capacity to pitch selection. It's all a combined effort. When you struggle that mightily it's not usually one thing. It's a lot of things. Now do I think we're going to turn around this year and be top 50 in the country. No, that's not realistic. But we will be in the top half. With the offense we have this year and the position players and the defense we have this year, that's going to be enough."
You call all the pitches, right?
"I do. Now they have some freedom, but it's earned. They have to earn my trust a little bit and make sure we're pitching within our philosophy."
