The University of Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Media Day Press Conference
2/16/2009 | Baseball
Head Coach Mike Bianco:
Thanks for being here and we appreciate it. The season is about to get under way and this is my ninth season here and boy, have we come a long way. I was just joking with David Kellum the first press conference nine years ago for baseball was down at the Tad Smith Coliseum which I think it was just David, J. Stern and I for that press conference with a few slices of pizza so now with Bofield's with chicken tenders and everything else we've come a long way but I do appreciate you being here. As many of you saw, the coaches preseason poll came out today on the reporters and we got Patrick from the Eagle in first place and Chase and Jeff tied for second, David and Parrish coming in fourth and fifth just too much football recruiting football board still up there and one day we're going to get rid of that board and it will become baseball season but today the press conference will be similar to what we did last year I thought it was a good format where we have each coach come up and speak on their respective positions and then at the end I'll be back up here with the players to answer any other questions that you may have.
Opening day is Friday, we open up down in South Alabama in their pre season tournament and of course we're excited. This is probably the fastest that I've felt and I don't know I'm getting older but it seems like the fastest that the pre season or the first game has gotten here but one of the things that I think is the reason I've gotten that feeling is because when we sit there and try to figure out the starting line up its probably the most open that I've ever had in my nine years. As a coach you always think that opening day the line up will change and the rotation will change but probably no more than this year with the amount of depth that we have. Returning seven of the starting nine with another great recruiting class brought in by Coach Rob Reinstetle. So many positions have so much competition even going in to opening day to be perfectly honest with you we figured out the starting line up today I wrote it out but wasn't planning on it and then the coaches said it would be much easier to talk if we could give them the starting line up for opening day so we did that this morning and not with reservations but its going to be difficult and certainly we're going to play three different line ups down there in Mobile and the line up will be ever changing with the ultimate goal with finding the best nine and the best three pitchers to start opening day of conference play in the middle of March. But with that said it doesn't mean that we're taking these games lightly. It's just a way to develop the team and figure out who our best nine are and certainly who are our best pitchers to go on a weekend.
I want to bring to your attention that some of you have heard about Drew Pomeranz, Tim Ferguson and Kyle Henson - all three of those players will not make the trip to Mobile they will be suspended for opening weekend for breaking team rules, their punishment will be handled internally. They will be able to play the Tuesday February 24th game against Central Arkansas after saying that I would like to not talk about that matter any more today. But with that being said I'm excited about the opening and it will give other players some opportunities to get in and a chance for us to pitch and play some other people. We said we returned seven of the starting nine I think this team will be more athletic than last years club. I think we'll steal more bases. I think we'll be a better defensive club which those are some of the things I felt we fell short in last year either because of personnel or probably more importantly because of some of the injuries that last years team had. With that being said I am going to bring each one of the assistant coaches up again to speak about their respective areas to tell you a little bit about the starting rotation and the defensive alignment and other guys who may not be in the starting line up on Friday that you should see through out the season. We'll start off with the most important position the pitchers and he's also going to talk about the catchers as well one of our assistant coaches Carl Lafferty.
Assistant Coach Carl Lafferty:
Thanks guys just bare with me a little bit my voice is kinda going I've been fighting a cold. But as coach said earlier this year's pitching staff just like our team is a very talented one. We are looking at the starting rotation this weekend it was up in the air really up until the last couple of inter squats not due to any one doing poorly but to so many pitches throwing well. This weekend we are gong to start Aaron Barrett on Friday night, Chris Corrigan on Saturday and Phillip Irwin on Sunday. We are looking forward to next week against the University of Central Arkansas. We're not sure who we will start on those two days, its going to depend a lot on who pitchers on relief and the amount they pitch on relief but no doubt the names that will figure into that equation will be Kyle Barbeck, Nathan Baker and Brett Bukvich.
Looking at this staff we lost a couple big guys from last year Lance Lynn and Cody Satterwhite also Justin Cryer was another draftee pitcher that has left the program, but with the addition of new guys new faces like Aaron Barrett and Chris Corrigan, Kyle Barbeck I think we are going to have another very talented pitching staff. This year I think one of our strengths is going to be our bullpen. When you look at Jake Morgan who pitched well for us down the stretch, Rory McKean tremendous at times especially coming in that middle relief role and giving us three/four innings and even in the emergence of a new guy a red shirt David Goforth with a tremendous arm he lights up the radar gun he's that low to mid nineties fast ball and obviously anchoring the bullpen is Scott Bittle who is I think you guys know he was pretty fantastic last year. I guess the most commonly asked question I get asked as a pitching coach is in reference to Scott Bittle, how will we use him this year? We will use him in the same role as we did last year. He is the guy that comes in to finish off the game to win the game whenever we need him whether it's the fifth six seventh or eight. At the same time if we need him to start he could do that as well but at the beginning of the season we plan to keep him in the bullpen. Coach Bianco talked about Drew Pomeranz earlier he won't be traveling with us this weekend but there is no doubt that he will factor in to the weekend rotation when TCU comes to town.
This year we are very excited about our catching staff. Brett Basham returns as SEC defensive catcher of the year last year and you have a new freshman Taylor Hightower who's outstanding, one of the best catch and throw catchers as far as freshmen that we've ever had here tremendous talent. Also Kyle Henson has played really well, swings a bat really well but this year over coming a little bit of arm trouble at the end of last year he has really thrown blocked and received and done everything that we've asked him to do. As a catcher I don't think you can have too many good ones and we are fortunate to have three. With that being said I will open it up with questions about the pitchers and catchers.
Q: Can you talk about what made Aaron Barrett jump out as a Friday night starter?
A: Aaron, the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about Aaron is he's a competitor. He's the guy that is going to go out there and fight for as many innings on the map but he has great stuff to boot. We're talking a low nineties fast ball that he commands on both sides of the plate does a great job of keeping it down the zone to a slider that's anywhere from seventy nine to eighty two miles an hour that's a swing and miss pitch and throughout his outings this spring he earned his spot and no doubt our Friday night guy.
Q: When did Phillip Irwin surface in the mix for that weekend rotation slot?
A: Phillip had a great outing last year against Bethune-Cookman in the Miami regional and he has continued to build on that success through the summer through the fall and even this spring and I think he is doing what he does but doing it better if that makes any sense. He is a guy that has great fast ball command, his breaking ball is a mid seventies to upper seventies curve ball that he is able to throw in the zone in any count really and he is just pitching with more confidence this year and I think that comes with the experience being around guys like Lance Lynn, Cody Satterwhite who where here last year and been though the fires and I think it just his natural progression and very proud of Phil and the way he's pitched this fall and this spring.
Q: Is Scott Bittle completely healthy right now?
A: He is completely healthy. His last outing...in three innings he had three punch outs but that is a great question and one that has been asked many times. I wasn't with the Yankees so I don't know their reasoning's for not signing Scott but as far as his last outing against Missouri where I think he struck out four in the third and to this fall he's been healthy he's been fine. We took it a little easy with him in the fall cause during the summer with his negotiations with the Yankees he didn't pick up a baseball he didn't throw so coming in to the fall we took it a little slower to get him back in shape but his last outings in the fall velocity was great, cutter was great, change up was great and we've seen it again this spring so Scott Bittle is one hundred percent ready to go.
Q: Talk about Corrigan and what he brings to the staff.
A: He's another JUCO kid recruited to do this. We saw him when we recruited him we envisioned him pitching on the weekend and Chris is upper eighties lower nineties but a lot of movement ball really sinks, runs, cuts. He has the ability to throw a breaking ball or a slider in the zone and like I said similar to Aaron he really competes and that's what he's done this spring. We do pitching report summaries and as we look at his numbers he's done a really good job of throwing the ball in the strike zone and with that kind of stuff a fast ball in the upper eighties low nineties it really moves. A breaking ball and a slider he can throw in the strike zone to keep hitters off balance he's had success.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about how nice it is to have Nathan Baker and Brett Bukvich able to start games in the midweek?
A: Well you say midweek, but as Coach Bianco said earlier, we're using these first three weeks to try to figure it out for SEC play. It's not that any of our pitchers have pitched, badly they have all pitched well. Nathan Baker has pitched on the weekend before, and as you've seen many years here the rotation isn't the same the end of the season as it is on opening weekend. Kyle Barbeck is another freshman who has pitched tremendously and can pitch in the midweek. With the scheduling change, you can never have enough pitchers. Playing five games in seven days each week is more taxing on the pitchers. The more arms you have, the better off you are.
Q: Where would Drew be in the rotation if he were available this weekend?
A: He would factor into that weekend rotation. He's a weekend starter kind of guy. I'm going to assume the next question will be what happens if Drew comes back and starts next weekend?' The best way to answer that is it will be dictated in the next give games. That's what this pre-conference schedule is about figuring it out so we're ready when we go to Nashville. But he will factor into the weekend rotation.
Q: Can you talk about how nice it is to have depth at the catcher position after last season with Brett Basham playing every game?
A: Personally as a catcher, what Brett Basham did last season...he took a lot of lumps literally. It's a grind catching that many games every day in the heat and the schedule. Five days a week and he did it day in and day out. The wear and tear can get to you, and having Kyle Henson and Taylor Hightower who can come in and catch games in the midweek and have the ability to not miss a beat is tremendous. Those guys can really catch too. I think it's going to do nothing but help Brett and help our pitching staff develop. There's competition and everyone has to bring their "A" game.
Q: Talk a bit about Brett Basham and the change in his body and the weight he's put on.
A: He's a lot more physical. I think he's somewhere around 215 pounds. After catching all those games last year, his weight had dropped. Obviously, you'll lose weight as you play through a whole season being that active. It's something he worked on as far as getting in the weight room and eating correctly to put on the right kind of pounds. Our strength staff is tremendous as far as monitoring body fat and his weight. He's put on a lot of the right kind of pounds and maintained his flexibility. His strength has increased and that will make him a better baseball player.
Q: How has Michael Park progressed?
A: Michael Park has progressed well. He's had his ups and downs, but he's one of those guys who has the ability to pump the ball in the strike zone. That's his biggest asset. He has very good command of his fastball. He's done well and I look for him to get the opportunity to pitch this year.
Assistant Coach Matt Mossberg
I would say the reoccurring theme with this team is experience and depth. That holds true for the outfield. It's unusual to have six of the seven outfielders are juniors or seniors, so we have tremendous experience. Losing players to the draft like Fuller Smith and Michael Guerrero would normally hurt, but this year we have so much depth that I don't think losing those guys is going to affect us much this year.
Returning is Logan Power, who started 64-of-65 games last year and was drafted by the Padres and elected to come back for his fifth year. We also have Jordan Henry who was the SEC Freshman of the Year two years ago and has been the opening day starter for two straight years. Michael Hubbard and Jeremy Travis both appeared in 30-40 games last year, had a string of starts and are both seniors this year. We look for them to be impactful in the outfield this year. Of course, Cliff Vaughn, who is a redshirt freshman this year and played first base last year is new to the outfield and will be looking for some time as well. We have two newcomers to the outfield from junior colleges in David Phillips and Taylor Hashman. Phillips comes from Texarkana College and Hashman from Manatee Community College where he was the Florida Community College Player of the Year. As you can see, there is a lot of talent out there defensively and offensively.
Early on a lot of these guys will play. Everyone I mentioned will have a chance to play this weekend or early on in the year. It's a good thing because we are so deep and talented. This is a good core group of outfielders and I think it's the best core group defensively in the conference if not the country when you talk about athleticism. We've got four outfielders who can play centerfield. It's exciting to coach and to watch. On Friday night, we'll start Logan Power in left field, Jordan Henry in centerfield and Jeremy Travis in right. David Phillips will DH on Friday night.
The fall has been good and all of these guys have shown in different ways they can impact our lineup. We're excited to get these guys in uniform and see what they can contribute.
Q: Talk about Jeremy Travis and what he did to get a starting spot.
A: Jeremy had that string of starts last year and did well. He is one of those guys who works his tail off in everything he does. He's the epitome of what we look for in this program. He's made extreme strides in his offense, defense and his body. He's one of those guys who put in a lot of time in the weight room. He came back much, much improved. He's continued to produce. He forced us to have him out there and has earned that spot.
Q: Talk about Jordan Henry moving to center field.
A: Jordan Henry came in here as an infielder and never played outfield. He played right field all of the past two years. Had we not had such a talented group of outfielders, he probably would have played center field last year. He's improved tremendously and taken a lot of pride in becoming a true centerfielder.
Q: Who besides Jordan Henry do you expect to be your speed guys on the bases?
A: We have put some emphasis in that. Jordan is our fastest guy and will head up the steal group. Tim Ferguson has exceptional speed. We have a lot of guys in the 6.8-7.0 range for speed which is very fast. We have a lot of guys who have a lot of confidence who can steal third base. We've worked on it a lot because we do have the personnel. We're very athletic and a lot of guys can run.
Assistant Coach Rob Reinstetle
We'll start by talking about the infield. We're lucky with a good blend of returning players but some impressive newcomers. On Friday our starting infield will be Matt Smith at first, Zach Miller at second, Kevin Mort at short and Evan Button at third. With all of those guys we're going to see a lot of different lineups. At third you could see Tim Ferguson. Mike Snyder and Logan Williams are viable options at third.
Shortstop will see Evan Button playing some shortstop, but of course Kevin Mort will start there on Friday. Miller will start at second, but don't be surprised to see some Ferguson there. Matt Smith will start at first. He was second in home runs behind Cody Overbeck in home runs last season, but he's got two guys behind him who are very capable. Cullan Kight, who has been in the program for a couple of years and will get some at bats at DH, and a young, talented freshman in Matt Snyder are backing him up. He's a big left-handed bat. He's improved tremendously in his defense. Those three will all figure into the mix at first and DH some. We have nine infielders and they are all very talented and figure into the lineup. There will be a lot of different lineups out there and guys moving to different spots. The key is we are very talented with a group of veterans and a good mix of young guys. We're very excited and it's been tough to figure out who would play on Friday.
With the offense, we've put a lot of emphasis on the base running. We have a lot of team speed and a lot of guys capable of stealing bases and running. We want to put some pressure on people. We worked hard on our bunting. Last year, we weren't great at it so we have made a conscious effort to get better and put pressure on the other team. In the middle of the lineup we have Matt Smith, but the biggest question we get is where will the other power come from? Jeremy Travis has shown he can hit some and David Phillips is an accomplished hitter from the left side as are the Snyder brothers. Logan Power is like a career .330 hitter who always seems to hit around 10 home runs. Then you have a dangerous lineup one through nine and a capable bench.
Q: Do you feel you are better at short this year defensively?
A: Tim Ferguson was thrust into playing short last year with Evan Button getting hurt. We platooned for a while then felt he was the guy to finish the year out. He had some shoulder problems we didn't know a lot about, but he never had a problem with catching the ball just the throwing. He's rehabbed and gotten his arm a lot stronger. He's strong enough that we can put him at third base and feel confident he will make the plays. He could play third or second, but I don't think you'll see him at short because of the presence of Mort and Button. Mort is steady and looks so confident and Evan is a capable middle infielder with a strong arm. He has the arm to play third and shortstop glove at third.
Q: Did Mort and Button at short and third emerge because of the defense?
A: Well, moreso because we won't have Ferguson this weekend. This gives us the opportunity to move some guys into different positions. It gets Button's bat in the lineup and let's Mort give us his defense at short. When Tim returns you'll certainly see him some at third and second, but we'll figure that out when the time comes. Early in the year it seems offenses struggle, so you put a premium on the defense and pitching. That gives us a pretty good defensive lineup out there and we'll start with that on Friday.
Q: Is this team built a little more for bunts and walks?
A: We talk about how to get that aspect of our offense. Last year we were gonna almost put fear in the other team because we were going to hit so many home runs. We hit the second most home runs in our tenure here and we still didn't get many walks. So where do you get the walks? It comes from better discipline in the strike zone and putting pressure on the pitcher laying off the pitches we swung at last year and popped up. If we can be more disciplined then that pitcher will have to come at us and we hit him or we get the walk. That's when our offense will take off with more runners on base and more discipline. When we do get our hits, they will count for something.
Coach Bianco On The Stadium Construction
We're super excited. I've said it many times I feel it's probably an unfair phrase to call it an expansion. It doesn't look like an expansion, it looks like a totally different stadium. So many of our opponents will come here and be shocked. It looks like they knocked it down and built a whole new stadium. We're excited and less than 10 days from opening up at home, but we have some business on the road. Panola Construction has done a tremendous job and have been working seven days a week and many nights well back into the summer. They are doing everything in their power to finish up. The stadium will be functional and operational and won't affect the game. There are a few things that may not be finished, but it shouldn't affect the fans in terms of concessions, restrooms and seats.
One of the guys I didn't mention is Rob Francis, our Director of Operations. He's worn a hard hat and rubber boots out there as much as anyone in the athletic department and maybe with Panola Construction. He knows as much as anyone about this project and has made it much easier on me.
Q: Was it an easy decision to keep Scott Bittle as a closer instead of a starter?
A: I don't think it was an easy decision, but it wasn't a difficult decision. Scott and I discussed it and he said he would prefer to stay in the bullpen, but he'd do whatever we needed. Some of his relief stints last year were more like starts, especially at the end of the year when we leaned on him so much. He has the capability to do either. With how dominant a force he was last year and how we don't get to the SEC Tournament or a Regional without Scott out of the bullpen, we thought it was best to use him there. We will move him to a starter if we need to, but we'll start with him where it looks like he's his best. We feel confident that Aaron Barrett, Chris Corrigan and Phillip Irwin - along with Drew Pomeranz we should be alright on the weekends.
Q: Where are you on trimming down the roster and how tough that's been?
A: We're down to the 35 and we'll have to turn that in before the weekend. We only have 37 guys, so two of those guys won't be with us in terms of playing and practicing with us throughout the season.
