Michael Earley provides offseason update as baseball season nears

Just 63 days away, Texas A&M baseball season is right around the corner. On Friday's edition of TexAgs Live, head coach Michael Earley joined the show in-studio to speak on his program throughout the winter months, his first-year roster and much more. 

Key notes from Michael Earley interview 

• This period of the year is super boring. The guys are finishing finals and going home for break. Some guys stick around and lift. More guys have hung around with it being an older team, but the younger guys get out of here as soon as possible. I am ready to get the guys back on campus.
   
• Gavin Grahovac, Jace LaViolette and Hayden Schott have fully caught up to where they are supposed to be after missing the fall. The only thing they haven't seen is live pitching. That isn't a big deal at all. You are back to square one anyway once you don't see live pitching for a week or two.
   
• Schott is close to 100 percent healthy. Gavin is 100 percent healthy. They will take a few days off here and there, but they will continue throughout the season without big breaks. 
   
• The players are on their own right now. We will get them back on January 13, and then we will have a month to prepare for the season. Baseball is the only sport that only gets a month to prepare. We will get going on February 14 against Elon. 
   
• Lifting is different from when I was in college. It isn't bench, squat and shoulder press. The workouts are programmed for each specific guy. They are told what to do every single day, but they have to choose whether to do it or not. We check in on them. All of our guys want to do well. We usually have to kick our guys out of the cage, so I am not worried about them returning ready to go. 
   
• These guys are elite competitors. They are not just elite athletes. You can be super competitive and not be good, and it does not matter. These guys are really competitive and really good. The coaches are the same way. We push the competition. Sometimes, you have to talk a certain way to get a guy going. The banter in the cage is awesome. There is a time to talk about mechanics. There is time to compete and talk a little trash. Our guys have been great about that.
   
• The pitching staff has been great. A lot is said about how good the offense can be, which is warranted, but the pitching staff deserves the same excitement. We have some really good guys. I love the depth. I love our left-handed and right-handed pitching. Our right-handers are all right there together. I am waiting for a few to separate, or in a perfect world, they all rise together. I love where they are at. I like how competitive they are. They are very process-driven.
   
• I joke with Gavin Kash that I almost didn't recruit him because at Minute Maid Park a few years back, I asked him if he was okay after he ran into the wall, and he ignored me. I was coaching first base, and he played first base for Texas Tech. I kind of carry stuff like that with me. 
   
• Justin Lamkin is a year older, stronger and better. He has put on some really good weight. Jeremy McMillan has helped him a ton. He and Jason Kelly have clicked since day one. We didn't throw Lamkin much this fall. His biggest thing is building his strength and avoiding the lapses during the season. If we can keep him strong and healthy, we think he can be one of the best pitchers in the SEC. There have been times in his first two years that no one has been better than him. We are trying to get that out of him more consistently. 
   
• Kaeden Kent is awesome. He comes to work every single day. He got sick a few weeks ago, and it was wild not to see him at the field for three or four days. He hated it. He would come sit around and stay away from everyone. The one thing about him is he does not care what everyone thinks. He is himself. He is an elite competitor. He is talented, too. He is probably a top-five-round guy in the MLB Draft. He gets the stigma, as does Schott, as just being a grinder, but these guys are talented. 
   
• I found out on the day of that wedding that Hayden Schott was ordained. He was doing his rehab hitting and told me he couldn't hit because of that. I told him to have at it. It is typical of Hayden Schott.
  

• The public sees the funny Hayden Schott. He is awesome and entertaining. This guy is an elite competitor and teammate. As a coach, you give a guy some leeway because of what you see them do behind closed doors. He wants to win probably more than any guy I have ever coached. He is probably the best teammate I have ever coached when it comes to not caring about his own success and just wants to win. He takes that into his rehab and all the work that he does. 
   
• Catcher is something that will sort itself out. The way I look at it currently is that we have a right-handed hitter and a left-handed hitter. Bear Harrison's potential for power is there. Jacob Galloway is a really good baseball player. He is a really good baserunner. He can bunt and hit. Jamal George is right there as far as talent. He is as talented as anyone on the team as far as his tools a the size he is. 
   
• First base is going to be a battle all year. You hope a guy separates. Once a guy earns the job, he is not going to be in and out of that position. I want guys to be comfortable at some point. I say that now. Sometimes, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
   
• We have pitching machines that simulate live pitching. They cost $15,000. We should be as prepared as possible. Blake Binderup and Matt Bergevin have done an awesome job.
   
• Funny you ask about Troy Wansing. I saw him playing catch earlier. He is ahead of schedule for the injury he had. He is a relentless kid. 
   
• The number of scholarships is definitely changing. We don't know exactly what they are yet. You operate on what you think will be the lower amount. It's easier to add than take away. 
   
• My starting lineup? Jace is in center. Caden Sorrell is in there. I have different lineups in the notes app on my phone. You will never be right. You never know. In the spring, the games you play there are fresh in your mind.
   
• Baseball recruiting rankings can vary. For a class that was at eighth, went to 30 and finished at five or six, depending on the service... We lost some guys. We kept the guys we wanted. We were able to add some really good players. We were excited about the versatility of the group. We did really well in the state of Texas.