It was a Zoom call with Jewett, Trevor Minder and Braden Olthoff speaking separately. Jewett spoke for nearly 30 minutes, but I've already talked to him extensively this preseason and he said nothing particularly new other than to confirm AAC doubleheaders would be two nine-inning games because the conference increased the travel roster size to 30 from 27, giving teams the pitching depth to play the full-length games. When I was growing up, Tulane used to play seven-inning doubleheaders (occasionally the first game would be nine innings) starting in the early afternoon because the baseball stadium had no lights. When I attended Florida baseball games in the late 1980s and covered them for the student newspaper, the SEC still played seven-inning doubleheaders on Saturday with a single game on Sunday. I don't recall ever attending two nine-inning games on the same day during the regular season, but I like it. Baseball was meant to be innings. It will make for some long days at Turchin, particularly since I will be sitting outside because of coronavirus protocol.
Here is Minder. I will have Olthoff quotes later on:
MINDER
On frustration when season ended last year and whether or not there would be carry-over from 15-2 start:
"Last year obviously we started off pretty well. I had a pretty good idea that we were going to be good, We were about to be tested in the upcoming weeks, but really it was tough because the group that we have was so together and connected like coach Jewett talks about all the time, and unfortunately we lost a couple of those key leaders in Grant Mathews, Jonathon Artigues and Huddy (Hudson Haskin) and Ty (Johnson), obviously four people that are tough to replace, but for the guys that came back, we got to experience what it was like to play Division I baseball for most of the new guys. The three starters that we had last year were all juco transfers. Just having that experience coming back this year will play a huge part in how we go about this season."
On replacing Kody Hoese at third base:
"There weren't a bunch of expectations coming in for me last year, I wouldn't say. Obviously I was there to take his role, maybe not as significantly but just trying to fill the void and primarily defensively from what I was told when I first got here, but then the bat started coming around. I kind of proved to myself that I could play at this level. it's just kind of crazy all this happened to be honest. It's tough to come into a situation like that, but to me, there's not much pressure there. It's just playing the game I love and having fun with the guys that I do it with."
On how ended up at Parkland College (for juco ball) and then Tulane:
"It's actually kind of a crazy story. Coming out of high school, I was undersized, not very highly recruited and one of my best friends from back home, Damian Pierce, was committed to Parkland, and I really had nowhere to go. I really just heard a lot of noise about the program, and I ended up calling the coach. He said come try out, so I went there and basically they told me I had a spot after what I showed them, and it's pretty much history. We had a good run my freshman year, which I think put a lot of our guys on the map and our team as a whole the following year. Then Tulane saw me at Austin Peay in a showcase we were in in the fall of my sophomore year and I came down here on a visit and fell in love. I tell the coaches all the time I never really saw myself at a huge school, and this place just happened to be ideal."
On getting letters in baseball, basketball (four each), football (two) and golf (two) in high school and on how good a golfer he is:
"When I play a lot, I can break 80. Let's just say that, but growing up I played every sport possible just having fun. I played football a couple years and realized I didn't like to get hit, so I switched over to golf. That's a game you have to play a lot to be good. Right now I'd probably shoot 100."
On conversion from shortstop to third base:
"I played short my whole life. Nobody would let me play anywhere but there, but when I got here I knew there were other guys who were going to be able to play. I started training a little bit to play third when I was at my juco. I was watching film on other guys like big-leaguers and stuff like that and studying the different techniques, and what I found for me is really just that I play third like a shortstop, like I have my whole life. The transition was a little tough, but to be honest, field the ball, throw the ball is about all you can do."
On feelings about lineup:
"Obviously we lost a second-rounder, (Haskin), that's huge, but there's a lot of younger guys stepping up. Our inexperience is probably what's in question there, but I think there's dudes that can hit top to bottom. We have guys who were splitting time last year in Ethan Groff and Logan Stevens and people like that that are going to play every day and have an impact for us. We have a couple of transfers and a couple of freshmen that can swing the bat, too, so I'm excited. I think we'll be all right."
On striking out 20 times last, the most on the team, and whether that was a focus in offseason:
"Yes and no. Part of what makes me a good hitter in my opinion is my ability to hit different pitches and sometimes pitcher's pitches that I shouldn't be hitting. So yeah, I'm trying to control the strike zone a little better, but as a free swinger, I don't know how to explain it, but I'm kind of just dialing back what I go after and trying to do damage with pitches more than just putting the ball in play."
On when felt comfortable last year:
"The first game I do not remember playing at all (he started against Florida Gulf Coast and went 0 for 2 with two walks), and then once we got to Fullerton (for the second weekend series), that's when it became real for me and I realized that I can actually play here. After that series the ball just started looking huge and I got a lot of confidence and the swing just started to feel good. It took me a while for sure. Hitting off our guys in practice and throughout the fall in leading up to the season last year helped a lot. There is a transition period for hitters, and that's one thing as I get more comfortable, the strikeouts will lessen. Just learning as a hitter is the most important thing, and I still have a long way to go on that side. I've always been a good defender, but I'm still learning how to hit, so we'll see."
On Olthoff:
"It's crazy. I faced him last week in my first at-bat and it was three pitches, K, and he threw me three different pitches. Against him it's insane, so you're really just trying to guess at the end of the day. If you get a knock off of him, that's all you can ask for."
On benefit to having dominator like Olthoff:
"Like you saw last year, he's lights out. There's a trust factor, too, when he's on the mound. He can defend his position. You know he's going to be around the zone all the time. It's just very comforting to have somebody like that on a Friday night. Even if you're not swinging well offensively, he's going to keep you in range and allow you to try to win the game."
On how fast he is (Jewett praised his speed)
"Not that fast. I used to think I was fast until I got here. I would say like 60 (yard) speed, I'm not that fast, but I definitely know how to run the bases. Back in high school we were super aggressive on the bases. Just instinct wise, knowing the game, it's something I've done my whole life. You just run like crazy. I think that's what he was trying to say when he says I can run. It's not so much that I fly or anything like that. It's just that I have pretty good instincts on the bases."
On getting a good jump:
"Exactly. I need it."
JEWETT on Minder
"Trevor's one heck of a human being. He's a great teammate. His skill set is very qualified to sit into those Hoese type shoes. Not putting any pressure on him, but we felt good about what we had in that replacement. He plays a game with such an evenness to him. There's a heartbeat that I really appreciate it. He doesn't take it too high or too low in either regard. He's got the ability to do what all great players do and play with an even keel. He's a very multifaceted kid. He plays premium defense. He can handle the hot smash at third base. He can play on the run. He can throw from all different angles. Those are all characteristics of a professional style infielder. Offensively you saw the numbers that he put up in a short time last year, and he's a very invested kid. He's at the field all the time working on his swing, maybe sometimes too much, which is not a bad problem, but he's always working with his swing and making adjustments. He is going to hit for a high average because he's got control of the strike zone and knows what his strengths are as a hitter. And the older that he gets, his power will continue to develop. And what a lot of people might not know is he can run. We already have some nuanced signs between the two of them like Jew, take the parking brake off, I can run, he's got good instincts on the bases. He's just a well-rounded player. If anybody can fill the shoes of a first-rounder, we've got this guy in our program and he's handled that extremely well. I expect him to have one heck of a season."
On high strikeout total:
"Striking out is not allowed in our program. One thing you have to understand is hitting in itself is one of the hardest things to do in sport. And there's some transition from junior college. I would assume through his competitive nature, learning pitchers and our plan more, that would probably decrease as the season goes along. He's probably tired of me kicking him in the knee for striking out, so he's probably going to stop doing that. We expect that he's going to hit for a high average and with some power."
Here is Minder. I will have Olthoff quotes later on:
MINDER
On frustration when season ended last year and whether or not there would be carry-over from 15-2 start:
"Last year obviously we started off pretty well. I had a pretty good idea that we were going to be good, We were about to be tested in the upcoming weeks, but really it was tough because the group that we have was so together and connected like coach Jewett talks about all the time, and unfortunately we lost a couple of those key leaders in Grant Mathews, Jonathon Artigues and Huddy (Hudson Haskin) and Ty (Johnson), obviously four people that are tough to replace, but for the guys that came back, we got to experience what it was like to play Division I baseball for most of the new guys. The three starters that we had last year were all juco transfers. Just having that experience coming back this year will play a huge part in how we go about this season."
On replacing Kody Hoese at third base:
"There weren't a bunch of expectations coming in for me last year, I wouldn't say. Obviously I was there to take his role, maybe not as significantly but just trying to fill the void and primarily defensively from what I was told when I first got here, but then the bat started coming around. I kind of proved to myself that I could play at this level. it's just kind of crazy all this happened to be honest. It's tough to come into a situation like that, but to me, there's not much pressure there. It's just playing the game I love and having fun with the guys that I do it with."
On how ended up at Parkland College (for juco ball) and then Tulane:
"It's actually kind of a crazy story. Coming out of high school, I was undersized, not very highly recruited and one of my best friends from back home, Damian Pierce, was committed to Parkland, and I really had nowhere to go. I really just heard a lot of noise about the program, and I ended up calling the coach. He said come try out, so I went there and basically they told me I had a spot after what I showed them, and it's pretty much history. We had a good run my freshman year, which I think put a lot of our guys on the map and our team as a whole the following year. Then Tulane saw me at Austin Peay in a showcase we were in in the fall of my sophomore year and I came down here on a visit and fell in love. I tell the coaches all the time I never really saw myself at a huge school, and this place just happened to be ideal."
On getting letters in baseball, basketball (four each), football (two) and golf (two) in high school and on how good a golfer he is:
"When I play a lot, I can break 80. Let's just say that, but growing up I played every sport possible just having fun. I played football a couple years and realized I didn't like to get hit, so I switched over to golf. That's a game you have to play a lot to be good. Right now I'd probably shoot 100."
On conversion from shortstop to third base:
"I played short my whole life. Nobody would let me play anywhere but there, but when I got here I knew there were other guys who were going to be able to play. I started training a little bit to play third when I was at my juco. I was watching film on other guys like big-leaguers and stuff like that and studying the different techniques, and what I found for me is really just that I play third like a shortstop, like I have my whole life. The transition was a little tough, but to be honest, field the ball, throw the ball is about all you can do."
On feelings about lineup:
"Obviously we lost a second-rounder, (Haskin), that's huge, but there's a lot of younger guys stepping up. Our inexperience is probably what's in question there, but I think there's dudes that can hit top to bottom. We have guys who were splitting time last year in Ethan Groff and Logan Stevens and people like that that are going to play every day and have an impact for us. We have a couple of transfers and a couple of freshmen that can swing the bat, too, so I'm excited. I think we'll be all right."
On striking out 20 times last, the most on the team, and whether that was a focus in offseason:
"Yes and no. Part of what makes me a good hitter in my opinion is my ability to hit different pitches and sometimes pitcher's pitches that I shouldn't be hitting. So yeah, I'm trying to control the strike zone a little better, but as a free swinger, I don't know how to explain it, but I'm kind of just dialing back what I go after and trying to do damage with pitches more than just putting the ball in play."
On when felt comfortable last year:
"The first game I do not remember playing at all (he started against Florida Gulf Coast and went 0 for 2 with two walks), and then once we got to Fullerton (for the second weekend series), that's when it became real for me and I realized that I can actually play here. After that series the ball just started looking huge and I got a lot of confidence and the swing just started to feel good. It took me a while for sure. Hitting off our guys in practice and throughout the fall in leading up to the season last year helped a lot. There is a transition period for hitters, and that's one thing as I get more comfortable, the strikeouts will lessen. Just learning as a hitter is the most important thing, and I still have a long way to go on that side. I've always been a good defender, but I'm still learning how to hit, so we'll see."
On Olthoff:
"It's crazy. I faced him last week in my first at-bat and it was three pitches, K, and he threw me three different pitches. Against him it's insane, so you're really just trying to guess at the end of the day. If you get a knock off of him, that's all you can ask for."
On benefit to having dominator like Olthoff:
"Like you saw last year, he's lights out. There's a trust factor, too, when he's on the mound. He can defend his position. You know he's going to be around the zone all the time. It's just very comforting to have somebody like that on a Friday night. Even if you're not swinging well offensively, he's going to keep you in range and allow you to try to win the game."
On how fast he is (Jewett praised his speed)
"Not that fast. I used to think I was fast until I got here. I would say like 60 (yard) speed, I'm not that fast, but I definitely know how to run the bases. Back in high school we were super aggressive on the bases. Just instinct wise, knowing the game, it's something I've done my whole life. You just run like crazy. I think that's what he was trying to say when he says I can run. It's not so much that I fly or anything like that. It's just that I have pretty good instincts on the bases."
On getting a good jump:
"Exactly. I need it."
JEWETT on Minder
"Trevor's one heck of a human being. He's a great teammate. His skill set is very qualified to sit into those Hoese type shoes. Not putting any pressure on him, but we felt good about what we had in that replacement. He plays a game with such an evenness to him. There's a heartbeat that I really appreciate it. He doesn't take it too high or too low in either regard. He's got the ability to do what all great players do and play with an even keel. He's a very multifaceted kid. He plays premium defense. He can handle the hot smash at third base. He can play on the run. He can throw from all different angles. Those are all characteristics of a professional style infielder. Offensively you saw the numbers that he put up in a short time last year, and he's a very invested kid. He's at the field all the time working on his swing, maybe sometimes too much, which is not a bad problem, but he's always working with his swing and making adjustments. He is going to hit for a high average because he's got control of the strike zone and knows what his strengths are as a hitter. And the older that he gets, his power will continue to develop. And what a lot of people might not know is he can run. We already have some nuanced signs between the two of them like Jew, take the parking brake off, I can run, he's got good instincts on the bases. He's just a well-rounded player. If anybody can fill the shoes of a first-rounder, we've got this guy in our program and he's handled that extremely well. I expect him to have one heck of a season."
On high strikeout total:
"Striking out is not allowed in our program. One thing you have to understand is hitting in itself is one of the hardest things to do in sport. And there's some transition from junior college. I would assume through his competitive nature, learning pitchers and our plan more, that would probably decrease as the season goes along. He's probably tired of me kicking him in the knee for striking out, so he's probably going to stop doing that. We expect that he's going to hit for a high average and with some power."