I talked to Jewett before the scrimmage yesterday, which I did not watch.
Are you going to do any work with the infield after the sand was coming up in the scrimmage last Friday?
"What I think happened was we got a little bit busted at the very end. The field was all kind of down and ready. They'd laid most of the product, but the sand they were putting in was a little bit wet, then we got a heavy rain and a couple of freeze days and then the sand was wet. We were able to kind of sit down in the fibre. They were trying to see if it would settle on its own, but obviously it didn't work to how we want the field to play, so we are going to get someone out here to try to touch it up. It looks good, though."
Inheriting a team with a lot of seniors can be a comfortable thing or an uncomfortable thing. What has it been like for you and your staff?
"It's more comfortable than uncomfortable for sure. Like I've told everybody, I just like the fact that they've had innings on the mound. They've made pitches in big situations. We've had guys playing defense and offense and at-bats and all the things. The price tag for the age is invaluable. It's maybe not typical of college baseball where you see so many (seniors), but geez, Louise, it's good for us. You look around at the guys we're talking about, and they're good players. I'm excited about what they are going to bring to the team, that's for sure."
Is Corey Merrill going to be your Friday pitcher?
"I knew you were going to ask me that. Can I tell you this? It's going to be him or Massey. Today, kind of one week out, I wouldn't call it a tryout, but both are going to pitch today and then obviously someone will be on course to grab it on Friday and the other guy will just have one more day and be ready for Saturday. That's kind of where it's at. France has pitched well, too. (EDs note: A poster on GoTula.net said Merrill and Massey both gave up some runs in four innings of work, so it's hard to glean much from their performance on Friday). We'll feel pretty good about where that's going. We'll probably have a more concrete idea maybe even after tonight."
Are you closer on the closer?
"Yeah. Teddy Andrews. Like I talked to you before, being a closer is not always about throwing the hardest on the team. It's like, can you do it frequently? If the situation arose 10 days in a row, obviously we wouldn't do that to him from a health standpoint, but he's a guy that can grab the ball and do it on multiple days, a few times a week, and I just trust him. He's another one of the older players that we talk about, a grad transfer. But he understands the running game, he can field his position, so he can do some things. We'll go with him to start and see how it goes."
Is the midweek starting pitcher role wide open?
"More than anything it changes maybe on the depth of your pitching staffs. You're always looking at the now. I'm kind of an acronym guy, and I talk about WIN, which is What's Important Now, so if the game is in front of us, that's what's most important now. And if we have some scenarios over the course of the weekend where maybe that potential Tuesday guy could better suit us right now and give us what we're looking for, then we're going to use him. Then we'll worry about Tuesday on Tuesday."
What do you feel is the biggest concern between now and next Friday?
"Identifying the roles out of the bullpen. That's it. I could tell you that right now. Just who it's going to be and when, just trying to figure that part of it out. Obviously we talked about Teddy. Brandon Issa has made some really good strides. He's transitioned himself from training all the time to actually taking his training and putting it into a competitive environment and trusting his training and now competing."
What kind of stuff does he throw?
"It's fastball, slider, change. It's kind of coming at you crossfire, hard to see, but I think he's going to be able to bridge some gaps for us. I believe on the pitching part of it, you kind of reverse your roles. You want to be good in the back and you want to be able to hold a lead or gap it to the closer, things like that. I like the bullpen to be strong. You can grab yourself a lot of Ws out of the bullpen when you have a lot of guys that you trust."
I keep hearing good things about Matt Rowland. Is he continuing to hit?
"He's been really good. I don't know what else to tell you. He's probably been our top hitter since the day I got here. HIs at-bats are quality, he can work counts, he can walk, he can homer, he can hit a line drive the other way. The thing a lot of people don't realize about him is he can run. I feel a little bit not sorry for him, but because he's swinging the bat so well, we're just cross-training the crud out of him. The poor guy, he's looking at me the start of training and he has five gloves in his hand and he's like, which one do you want me to use today? I'm like, use them all."
I guess when Montalbano doesn't catch, you want to find a way to get Rowland and Montalbano in the lineup?
"If you came out to training today and the scrimmage tonight, Rowland's going to play left field and a little third, first base, and through 21 innings this weekend, we've got a plan, maybe a little bit more in the outfield because he's trained quite a bit in the infield, but you are going to see him in left field, third base, second base, first base, just trying to utilize his bat and his speed. He's a smart player, too. He understands the game. I'm excited for him. He's worked hard, and this is maybe going to be his chance to get some at-bats."
Are you going to do any work with the infield after the sand was coming up in the scrimmage last Friday?
"What I think happened was we got a little bit busted at the very end. The field was all kind of down and ready. They'd laid most of the product, but the sand they were putting in was a little bit wet, then we got a heavy rain and a couple of freeze days and then the sand was wet. We were able to kind of sit down in the fibre. They were trying to see if it would settle on its own, but obviously it didn't work to how we want the field to play, so we are going to get someone out here to try to touch it up. It looks good, though."
Inheriting a team with a lot of seniors can be a comfortable thing or an uncomfortable thing. What has it been like for you and your staff?
"It's more comfortable than uncomfortable for sure. Like I've told everybody, I just like the fact that they've had innings on the mound. They've made pitches in big situations. We've had guys playing defense and offense and at-bats and all the things. The price tag for the age is invaluable. It's maybe not typical of college baseball where you see so many (seniors), but geez, Louise, it's good for us. You look around at the guys we're talking about, and they're good players. I'm excited about what they are going to bring to the team, that's for sure."
Is Corey Merrill going to be your Friday pitcher?
"I knew you were going to ask me that. Can I tell you this? It's going to be him or Massey. Today, kind of one week out, I wouldn't call it a tryout, but both are going to pitch today and then obviously someone will be on course to grab it on Friday and the other guy will just have one more day and be ready for Saturday. That's kind of where it's at. France has pitched well, too. (EDs note: A poster on GoTula.net said Merrill and Massey both gave up some runs in four innings of work, so it's hard to glean much from their performance on Friday). We'll feel pretty good about where that's going. We'll probably have a more concrete idea maybe even after tonight."
Are you closer on the closer?
"Yeah. Teddy Andrews. Like I talked to you before, being a closer is not always about throwing the hardest on the team. It's like, can you do it frequently? If the situation arose 10 days in a row, obviously we wouldn't do that to him from a health standpoint, but he's a guy that can grab the ball and do it on multiple days, a few times a week, and I just trust him. He's another one of the older players that we talk about, a grad transfer. But he understands the running game, he can field his position, so he can do some things. We'll go with him to start and see how it goes."
Is the midweek starting pitcher role wide open?
"More than anything it changes maybe on the depth of your pitching staffs. You're always looking at the now. I'm kind of an acronym guy, and I talk about WIN, which is What's Important Now, so if the game is in front of us, that's what's most important now. And if we have some scenarios over the course of the weekend where maybe that potential Tuesday guy could better suit us right now and give us what we're looking for, then we're going to use him. Then we'll worry about Tuesday on Tuesday."
What do you feel is the biggest concern between now and next Friday?
"Identifying the roles out of the bullpen. That's it. I could tell you that right now. Just who it's going to be and when, just trying to figure that part of it out. Obviously we talked about Teddy. Brandon Issa has made some really good strides. He's transitioned himself from training all the time to actually taking his training and putting it into a competitive environment and trusting his training and now competing."
What kind of stuff does he throw?
"It's fastball, slider, change. It's kind of coming at you crossfire, hard to see, but I think he's going to be able to bridge some gaps for us. I believe on the pitching part of it, you kind of reverse your roles. You want to be good in the back and you want to be able to hold a lead or gap it to the closer, things like that. I like the bullpen to be strong. You can grab yourself a lot of Ws out of the bullpen when you have a lot of guys that you trust."
I keep hearing good things about Matt Rowland. Is he continuing to hit?
"He's been really good. I don't know what else to tell you. He's probably been our top hitter since the day I got here. HIs at-bats are quality, he can work counts, he can walk, he can homer, he can hit a line drive the other way. The thing a lot of people don't realize about him is he can run. I feel a little bit not sorry for him, but because he's swinging the bat so well, we're just cross-training the crud out of him. The poor guy, he's looking at me the start of training and he has five gloves in his hand and he's like, which one do you want me to use today? I'm like, use them all."
I guess when Montalbano doesn't catch, you want to find a way to get Rowland and Montalbano in the lineup?
"If you came out to training today and the scrimmage tonight, Rowland's going to play left field and a little third, first base, and through 21 innings this weekend, we've got a plan, maybe a little bit more in the outfield because he's trained quite a bit in the infield, but you are going to see him in left field, third base, second base, first base, just trying to utilize his bat and his speed. He's a smart player, too. He understands the game. I'm excited for him. He's worked hard, and this is maybe going to be his chance to get some at-bats."