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Texas A&M Baseball

Aggie Baseball opens fall practice eyeing early foundation for 2019

September 25, 2018
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On the start of practice... 

“Well it’s exciting to be able to put everybody together and do it for an extended period of time. We’ve been able to do it in small amounts going through skill instruction but to come together and be able to have time to practice as well as scrimmage is something we’re looking forward to.”

On the mix of new and returning players...

“Well we feel like we're very experienced and older from a position player standpoint. We obviously have talented newcomers here, but on the pitching side of things we’ve got some experience back. We’ve got a lot of new guys on the mound that are going to have to be baptized by fire and get in the games and scrimmages and that’s the way they’re gonna get better this fall is getting in the grease and throwing against our old hitters and growing up in a short period of time. We're excited about the 6 or 7 guys we do have coming back but there’s going to be a lot of newcomers on the mound for us."

On how he enjoys the fall games...

“I think it’s great and something we haven’t been able to do before. We'll get to play Sam Houston on October 5th and come back on October 26th at Rice and get to experience a home series. Hopefully we'll have a great crowd the night before the Kentucky football game and they get to go on the road and understand the dynamic of that and being in another dugout. It’ll let the new players put on a new uniform and play under the lights. So we’ll be able to see some new things and break up the fall a bit.”

On how the coaches got fall games... 

“Well it’s something we came together for, pushed forward and ended up getting passed. I wasn’t going to give up spring games in order to play fall games but now that we have 2 that won’t take away from our 56 I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone.”

On the position players coming back...

“We have 2 seniors coming back in the line-up(Allontae Wingate and Chandler Morris). Which is great, both of those guys were impactful for us last year. To have seniors is great, when you have seniors back it helps you win championships and we also have Bryce Blaum, who had to sit out last year, because of transfer rules, he was an older guy but we also have some younger players in Tye Coleman and Mason Corbett that are going to get some opportunities as well. So it’s going to be a great competition. Hunter Watson is a Freshman for us, he’s a super talented kid so there’ll be a lot of looks that we’ll get to see this fall."

On the JUCO transfers...

“I’m glad to have Aaron Walters, he’s a year older, a lot more confident and he's more vocal behind the plate but still advanced with the bat. Mikey Honer is one that transferred from Cisco Jr College a good energy guy, receiver and blocker. We’re looking forward to him playing as well.”

On how he coaches the new catchers during games...

“It’s a process going through the whole fall with them. First getting comfortable with what we’re trying to do, not just how we’re trying to tag hitters but understanding our defense.”

On his relationship with the Matsu Miners...

“It’s all about the guys that like going to Alaska, the out-doors type guys that like to do it as a hobby you can just get away. Ben Taylor is the coach out there and not only was he there but he was with the East Texas PumpJacks before as well. We’ve sent several young guys from the mound and they come back almost 2 years better. That’s a tribute to him and his coaching staff and that’s why we trust him with our younger pitchers.” 

On how the fall can help players play during the season...

“I think it’s real important when you talk about the numbers that we have. You put yourself in the photograph and show up everyday, guys are going to be excited today and they’re going to be excited this week, but in 2-3 weeks, to be able to show up everyday after you’ve experienced failure it’s really important for us to see that. If you're a photograph that's a good thing going into the spring and they need to be able to come back in January and February and lock themselves into a position.”

On the team's health... 

“I think we’re 96-97 percent healthy. We have some guys dinged up certainly not shut down for the fall. So that’s a good place to start.

On the benefit on having relationships with summer teams... 

“The people we deal with in summer do such a great job. They're conscious of us trying to keep our guys healthy and letting them throw half a season or keeping their at bats or innings down. If we feel like we have to shut a guy down that’s what we do and they’re very supportive of it.”

On how he recruited pitchers...

“We were able to get some true freshmen in here in Landry Wideman and Brandon Birdsell who are super talented. We also have a couple of transfers from Blinn that are both guys that we’re going to lean on.”

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Aggie Baseball opens fall practice eyeing early foundation for 2019

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