Van Horn on Position Battles, Pitching Ahead of First Practice

  • 9 months ago
Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn with the media Thursday morning looking ahead to the season that's starting Feb. 16 at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Transcript
00:00 I think I'm the smartest questions Andrew had he can be your bullpen.
00:06 Uh, how's it shaping up? You know, going into practice now and we haven't
00:11 heard much about gauge. We haven't talked much about him, I guess. Kind
00:14 of. How's he doing? What are your thoughts on him?
00:16 Yeah, first off, the bullpen shaping up fine. Um, we have, we have, you know,
00:22 some really good arms. Obviously, they got to go out and do it in a real game.
00:27 Bullpens have been great. Um, we feel like we have a really good mix of left
00:32 and right heading handed pitching, which is,
00:35 you know, the right hand pitching usually they're having some options
00:39 left handed out of the pen is going to be a big time plus for us this year.
00:44 And as far as gauge would, I mean, he had a really good fall and you'll see
00:50 is just really grown up, matured. He looks, he looks older. Thanks. It's an
00:57 eight. He he looks older. He's physically in tremendous shape and I
01:03 think you'll see a difference there. But as far as throwing the baseball,
01:08 he's been, he's been better than he ever has been. As far as some bullpen
01:12 arms or some names you could throw out for who you think is looking good
01:16 right now.
01:19 Uh, yeah, I could throw some out there for you. Let me see here. Let me, let
01:23 me look at my list. So basically, uh, if you're looking for a left left on
01:28 left matchup, you know, we have stone Hewlett who transferred in here from
01:32 Kansas. That's, that's what he does. He gets lefties out. Um, you know, I
01:39 think freshman Colin Fisher is a guy that could be a starter or a, uh, a
01:44 reliever out of the pen and,
01:46 you know, uh, 100 each could be a starter or a reliever. Obviously we're
01:52 gonna have to wait just a little bit for him to get right. Parker coil
01:55 starter or reliever. Um, really made a jump. So that's exciting. Tate McGuire,
02:03 freshman Gabe Gackle, freshman McIntyre, by we could be a starter would
02:08 Frank's back better than ever. Fairdee is, uh, turn the corner. I think going
02:13 out and playing in Cape Cod league and
02:16 yeah,
02:16 throwing the ball really well except for maybe one game has really helped
02:21 him. And he's a guy that has super stuff upper nineties all the time. Uh,
02:28 kind of easy out of his hand, throwing a breaking ball for a strike, throwing
02:31 fastball for a strike. I think cooper Dossett has made a huge jump, made the
02:36 team going to be right there to help us. Christian Fouch, Dylan Carter. There
02:42 you go.
02:43 And, uh, you, you mentioned deeds. Well, what's his timeline for, I guess,
02:48 getting back to practice and then when he could maybe be game ready?
02:51 Well, he's already back to practice. He's doing all the drills. He's not.
02:56 He's not throwing, uh, to hitters or anything yet. But, you know, they, uh,
03:02 they just went in there and took care of a problem that he brought with him,
03:06 and we knew it was there, had to make a decision after fall ball
03:12 because he showed his first few outings. How good he was at the end of all. It
03:16 wasn't the same. It was still good, but it wasn't nearly nearly as good because
03:19 it's pretty electric and, uh,
03:21 you know, versus I'll just wait till the end of the season. I really don't
03:26 want to miss any more like, Hey,
03:27 we're fine with you miss and we want you the second half. That's what really
03:31 matters anyway. And, uh,
03:33 after realizing that this was going on as a sophomore and then it really hit
03:38 him again his senior year.
03:39 Um,
03:42 talking with his parents and
03:44 advisor, whoever else in the doctor's like, Yeah, let's just do this. And he
03:48 was all about it. He's way ahead of schedule. So I'd say to answer your
03:52 question, he'll be ready. Uh, sometime. Probably go full blast in April.
03:58 Hopefully, I got a couple more about. I'll turn back to Oliver. Thanks. Okay,
04:03 Mason.
04:04 Yeah, coach. Just after watching your team in the fall and having this break,
04:10 what are some of the biggest things you'd like to accomplish before opening
04:13 day with position battles or whatever it may be? Yeah. So, you know, just
04:18 having Stovall back, um, man, he's been amazing. I don't again,
04:23 building accuracy of his arm
04:27 has been great getting him and, uh, behavior to play together, play catch
04:34 together every day, get to know each other.
04:37 Um, that's that's one thing because you just want the middle infielders to
04:40 just kind of know what they're doing before it happens. And, uh, you know,
04:45 just
04:45 getting that infield squared away. You know, we've got a little battle at
04:49 first base with McLaughlin and Wagner when it's left when it's right. One can
04:54 D H Wagner can actually play some outfield if we needed him to as well.
04:59 Um,
05:00 but that's that's something that is on is gonna go. It's gonna be ongoing,
05:06 and it's a good thing. It's healthy competition amongst teammates. And then
05:11 the outfield, you know, third base, you know, you could, you know, you got hold
05:15 over there that
05:16 the spark plug gamer, good player, had a good fall. And and then, you know,
05:25 with with Sprague lot, it came in from Richmond. I mean, honestly, you know,
05:30 he's
05:32 maybe our best defender just fielding the ball. I'm not saying he's the best
05:36 shortstop, but as far as just fielding the ball at third and all positions
05:42 combined, he's gonna be a incredible utility guy, maybe an everyday starter.
05:48 Um, but, uh, you know, so it's a It's a good thing. It's a good thing. The
05:53 outfield, you know, we've got to get that. We've got to get that.
05:58 Maybe left field is still up there. You know, we've been playing Jason Jones
06:04 out. There's late fall in the drill work. He's been working out there like
06:08 80% of his time a little bit at third, you know, because of if the back gets
06:15 going, it could really help us. And, uh, you know, a lot of times left field,
06:19 whether it's
06:20 in summer ball or Division one baseball, the big leagues about swinging the
06:25 bat and being a good defender, you have to be overly special out there if you
06:29 can hit enough.
06:30 So that that's that's up in the air with him and Edmondson and maybe Lovic
06:36 Lovic was someone who missed most fall practice. It's healthy now left handed
06:41 hitter, the transgenic from Missouri. We'll see how that how that plays out.
06:45 Um, and then Ty Wilms, Meyer and centers is our best defender. Um, you
06:51 know, you got Grimes battling and some other guys battling, but we'll we'll
06:55 just have to see how that that all turns out. I think it will be a work in
06:59 progress. If it comes down to just defense, it'll be Wilms Meyer.
07:04 I think the only position you didn't hit there was catcher, and that was gonna
07:08 be my next question. I mean, like we know it's a crowded room. Are you one
07:12 like an everyday guy or kind of switching out or figure it out early in
07:16 the year? What?
07:18 Yeah, I'm not. I'm not all about not having an everyday guy. I think I want
07:24 our players to know that when they walk through the door, they don't have to
07:27 look at the lineup most of the time. I think it just makes for a better, a
07:32 better player, better situation. If you earn the job, you're the best catcher.
07:36 You're the best hitter. The pitchers like throwing to you. There's a
07:39 combination there, but we are very fortunate that we have. I mean, we have
07:43 Parker rolling back. We started for us last year, and yeah, he didn't hit much,
07:47 but he caught extremely well, and he did a great job with our pitching staff.
07:51 And then, you know, you've got Hudson White who came in here from Texas Tech
07:56 that was splitting time back there with a younger player,
07:58 and he has made a huge jump on the defensive end. He throws well
08:03 athletically. He could play other positions, and he was our best hitter in
08:07 the fall. I mean, as far as just barreling up the ball and hitting the
08:10 ball all over the field, tough out, taking walks, falling off pitches. Um,
08:16 you know, he's gonna be in the lineup, and it'd be hard to beat it out. And,
08:20 uh, you know that that's a good problem. Then, you know, freshman Ryder
08:25 Helfrich is, uh, is talented of freshman catcher I've ever had. And I
08:30 had James McCann in here. Uh, that was pretty darn good. I've had some good
08:34 ones. But, uh, you know, you think back of James. His first year was catching
08:40 throw, and then the back came on. It really came out his junior year, and he
08:44 probably let us in hitting even with those terrible bats we had to use that
08:48 year. Um, but writer has a lot lot more bat potential this year. And if he
08:56 keeps getting better with the bat, which I'm sure he will arm strength
09:00 receiver, he was outstanding the first five weeks of fall baseball the last
09:06 week. Not so good. And, uh, I don't know if he just kind of hit the wall or
09:11 what happened. But, uh, he's kind of hard on himself, and he's really good
09:16 player, and he just doesn't. He just needs to relax and play. But, you know,
09:20 I mean, you got Hudson Polk that came out and hit in the fall and caught the
09:25 ball better. And, you know, is a great guy. Great team guy. We all we all feel
09:31 like that one day he's gonna coach at a high level and for a long time if
09:34 that's what he wants to do. So, yeah, you know, you go from having
09:40 two guys last year that didn't hit a whole lot, did a pretty good job on the
09:43 plate to having guys that, you know, we got four guys. And, uh, you know, how
09:47 do you let that happen as a coach? Well, first off, it's a good problem to have.
09:50 But, you know, you bring in the transfer guy because you, you know, you think
09:55 maybe you're gonna lose your freshman catcher and then he doesn't sign and,
09:58 you know, welcome to our world of professional baseball draft mid July.
10:07 You know, I won't go into that tirade again, but it's just it's an issue.
10:11 So,
10:13 Tommy there. I'm here. You know, I actually had the weather report coming
10:21 up because I was gonna ask you, does it look good to get outside tomorrow? And
10:24 I'm sure you guys have been tracking this. Are you gonna be able to get
10:28 outside some this at the start? Yeah, I mean, uh, yesterday, which was
10:32 Wednesday, it was first time that we've been outside and all three did was
10:37 shoot fly balls and do pop up communication. We stayed off the dirt.
10:41 For the most part, we didn't take any ground balls. Uh, just try to see the
10:45 ball in the air because we haven't done that. And then we were hoping the rain
10:49 would get out of here early on Thursday today, and it's not happening. So we're
10:54 gonna let the field dry again. We have the tarp on and we're gonna be out
11:00 there tomorrow. We're gonna throw the first pitch two o'clock.
11:04 Do some early work wherever we can, either on the field or in the indoor,
11:08 and then
11:08 come on over, you know, Saturday. We're gonna take Saturday off. You know,
11:13 track is got the whole facility. They have that, I think, three or four times
11:18 a year, and this just happens to be the weekend. So it'll rain most of the
11:23 morning and mid afternoons cool down.
11:26 We'll use that as an off day, and then we'll go back at it on Sunday. We're
11:31 gonna throw the first pitch at 12 noon, and then we'll scrimmage again on
11:35 Monday. You know, if it in a perfect world, we go Friday, Saturday, Sunday
11:39 would have given a Monday off, but supposed to be in the sixties or warm
11:43 on Monday and next next week looks great. So that that's that's the plan
11:47 right now. Okay. Hey, your comment on Cody Frank was back better than ever.
11:52 When did he get fully by me? What's his What's he looking like?
11:57 He looks 100% to me. You know, we, you know, last year he got up a picture to
12:02 here and there, you know, 92. I think you might have touched 93. We don't
12:06 expect in pitch there. We didn't last year. I think he probably will end up
12:10 getting there, but he's thrown a couple times alive hitters in the indoor and
12:15 pretty much sliced him up because that's what he does. He doesn't. He's
12:18 different. You got incredible change up with movement,
12:24 works fast, feel this position. He's not scared. I think he'll get a lot of
12:30 innings for its fee. Stays healthy, and I don't know why I wouldn't. But I
12:33 would say he's 100% now. The velocity is not 100% yet, but I don't think
12:38 anybody's is. All right. Hey, my last thing is other than dates, anybody else
12:43 gonna be dinged up or slow to start the year?
12:45 Uh, knock on wood. Not yet. But you know, we haven't started doing anything
12:50 yet as far as competing, running the bases and doing those type of things.
12:54 So I'm sure something will come down the road. But we're in good. We're in
12:58 good shape right now. Um, as far as injury. So hopefully we can keep it
13:03 that way.
13:04 Ellis.
13:06 Yeah, Coach, you miss it. You mentioned Jason Jones. Just how much upside he
13:10 has, how much you could help, you know, with so much power potential that
13:14 you're having to replace from last year's outfield. How important is it
13:17 for someone with some pop to emerge at that spot? It just is that something
13:19 you take into account that he might have another level to tap into this
13:23 year. Yeah, it's you know, it's time. I think he's he's ready to go. Um, as far
13:29 as just all the outside noise, all the worries. Uh, we I think we've we've
13:36 had some really good conversations in my office and here and there and coach
13:40 Thompson and had good talks with him as well. It's just, you know, time to play.
13:46 Have fun. Enjoy it. Enjoy the game. Enjoy being on a team. Um, because
13:53 because when you do that, I just I think it starts to flow for you. Yeah,
13:57 you put everybody pulls for each other. And that's that's what I want. I want
14:03 Jason to not worry about all the other things. Just play baseball. Don't worry
14:07 about what somebody down south is saying or this guy's saying or it's
14:12 time to just play baseball and enjoy it. And that's probably the best way I
14:15 can put it. I think we've got a pretty good idea of your top three starting
14:20 pitchers might be being that first weekend you play four games. I was just
14:22 wondering, is that maybe a chance for one of your younger pitchers to get a
14:25 spot to show they can do in the starting role? And as I guess you got a few
14:28 weeks to make the decision. Is there a little bit of a competition for that
14:30 spot now? Yeah, I would say there is. You know, when we when we scheduled,
14:35 we thought in a perfect world due to playing in the tournament the next
14:39 weekend, if we could play on Monday or even play four through the weekend
14:44 with a doubleheader, if we have to do the weather, we'll see how that turns
14:47 out. Skip four games in four starts, four different pitchers not play.
14:52 Tuesday gives us a chance to recover some of our bullpen more, maybe heading
14:56 into that tournament. Um, so, you know, I mean, yeah, the guys are gonna get
15:01 to throw the next three weekends. And if somebody really jumps out there and
15:06 it's easy for us, great. I think, you know, one of the pictures has made a
15:11 really big jump has been by me. He throws nothing but strikes for the most
15:14 part. Now you got a really good breaking ball. Now he's got a slider
15:17 cutter, which he needed that other pitch. Got a good change up. Um, you
15:21 know, a little older, you know, he's a guy that could take it. But there's
15:25 some of those freshmen as well. And you never know. Like I said, there might
15:28 be another one of these guys jump out there before it's all said and done,
15:32 heading into the opening weekend.
15:34 Yeah,
15:34 Matt.
15:36 This weekend specifically, what are you hoping to accomplish with your team?
15:44 And over these last couple of weeks of instructional workouts, has there been
15:47 anything that stood out to you? Well, really, this weekend to me is all about
15:52 getting live at bats on a baseball field with our pitchers going running
15:58 the bases because, you know, you're throwing the hitters inside. They're
16:01 not running. They're just swinging. And, you know, the pitchers obviously
16:06 have an advantage inside. It's harder to it's harder to hit inside in an
16:10 area like that, although our guys do a good job in there. But, you know,
16:14 you know, fortunately, we've replaced the lights in there a year or so back,
16:20 and it's it's great as far as the visibility compared to what it was. But
16:26 it's still not outside. It's just a different feel. Um, but yeah, really
16:31 more than anything, just playing the game at life live at bats on the field
16:35 for our hitters playing baseball. Um,
16:38 that's probably the main thing, you know, and then see if the pitchers can
16:42 take it what they've been doing inside outside because again, you have
16:47 elements, you have wind, you have different things. The mound feels
16:49 different and
16:52 I don't know, gain a little confidence. You know, all, uh, you know, the teams.
16:56 I don't know if I'm gonna load up team yet or not. What I mean by that is if
17:02 we were playing the next day, this group might be starting and the guys know. I
17:06 mean, these guys are pretty smart. They can figure it out real fast. Like, Hey,
17:09 I should be on that team or why am I not on that team or or vice versa. So, uh,
17:15 just playing baseball and really the second weekend, the third weekend, we'll
17:20 have to, we'll have to really start making some decisions. Then this first
17:24 weekend, let's just see what happens. You probably saw the College Baseball
17:28 Hall of Fame announced they're going to be in Overland Park beginning next year.
17:31 Given that you're from the area, I wonder what your thoughts are about
17:34 that. And you guys recruit Kansas City so hard. Do you think it benefits youth
17:39 baseball up there in any way? Well, I think that going to Overland Park,
17:44 obviously, I'm really familiar with Kansas City area growing up there. Um,
17:48 it's a great area. Number one. Uh, I just think it's a lot easier area to
17:53 get to than Lubbock. And I think that the traffic,
17:57 the attendance will be a lot better. And, uh, I think people will be able to
18:05 go out of their way a little bit on vacation, different things to go to go
18:09 through there, the museum. And I think I think it's a great spot. Central part
18:13 of the United States booming area. Uh, and it's it is a baseball area. You
18:19 know, many years ago, we used to always say that in Missouri and the Kansas
18:24 City area that ST Louis might have been a hot spot for baseball. It's still
18:28 really good. But we feel like Kansas City area, you know, whether you're
18:33 talking the Kansas side, Missouri side, north of the river or whatever, it's
18:38 it's really, really come on over the last 15 years. And, uh, that's where
18:43 we've gone and got a lot of our players. So I think I think it's
18:46 definitely gonna
18:47 it'll bring a little attention to the area.
18:49 Excellent.
18:52 Yeah, Dave, every preseason poll that comes out right now, it feels like it
18:58 comes with a picture of Hagan Smith. Just what? How has he been handling the
19:02 hype that's come along with this junior season? Anything different, you know,
19:05 mentality preparation wise, just knowing there's big expectations right
19:09 now? Yeah, he's handled it really well. You know, we there's been years where
19:13 we've had guys that were projected high picks and
19:17 they stressed out over it.
19:19 Maybe change their routine. We just tell our guys to do what you do what you
19:25 do every day. Get up, eat, go to class, come into the place, come into our
19:31 building work.
19:33 Don't worry about it. And it's easier said than done. But if you stick with
19:36 your routine instead of thinking, I gotta sleep in, I'm gonna miss class.
19:40 It just all snowballs on you. Just do what you're supposed to do, and it'll
19:45 all take care of itself. And Hagan, you know, 20 years old, be 20 years old
19:50 draft. He knows he's gonna be a good draft. Um, he But if you talk to him,
19:56 he's just it's amazing. He just wants to win at the highest level as a team.
20:02 And I think that's why the players love him so much that he just works. He
20:07 hadn't not a big talker, but he's been a lot more verbal this year because he
20:11 knows he's older and it's probably his time and he feels more comfortable in
20:15 that role. But you can't outwork this guy and his stuff has been amazing. Um,
20:21 I just I'm excited for him and his family. But I'm excited for our team
20:27 because we have him because we have him on our team. And that's why he's, you
20:31 know, been put out there a lot.
20:32 And excuse me. I know Kendall hit lead off for you guys, but you might want
20:38 him in the middle of the order. You might not have an obvious lead off guy
20:41 right now. Who are some people that might be competing for that number one
20:45 spot in the order?
20:45 Um, probably Peyton Stovall. Maybe, um,
20:51 you know, if we started tomorrow, that's probably who I would hit lead
20:56 off. Swing the bat extremely well. You got a good eyes, a lot stronger than
20:59 he was last year at this time and really seeing improvement of him driving
21:03 the ball the other way.
21:05 Um, you know, that's, you know, we want Kendall anywhere from 2 to 5 in our
21:13 order, I would say right now. And, um, you know, you know, maybe we in the
21:19 past we've had more left handed hitters in the lineup where we could go four
21:22 or five. You know, maybe this year it's three. So I don't want to put two of
21:26 them back to back, you know, at least at the beginning. So if we go left in
21:31 the top, we'll go right in the two and then probably, you know, left to right
21:35 and then left to right. So just try to mix it up at least through the first
21:40 five as best we can, you know, so later on the game there, they're not getting
21:44 us getting two for one, bringing in hot shot lefty to get us. So, um, yeah, I
21:50 would say Stovall right now. And other than that, um, I don't, I don't really,
21:55 I don't know, hope could hit lead off a little energy to the top. But, uh, you
22:01 know, we've got, we've got guys that we feel like that are more middle of the
22:04 order hitters.
22:05 Lovely.
22:07 Hey, coach, the obviously talked a little bit about the polls. Talk to me
22:15 about the respect it shows for your team to be put up there two and three, you
22:18 know, having not played a game and all that. And just, you know, where you
22:21 think you have a confidence to be able, you know, for people to do that.
22:25 Yeah, I mean, I think we lost maybe seven starters in the field again, just
22:28 like we did the previous year and maybe the year before that. And we've been
22:32 very fortunate that some of the young freshmen have developed into good
22:35 sophomores and now they're good juniors. Um,
22:39 you know, guys that maybe didn't play every day last year because of injury.
22:43 I think about McLaughlin, you know, that have come in and really made a jump
22:48 and in our pitching staff, the young guys have gotten better. We plugged in
22:52 a portal guy here and their starter reliever. Um, and then position player
22:57 wise through the portal, we've gone and gotten a few guys that, you know,
23:02 looks like they're gonna be good players for us. Um, and I just think
23:06 that, you know, the polls reflect that a little bit that they feel like that
23:10 our pitching is good and it's deep and, uh, there's a lot of potential there
23:16 with the offense. You know who's to say how that's gonna turn out. But, uh,
23:20 it's kind of been the same the last couple of years and then maybe took a
23:23 step forward this year with returning some really good pitchers and bringing
23:28 in some really good young freshman pitchers that I truly believe are gonna
23:34 help us this year. And I mentioned a few of their names. I didn't say their
23:37 roles, but talked about the bullpen a little bit. But these guys are, they're
23:42 gonna be starters here one day, maybe a couple of them this year.
23:45 Also, you like having that four game series to start off before you all head
23:49 to Texas.
23:51 Yeah, I do. I just like I mentioned earlier, I just feel like that, you
23:55 know, it might wear everybody down a little bit. Um, we hope it can go one
23:59 day at a time or one game if we have to play a double header. I mean, we could
24:03 honestly, if we see the weather's great on opening day and then Monday is not
24:08 looking good at all. We could schedule a double header opening day and we can
24:12 always make an adjustment if Saturday and Sunday aren't looking great. We feel
24:16 like we're gonna have to fight to get one in. Uh, it, it just gives us that
24:20 option and it gives more pictures of an opportunity to play. You know, maybe
24:25 another catcher gets in their, uh, position player here and there. Um, so
24:31 it's, you know, hopefully we get to that weekend. It's uh, it's good
24:35 weather are good enough to play games.
24:37 Thanks. Daniel.
24:46 Daniel, you hear me? Oh, hi, coach. Just one kind of a little bit out of
24:52 left field with practice starting. I mean, I'm just wondering all those
24:56 years ago, I'm working on a piece about the eighties McClellan teams. Just kind
25:00 of what were your kind of as a player, your feelings whenever a season like
25:04 this started again in the first day of practice.
25:07 So we're going back to the eighties. All right, you see here. So the eighties,
25:13 uh, reminds me of now a little bit with the mustaches and the long hair. Uh, we
25:19 had turf at the ballpark. So, and it was freezing there because nothing
25:24 surrounded it. If it was windy and it usually was out of the north, it was
25:28 pretty rough. Uh, but we were all excited to play baseball. Um, I don't
25:34 know if we had the rules like we do now. I think we could get it going pretty
25:37 much when we got back to school. They could even bring you in early back then
25:40 and you could just start practicing. It's a little different now. It's
25:43 limited hours up until tomorrow. Um, and then then you get so many hours a
25:50 week. Uh, but yeah, I think there's, it's not like it's, you know, maybe
25:55 the feeling of spring training because I don't know, it's not that feeling.
26:00 It's just, it's college baseball. We know that we're all starting in three
26:04 weeks and there's a lot of excitement.
26:07 And then I guess what are your earliest memories of coach Butler at McClellan
26:11 and things of that nature and McLennan when I played there? Yep. Yeah. So yeah,
26:19 I played there as a freshman in the sophomore. We had two really good teams
26:22 been to the junior college world series both years. Um, you know, a little
26:27 different feeling when you're a true freshman, just first college game. You
26:32 just, you don't know how it's going to go. And I was a starter on a team that
26:35 was loaded with sophomores. Mhm. So that was a little bit of stress for me,
26:40 but it went well. And coach Butler was a an outstanding coach. Dub Kilgo is our
26:46 assistant. He was an outstanding coach and we won a lot of games. But yeah, I
26:52 know as a true freshman, I'm sure our guys feel the same way now. A lot of
26:56 unknowns, a lot of anticipation, a lot of excitement in some cases, probably
27:01 the freshman, you know, am I going to get to play much? So we just tell those
27:05 guys to stay strong, keep working when your name's called, be ready to go.
27:09 And then you've had McClennan guys over the years on your roster. Just kind of
27:14 any sentimental value there all these years
27:16 for moving.
27:18 I would say, you know, a little conversation off the field about
27:23 living in Waco and playing at McLennan, you know, talking to him about their
27:28 days there. But I guess that would be the only sentiment, sentiment value.
27:33 It's all about
27:34 you know now about playing now and playing well and getting in the lineup.
27:39 I mean,
27:40 yeah, I don't think it puts him a step ahead of anybody.
27:45 Thanks so much for indulging my blasphemy past. Thanks, coach. Good
27:51 memories. Last one is here. Mason.
27:53 Yeah, coach. I just wanted to ask you, you know, the way that Hunter Holland
28:02 performed for y'all last year, just his first year with you. How much confidence
28:06 does that give you in a guy like Mason Molina coming in and doing something
28:09 similar?
28:10 Yeah, I mean, it's easy to be confident with guys that has shown it before. You
28:16 know, the junior college, it's a different level. You are facing some
28:21 good hitters. It's usually not maybe 88 in the lineup that you're facing, maybe
28:27 even nine and always seven good hitters, especially in league play that you got
28:32 to get through in junior college. It's it may be maybe maybe 345 guys that
28:38 they're going to fight you a little bit. But if you get pitch like you know you
28:42 can, you're going to get him out. So it's a different jump as far as going
28:46 through lineups at this level. But you know, when you get a division one
28:50 transfer, especially a guy that's been it's pitched it at a high level like
28:55 like Mason has. Um and then he goes out and shows us in the ball and he shows
29:01 our hitters in the ball that he's hard to hit. Um I have a lot of confidence
29:07 in Mason.
29:08 All right, Bob, our starter, our closer.
29:13 Hey, hey, Dave. Um hey, uh the big lefty from ST louis. Um I guess how
29:23 how's he doing? Yeah, Tommy, right? Tackling. I'm sorry. He didn't have uh
29:28 he didn't have Tommy john. He had a little short of that. I forget what
29:32 they call it right now, but it's uh not quite so invasive. Um recover quicker.
29:38 But uh he's I mean he'll be he should be healthy enough to throw sometime
29:46 during the spring as far as live real game. But he's not ready to throw in
29:51 scrimmages. I mean Adam is working hard. Uh you got a big arm, you know, so
29:58 we we are our hope was that he would get on the mound before this season's over
30:03 when he'll have to show us that he's ready, you know, with how he feels, how
30:09 he's throwing the baseball and uh you know, hopefully he'll do that. But he's
30:15 he's feeling good. He's just got to keep building up and you're able to
30:20 keep your staff intact. That's not always easy when you have success. A
30:23 lot of times teams, teams, poach your staff and I know you probably have to
30:27 fight off probably sec teams maybe. Um just how good is that that you're
30:32 going back in the staff's been together for a while.
30:35 Yeah, we're very fortunate to keep our staff together. I think we all know
30:40 each other. We all know how we act in the game and handle the game. And you
30:45 know, when you have new staff, you have to meet all the time and go over
30:48 everything. When you have guys you trust and you know that they know what
30:53 you expect. Uh you don't have to do that as much. And uh I think they
30:59 appreciate that so they can spend their time with doing what they like to do.
31:03 And that's coach pitching and hitting and other things. But uh
31:07 you know, there were a lot of teams coming after our coaches, you know,
31:12 professional teams and other college teams, other division one teams, other
31:17 teams in the league. You know, it's uh it's a yearly thing. It's a good
31:21 problem to have. And I think that uh the players see that we have a lot of
31:27 camaraderie amongst the coaches. We all get along. Um we all respect each
31:32 other. Um there's not, there's not a lot of ego going on with our staff.
31:37 It's all about, let's let's win what's in front of us today and let's try to
31:42 get to the big dance at the end of the year and do some damage.
31:45 Yeah, I think I'm good. You go into the basketball game saturday. I'm not
31:51 sure yet why you want to sit with me. You have a better seat than I do. I'm
31:55 sure I don't but I don't think so. Maybe not get some good seats but
32:01 they're not mine. So I have to make a call or you know I have to work on it
32:05 a little bit.
32:06 Okay, I'm good. Thanks. Okay. Thank you guys.
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