I talked to Travis Jewett on Friday the day before Tulane's baseball fall practice began. We had limited time before a team meeting, so I could not cover everything, but here is the entire interview. I have been told he has a three-year contract extension, but that has to stay here because he does not want to address his contract and will not talk about it if asked.
The last time you had to replace your entire weekend rotation, it turned out pretty well in 2020. This time, you actually have one of the four from last year's extended weekend series back in Tyler Hoffman, but you lost Braden Olthoff, Jack Aldrich and Donovan Benoit. How do you feel about the guys you brought in?
"I feel good. I like this group. Obviously Hoffman gives us somebody that has at least done this before. I think you and I both agree he has.a good arm, and he was a COVID juco guy, so he was still pretty green behind the ears. That experience for him going forward I truly believe will be valuable. He's throwing the ball really well right now, so that will be good, and then we picked up a few grad transfers and a couple of JC guys and some high schools kids that we really like. It will be some new, but there's some arm talent down there for sure."
Dylan Carmouche struck out the side when he faced you at Mississippi State last year. How much do you like him as a transfer?
"So after we left Mississippi State that well, I just told (recruiting coordinator) Jay (Uhlman) let's get him at some point. No, obviously he did that to us there, but he's been good. He doesn't have 100 innings in his college career (he threw 7.1 innings last year, allowing one earned run and striking out 11), but they are nine innings of SEC or whatever it is, so he has competed in that environment in a practice situation. He's had to compete against other good pitchers and some good hitters for sure. He's been a very welcome addition. Left-hander, that's nice. Left-handers in this league for some reason have pretty good numbers."
How did you get him:
"Well now with the transfer portal, you put your name in the hopper and then you get cleared through and all of a sudden you're eligible. And then, just threw out contacts in baseball and where we've been and how long we've been doing it, you get a call like hey, would this interest you, he's in the portal. And when you lose most of your rotation and your closer, you've got your eyes and ears down open to suggestions of anybody who thinks they can help us. He'll be a nice addition."
It's very early, but who are the guys you think can be in the rotation?
"We have a freshman kid from Georgia named Michael Massey. He had Tommy John as a junior, so he did pitch a little bit in his senior year, but I think if that never would have happened, I don't know if he shows up. Because from a mound perspective he's a little bit like the (Teo) Banks and (Jackson) Linn, it's a physical, mature, pro type. Fortunate for us that he chose to hang in there and come to school. I think he's got a real chance. He's not only been throwing the ball with some life, but it's around the plate."
How much does it mean for the program that Banks and Linn opted to play for Tulane rather than play professionally after getting drafted?
"It's just huge. Obviously in a 20-round draft, that pinches the talent down, and if somebody is going to take a pick from 1 to 20, I don't care what round it is, there's not that many, and somebody would think at that elite level that you would be a potential cog in their organization, that just tells you about the talent. Most of them sign. If it's 10 rounds, they for sure sign, and for those guys to have that and say, no, Tulene is developing players and there's draft picks coming out of there and I get a great education and I can kind of delay what I hope is the inevitable and come here and mature their mind and get educated and get experience playing college baseball so that they cannot just play pro ball but have a chance to.say I made a living playing pro baseball."
They are both listed as being two-way guys. (outfielder/pitcher) What do you envision as their role for you?
"Jackson is not pitching. He's got like 95 (mph) in his arm but it's probably more of a thrower, so he's not doing any pitching. Could that change at some point? Maybe. Teo and (infielder/pitcher Landry) Alligood and (infielder/ outfielder/pitcherBen) Tate, those other guys are, they are. They are doing a good job of figuring out that center line of positionally and bullpen. We have another kid named Adam Ebling, too, that is also pitching, so we actually have four that are presently doing both, so that's good."
You have a catcher who almost hit .400 last year. How good is it to have Bennett Lee back healthy?
"It's just like push pause, go off and play in the summer, come back and push play. The one thing about Bennett is he's very smart, cerebral. He gets it. Nothing's really too fast for him. That's kind of why he's successful. He can slow it down behind the plate. He can slow it when he's in the batter's box. He just looks to be the same but a year older and a little better."
How do you feel about this group overall?
"Everything in life there's these things called first impressions that matter a lot, and my first impression of this group is good. I'm not saying that equates to going undefeated, but I like them. I like their way. They are on time, early, a lot of routine oriented stuff kind of going on. The kids are around the field all the time. They are in the clubhouse all the time. Their minds are open to learning, so I like it. The way is good. As we continue to try to get better, we have more layering. We're just deeper. We have a really good freshman group in here. We've got a really good freshman group in here. We've got some nice JCs. We've got some good transfers, and then you add some of the pieces back from last year and there's a nice mix and some good competition going on"
The last time you had to replace your entire weekend rotation, it turned out pretty well in 2020. This time, you actually have one of the four from last year's extended weekend series back in Tyler Hoffman, but you lost Braden Olthoff, Jack Aldrich and Donovan Benoit. How do you feel about the guys you brought in?
"I feel good. I like this group. Obviously Hoffman gives us somebody that has at least done this before. I think you and I both agree he has.a good arm, and he was a COVID juco guy, so he was still pretty green behind the ears. That experience for him going forward I truly believe will be valuable. He's throwing the ball really well right now, so that will be good, and then we picked up a few grad transfers and a couple of JC guys and some high schools kids that we really like. It will be some new, but there's some arm talent down there for sure."
Dylan Carmouche struck out the side when he faced you at Mississippi State last year. How much do you like him as a transfer?
"So after we left Mississippi State that well, I just told (recruiting coordinator) Jay (Uhlman) let's get him at some point. No, obviously he did that to us there, but he's been good. He doesn't have 100 innings in his college career (he threw 7.1 innings last year, allowing one earned run and striking out 11), but they are nine innings of SEC or whatever it is, so he has competed in that environment in a practice situation. He's had to compete against other good pitchers and some good hitters for sure. He's been a very welcome addition. Left-hander, that's nice. Left-handers in this league for some reason have pretty good numbers."
How did you get him:
"Well now with the transfer portal, you put your name in the hopper and then you get cleared through and all of a sudden you're eligible. And then, just threw out contacts in baseball and where we've been and how long we've been doing it, you get a call like hey, would this interest you, he's in the portal. And when you lose most of your rotation and your closer, you've got your eyes and ears down open to suggestions of anybody who thinks they can help us. He'll be a nice addition."
It's very early, but who are the guys you think can be in the rotation?
"We have a freshman kid from Georgia named Michael Massey. He had Tommy John as a junior, so he did pitch a little bit in his senior year, but I think if that never would have happened, I don't know if he shows up. Because from a mound perspective he's a little bit like the (Teo) Banks and (Jackson) Linn, it's a physical, mature, pro type. Fortunate for us that he chose to hang in there and come to school. I think he's got a real chance. He's not only been throwing the ball with some life, but it's around the plate."
How much does it mean for the program that Banks and Linn opted to play for Tulane rather than play professionally after getting drafted?
"It's just huge. Obviously in a 20-round draft, that pinches the talent down, and if somebody is going to take a pick from 1 to 20, I don't care what round it is, there's not that many, and somebody would think at that elite level that you would be a potential cog in their organization, that just tells you about the talent. Most of them sign. If it's 10 rounds, they for sure sign, and for those guys to have that and say, no, Tulene is developing players and there's draft picks coming out of there and I get a great education and I can kind of delay what I hope is the inevitable and come here and mature their mind and get educated and get experience playing college baseball so that they cannot just play pro ball but have a chance to.say I made a living playing pro baseball."
They are both listed as being two-way guys. (outfielder/pitcher) What do you envision as their role for you?
"Jackson is not pitching. He's got like 95 (mph) in his arm but it's probably more of a thrower, so he's not doing any pitching. Could that change at some point? Maybe. Teo and (infielder/pitcher Landry) Alligood and (infielder/ outfielder/pitcherBen) Tate, those other guys are, they are. They are doing a good job of figuring out that center line of positionally and bullpen. We have another kid named Adam Ebling, too, that is also pitching, so we actually have four that are presently doing both, so that's good."
You have a catcher who almost hit .400 last year. How good is it to have Bennett Lee back healthy?
"It's just like push pause, go off and play in the summer, come back and push play. The one thing about Bennett is he's very smart, cerebral. He gets it. Nothing's really too fast for him. That's kind of why he's successful. He can slow it down behind the plate. He can slow it when he's in the batter's box. He just looks to be the same but a year older and a little better."
How do you feel about this group overall?
"Everything in life there's these things called first impressions that matter a lot, and my first impression of this group is good. I'm not saying that equates to going undefeated, but I like them. I like their way. They are on time, early, a lot of routine oriented stuff kind of going on. The kids are around the field all the time. They are in the clubhouse all the time. Their minds are open to learning, so I like it. The way is good. As we continue to try to get better, we have more layering. We're just deeper. We have a really good freshman group in here. We've got a really good freshman group in here. We've got some nice JCs. We've got some good transfers, and then you add some of the pieces back from last year and there's a nice mix and some good competition going on"
