The University of Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Media Day: Mike Bianco Transcript
1/29/2021 | Baseball
OXFORD, Miss. – Head coach Mike Bianco met with the media Friday as Ole Miss baseball opened practice for the 2021 season with its first intrasquad scrimmage. A transcript of Bianco's opening statement can be found below.
Opening statement…
"Thanks for being here today. A little different for us. In normal years, I know everybody is used to Zoom these days, but I think for the players, and I know myself, the first press conference and interviews, it's a little different for us, so bear with us. When I was thinking about today, I was thinking about time. This is my 21st year. As you get older, time seems to go much faster. As many as you know. As a young person, it seems like time can go so slow sometimes, at a snail's pace. As you get older, the days seem to go quicker and quicker. But I think I speak for everybody when I think back at this past year and how slow it seemed to have gone. As everyone said they're looking forward to New Year's and 2021, and as we've gotten to this year, remarkably, it has gone a lot quicker. Since players have gotten back on campus, it seems to have gotten back to a normal pace. Where the days are moving much faster and at a pace I think we all enjoy a lot more. Being around those young people and being around the kids and feeling their energy and enthusiasm and excitement to be back on the field. And now waking up today realizing the season is only three weeks away. Certainly it brings a lot of excitement not only to me, the coaches and the players in the building but around Oxford and around Mississippi."
On the starting rotation..
"Being three weeks out, this is a projected lineup. As a phrase I use a lot, if we were to start today. As many of you know, because we have some great writers out there, some great beat reporters, three weeks in baseball is a long time. A lot of intrasquads in front of us, and certainly things could change. And I don't mean because of injuries, but because guys play better. Guys are more ready to play three weeks from now than maybe they are today. So a lot of the things we're going to say are as we see them right now. Starting off, we'll talk about the rotation. If we were to start today, we would start Doug Nikhazy on Friday, Gunnar Hoglund on Saturday and Derek Diamond on Sunday. I don't think that's a surprise to many of you, and it's certainly not a surprise to us and people who have followed college baseball. One of the reasons I think expectations are so high right now, because we do return our entire rotation. But not only return the same three guys, but three guys who can really pitch it. I don't know if we've ever had as solid a three guys to start the season. Where not only the expectations were high with the program but certainly of what they can do. Gunnar and Doug pitched really well this fall and pitched like aces in the Southeastern Conference, which you would expect. Derek, as many of you know, didn't pitch this fall in intrasquads. He injured himself this summer. It was one of those injuries where, although we call it 'not serious,' it's one of those that takes a while to get over—a strain in his forearm in that flexor muscle that's near the elbow. The doctors just said take a lot of precaution and take it slow. We let him bat and play some outfield in the fall, but he rested a long time then really pitched in bullpens and some controlled scrimmages late in the fall and looked terrific and really has made some gains even in the times we've seen him at the end of the fall and this early spring in bullpens where his velocity has ticked up some. It was already in the low-90s last year. I believe his slider has improved from last year, which is something we wanted to work on and concentrate on to give him more of an out-pitch. And the changeup has improved. We're excited about the progress."
On the bullpen…
"Going to the bullpen, Taylor Broadway has put together another brilliant fall to where, if we were to start today, he would be the closer. He pitched really great in the 2019 fall, in the 16 games of the COVID season last year was one of our aces out of the bullpen. I look for him to continue to do that. We'll bring Braden Forsyth, who was actually the closer when we ended the season last year, and if I'm not mistaken was leading the country in saves when the season ended. He had just an average fall but has looked really good since we've gotten back from break. Velocity is back up to what it was when we finished, and again, just another piece of the bullpen, which we all know you can't have too many arms or too many guys to come in. One of the things many of you heard leading up to the fall was about the rosters and how many players we had. Where we see an abundance is in the pitching staff. I think we have 22 pitchers on the staff right now, and a lot of them veterans. A lot of guys who have pitched valuable innings, have valuable experience. Certainly guys we'll count on and need this spring. Guys like Austin Miller, Max Cioffi, Tyler Myers, Greer Holston, Wes Burton, Logan Savell—all guys who have pitched. I had to look down at my notes to make sure. I mean, that's a pretty big list, and those are just the returners who have pitched. Not to mention newcomers like Luke Baker from Gainesville, Florida, who had an outstanding fall. Cody Adcock, who continues to get better from Arkansas— guy who has a tremendous fastball, breaking ball is much improved. A couple other newcomers, Brandon Johnson and Josh Mallitz. Brandon Johnson is a guy some of you saw this fall would throw his fastball in the mid-90s. Mallitz has a really good two-seam fastball that has a lot of sink to it and a slider guy. Two other guys I need to mention who were here last year as freshmen and now they're that COVID-freshmen. But guys who are candidates for midweek starters are Jackson Kimbrell and Drew McDaniel. Drew really had an outstanding fall. Jackson, a little bit of an injury-ridden fall but a guy who had some midweek starts for us last year. Excited for both of those guys."
On the starting infield…
"As far as the lineup is concerned and position-player wise, kind of going around the infield then to the outfield. Again will preface it saying, if we were to start today, the starting lineup would be Hayden Dunhurst behind the plate. As you know, Hayden is one of the best catchers in the country. Had Freshman All-American year last year. A guy who can do it all. Defensively, he has been spectacular behind the plate with his receiving, blocking and throwing. But also, I think he ended last year with about five or six home runs. A guy that worked really hard this fall on trying to cut down some strikeouts, trying to put more balls in play, put more balls in play against left-handers and take the ball the other way. Credit him with all his work with Coach Clement. Really a guy who I thought improved offensively. A guy who was a good player to begin with and has even gotten better for us. At first base, Cael Baker returns. I think he finished up with four home runs in the short season last year, but a guy who brings a lot of leadership to the team. Second base, Peyton Chatagnier returns. Peyton, again, brings so much energy. Great leader. Just a really good player. A guy who competed all fall as a possible shortstop candidate, but I think he'll land at second base, at least at the beginning of the season. At third base, our team captain again Tim Elko. I look back at Tim, he's one of the older guys on the team and has been here for a while. He has put together two really good years. Unfortunately for our fans, they've only been able to see a snapshot of those two years. When you look back at the end of the 2019 season, he goes to the Northwoods League, puts up one of the best summer in that league. Comes in the fall of 2019 and has a great fall for us, has a great shortened 17-games last spring. Northwoods League, one of the few leagues that was playing this summer, Tim goes, has another really good summer, puts another really good fall together. For us, even though the Ole Miss annuals won't show the stats yet, Tim has kind of been a mainstay in the middle of the lineup for us the last couple of years. And of course, great honor again being selected by his teammates as the team captain. At shortstop, I think a lot of talk going into the fall was what's going to happen at shortstop. It was a great, fierce competition. I mentioned Chatagnier already, but Justin Bench returned as a middle infielder and competed for those positions, then TJ McCants and Jacob Gonzalez, two true freshmen, not to mention JUCO transfer Garrett Wood. With all five of those guys competing day-in and day-out for two positions in the middle, it didn't take long to know what a special player that we have in the program in Jacob Gonzalez. A kid that led the team in hitting in the fall but also while doing that, making only one error in 20 games playing mostly shortstop in the intrasquad games. He's a guy who really put together an impressive fall both offensively and defensively. He will get the nod, if we were to start today, at starting shortstop. Proud of the fall that McCants had, and certainly Justin Bench as well, but we'll go with Jacob Gonzalez to start."
On the starting outfield…
"In left field, another familiar name, Kevin Graham. A couple years ago, 2019, Kevin was a Freshman All-American and had another guy who had a really impressive fall for us offensively. I thought Kevin made some great strides, and even though he had a great freshman year, some areas for improvement for Kevin were to handle left-handed pitching. He did that mostly against right-handed pitching. Being able to handle the breaking ball a little bit better, be able to hit the ball the other way, to cut down on the strikeouts—and man, did he do that. Some great adjustments by him. I think he really matured as a hitter this fall. Again had one of the best falls of anybody just a few months ago, so he'll get the nod to start in left field. Center field, we moved Justin Bench out there. You guys who were with us last spring, the reporters realize that Justin played some outfield, and really, when we got shut down, he probably would've started in enter field that Friday night against LSU. But also look for John Rhys Plumlee, who I know you'll talk about, the two-sport star. As many of you know, Jerrion Ealy will be out for the season because of the shoulder injury. But Plumlee is there, he's done really, really well. Made some big-time improvements offensively and defensively. Even though he's a tremendous athlete, he knows, we know, that baseball is a different game. Although he has a unique skillset, there are some areas where he could improve. One of those areas was defensively. Even though he's a great runner, but to take better angles at the ball, to become a better outfielder. In just a few weeks, we could see that. So I'm happy with that, but he made some great progress offensively with Coach Clem, and he's worked really hard and a guy I have to tip my hat to. Through the fall, when he could get over here, when he was available, he has worked hard to be a baseball player as well as a really good football player. Another candidate for center field is Cade Sammons. Cade had another good fall—hit over .300 at the fall and is back at that position as well. Then in right field, Hayden Leatherwood, last spring, even in the 17 games, he probably, because of the depth, only had about half of the at-bats. But when we finished playing, he was hitting around .360 with several home runs. Just another piece that will be in the middle of the lineup somewhere when the first lineup is written out. Then at DH, Ben Van Cleve. Ben is a guy who is one of those fan-favorites. Ben is one of those guys who just always hits. The three times we kept stats—2019 fall, this past spring and then 2020 fall—Ben just hits. Every day that he walks out, he just gets his hits, gets his RBIs, gets his home runs. I think if we start today, he's the designated hitter."
Opening statement…
"Thanks for being here today. A little different for us. In normal years, I know everybody is used to Zoom these days, but I think for the players, and I know myself, the first press conference and interviews, it's a little different for us, so bear with us. When I was thinking about today, I was thinking about time. This is my 21st year. As you get older, time seems to go much faster. As many as you know. As a young person, it seems like time can go so slow sometimes, at a snail's pace. As you get older, the days seem to go quicker and quicker. But I think I speak for everybody when I think back at this past year and how slow it seemed to have gone. As everyone said they're looking forward to New Year's and 2021, and as we've gotten to this year, remarkably, it has gone a lot quicker. Since players have gotten back on campus, it seems to have gotten back to a normal pace. Where the days are moving much faster and at a pace I think we all enjoy a lot more. Being around those young people and being around the kids and feeling their energy and enthusiasm and excitement to be back on the field. And now waking up today realizing the season is only three weeks away. Certainly it brings a lot of excitement not only to me, the coaches and the players in the building but around Oxford and around Mississippi."
On the starting rotation..
"Being three weeks out, this is a projected lineup. As a phrase I use a lot, if we were to start today. As many of you know, because we have some great writers out there, some great beat reporters, three weeks in baseball is a long time. A lot of intrasquads in front of us, and certainly things could change. And I don't mean because of injuries, but because guys play better. Guys are more ready to play three weeks from now than maybe they are today. So a lot of the things we're going to say are as we see them right now. Starting off, we'll talk about the rotation. If we were to start today, we would start Doug Nikhazy on Friday, Gunnar Hoglund on Saturday and Derek Diamond on Sunday. I don't think that's a surprise to many of you, and it's certainly not a surprise to us and people who have followed college baseball. One of the reasons I think expectations are so high right now, because we do return our entire rotation. But not only return the same three guys, but three guys who can really pitch it. I don't know if we've ever had as solid a three guys to start the season. Where not only the expectations were high with the program but certainly of what they can do. Gunnar and Doug pitched really well this fall and pitched like aces in the Southeastern Conference, which you would expect. Derek, as many of you know, didn't pitch this fall in intrasquads. He injured himself this summer. It was one of those injuries where, although we call it 'not serious,' it's one of those that takes a while to get over—a strain in his forearm in that flexor muscle that's near the elbow. The doctors just said take a lot of precaution and take it slow. We let him bat and play some outfield in the fall, but he rested a long time then really pitched in bullpens and some controlled scrimmages late in the fall and looked terrific and really has made some gains even in the times we've seen him at the end of the fall and this early spring in bullpens where his velocity has ticked up some. It was already in the low-90s last year. I believe his slider has improved from last year, which is something we wanted to work on and concentrate on to give him more of an out-pitch. And the changeup has improved. We're excited about the progress."
On the bullpen…
"Going to the bullpen, Taylor Broadway has put together another brilliant fall to where, if we were to start today, he would be the closer. He pitched really great in the 2019 fall, in the 16 games of the COVID season last year was one of our aces out of the bullpen. I look for him to continue to do that. We'll bring Braden Forsyth, who was actually the closer when we ended the season last year, and if I'm not mistaken was leading the country in saves when the season ended. He had just an average fall but has looked really good since we've gotten back from break. Velocity is back up to what it was when we finished, and again, just another piece of the bullpen, which we all know you can't have too many arms or too many guys to come in. One of the things many of you heard leading up to the fall was about the rosters and how many players we had. Where we see an abundance is in the pitching staff. I think we have 22 pitchers on the staff right now, and a lot of them veterans. A lot of guys who have pitched valuable innings, have valuable experience. Certainly guys we'll count on and need this spring. Guys like Austin Miller, Max Cioffi, Tyler Myers, Greer Holston, Wes Burton, Logan Savell—all guys who have pitched. I had to look down at my notes to make sure. I mean, that's a pretty big list, and those are just the returners who have pitched. Not to mention newcomers like Luke Baker from Gainesville, Florida, who had an outstanding fall. Cody Adcock, who continues to get better from Arkansas— guy who has a tremendous fastball, breaking ball is much improved. A couple other newcomers, Brandon Johnson and Josh Mallitz. Brandon Johnson is a guy some of you saw this fall would throw his fastball in the mid-90s. Mallitz has a really good two-seam fastball that has a lot of sink to it and a slider guy. Two other guys I need to mention who were here last year as freshmen and now they're that COVID-freshmen. But guys who are candidates for midweek starters are Jackson Kimbrell and Drew McDaniel. Drew really had an outstanding fall. Jackson, a little bit of an injury-ridden fall but a guy who had some midweek starts for us last year. Excited for both of those guys."
On the starting infield…
"As far as the lineup is concerned and position-player wise, kind of going around the infield then to the outfield. Again will preface it saying, if we were to start today, the starting lineup would be Hayden Dunhurst behind the plate. As you know, Hayden is one of the best catchers in the country. Had Freshman All-American year last year. A guy who can do it all. Defensively, he has been spectacular behind the plate with his receiving, blocking and throwing. But also, I think he ended last year with about five or six home runs. A guy that worked really hard this fall on trying to cut down some strikeouts, trying to put more balls in play, put more balls in play against left-handers and take the ball the other way. Credit him with all his work with Coach Clement. Really a guy who I thought improved offensively. A guy who was a good player to begin with and has even gotten better for us. At first base, Cael Baker returns. I think he finished up with four home runs in the short season last year, but a guy who brings a lot of leadership to the team. Second base, Peyton Chatagnier returns. Peyton, again, brings so much energy. Great leader. Just a really good player. A guy who competed all fall as a possible shortstop candidate, but I think he'll land at second base, at least at the beginning of the season. At third base, our team captain again Tim Elko. I look back at Tim, he's one of the older guys on the team and has been here for a while. He has put together two really good years. Unfortunately for our fans, they've only been able to see a snapshot of those two years. When you look back at the end of the 2019 season, he goes to the Northwoods League, puts up one of the best summer in that league. Comes in the fall of 2019 and has a great fall for us, has a great shortened 17-games last spring. Northwoods League, one of the few leagues that was playing this summer, Tim goes, has another really good summer, puts another really good fall together. For us, even though the Ole Miss annuals won't show the stats yet, Tim has kind of been a mainstay in the middle of the lineup for us the last couple of years. And of course, great honor again being selected by his teammates as the team captain. At shortstop, I think a lot of talk going into the fall was what's going to happen at shortstop. It was a great, fierce competition. I mentioned Chatagnier already, but Justin Bench returned as a middle infielder and competed for those positions, then TJ McCants and Jacob Gonzalez, two true freshmen, not to mention JUCO transfer Garrett Wood. With all five of those guys competing day-in and day-out for two positions in the middle, it didn't take long to know what a special player that we have in the program in Jacob Gonzalez. A kid that led the team in hitting in the fall but also while doing that, making only one error in 20 games playing mostly shortstop in the intrasquad games. He's a guy who really put together an impressive fall both offensively and defensively. He will get the nod, if we were to start today, at starting shortstop. Proud of the fall that McCants had, and certainly Justin Bench as well, but we'll go with Jacob Gonzalez to start."
On the starting outfield…
"In left field, another familiar name, Kevin Graham. A couple years ago, 2019, Kevin was a Freshman All-American and had another guy who had a really impressive fall for us offensively. I thought Kevin made some great strides, and even though he had a great freshman year, some areas for improvement for Kevin were to handle left-handed pitching. He did that mostly against right-handed pitching. Being able to handle the breaking ball a little bit better, be able to hit the ball the other way, to cut down on the strikeouts—and man, did he do that. Some great adjustments by him. I think he really matured as a hitter this fall. Again had one of the best falls of anybody just a few months ago, so he'll get the nod to start in left field. Center field, we moved Justin Bench out there. You guys who were with us last spring, the reporters realize that Justin played some outfield, and really, when we got shut down, he probably would've started in enter field that Friday night against LSU. But also look for John Rhys Plumlee, who I know you'll talk about, the two-sport star. As many of you know, Jerrion Ealy will be out for the season because of the shoulder injury. But Plumlee is there, he's done really, really well. Made some big-time improvements offensively and defensively. Even though he's a tremendous athlete, he knows, we know, that baseball is a different game. Although he has a unique skillset, there are some areas where he could improve. One of those areas was defensively. Even though he's a great runner, but to take better angles at the ball, to become a better outfielder. In just a few weeks, we could see that. So I'm happy with that, but he made some great progress offensively with Coach Clem, and he's worked really hard and a guy I have to tip my hat to. Through the fall, when he could get over here, when he was available, he has worked hard to be a baseball player as well as a really good football player. Another candidate for center field is Cade Sammons. Cade had another good fall—hit over .300 at the fall and is back at that position as well. Then in right field, Hayden Leatherwood, last spring, even in the 17 games, he probably, because of the depth, only had about half of the at-bats. But when we finished playing, he was hitting around .360 with several home runs. Just another piece that will be in the middle of the lineup somewhere when the first lineup is written out. Then at DH, Ben Van Cleve. Ben is a guy who is one of those fan-favorites. Ben is one of those guys who just always hits. The three times we kept stats—2019 fall, this past spring and then 2020 fall—Ben just hits. Every day that he walks out, he just gets his hits, gets his RBIs, gets his home runs. I think if we start today, he's the designated hitter."
Players Mentioned
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IF
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