5 Days 'til Aggie Baseball: One-on-One with hitting coach Michael Earley

It’s that time of year! The Texas Aggie baseball team is set to open up the 2022 season on Friday against Fordham at Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park. We're counting down the days with our 2022 Aggie Baseball Preview Series.

After spending four seasons at Arizona State, Michael Earley has joined Jim Schlossnagle's staff as Texas A&M's new hitting coach. Earley sat down with Ryan Brauninger to discuss hitting philosophy, what to expect from the Aggie offense in 2022 and much more.

Key notes from Michael Earley interview

• The reception has been unbelievable. I could not have imagined more welcoming people. The town and everyone have been overwhelming in a really good way. The people around here are absolutely amazing. Everything has been a great fit as far as having a great club team to play for in town. I cannot say enough about the people of this town and the fans.
   
• I've watched a ton of YouTube videos just to get a clue as to what the atmosphere is. No offense to the Pac-12, they just don't generate the same amount of fans as you do in the SEC. I don’t get to play in it, but the second-best thing is I get to coach in it. How could you ever be tired or not have energy when you have that behind you? The Ball 5 chants, the bubbles, all of it. I'm up on my research on the stadiums, so I’m ready to go. They’re putting in the external bleachers right now outside the office. It’s getting close. It’s coming quick, and it's going to be a great time.
   
• Everyone asks what my philosophy is, and I've always said that I'm work-based. As a player, I probably hit too much or did too much. I was probably too hard on myself. Learning how to push those limits, and we do swing it a lot — and I’ll always boarder on going a little more because it's hitting, and it's fun. The mental side of it too. I can see when a guy is down. I can see when they're Too high. As a former player, I was too hard on myself, so I use that experience help guys through it at the college level. You forget that these guys were just in high school, and even though they look big, strong and mature, that's not the case a lot of the times. Teaching them to work and how to work the right way while also being mentally sharp.
   
• As a coach, when I got into coaching, I always said that I would never forget how hard this game is. When you watch it from the stands or from the side, it looks easier than it actually is. Being there and being available for our players as a coach, I think that your best ability is your availability. I like to pride myself on being there for whatever they need.
   
• I give our players a ton of freedom at the beginning and a ton of freedom in general, as long as you're doing what you're supposed to do. As a hitter, I tell guys and recruits all the time that the goal is for them to come in here for three or four years and we never talk about hitting because you're just hitting well. Inevitably, that's not the case, and inevitably, they will come to you. Still, you have to know when. You can't keep waiting and letting them keep failing and failing until they come to you. Still, they’ll have a tone of freedom as long as they do their job. As long as you're doing what you're supposed to do, your routine is set up for you.
   
• People do have external coaches. I’ve probably already talked to four or five of them. The kids have been pretty successful, and obviously, they've gotten themselves to Texas A&M. Someone obviously helped them. Tell me what has worked for you, and let's figure out how to take the next step and expand on what you're doing. Some people shy away from that stuff. At Arizona State, I had some dads that played. I met with them before I even worked with their kids to figure out what they had done with them. Obviously, it worked and we might change some stuff, but the foundation is what got them here. Why would we not build off of that?
   
• I want them to be competitive. As simple as that sounds, you could have a bad swing or an ugly swing, but if you're competitive and you're on time, then you have a chance. I want them to be tough and grind out at-bats. We're going to make mistakes. You're going to make a ton of mistakes. Way more mistakes as a hitter than doing stuff right. When you leave the park, I want people to say it was a battle and they grinded. That pitcher might have them for five innings, but when it mattered, they got it done. I think you’ll see that with our guys. With Schlossnagle, being non-competitive is not an option, or you're not playing. I think how we go about practice and how we do everything is why that's going to be. We're going to take our lumps, and good pitching will beat good hitting all the time. If you get them at the right time and just be better in that AB, we'll be pretty good. I want people to walk away from the park saying those guys competed.
   
• To me, in my opinion, if you can't hit a fastball, you can't play. In this league, you're going to see a lot of fastballs. Guys have a lot of velo. We train that a lot. We're going to be on time for heaters. Reacting to off-speed, on-time for heaters. As simple as that is, that’s what the game is. I've never seen a great hitter that can't handle fastballs. Great hitters can handle fastballs. They stay on that fastball with the opposite-field approach. They carry their bat over to stay on the off-speed as well. We want to be on-time for fastballs. We're looking heaters about every pitch.
   
• If you can't hit a fastball, you're going to make the pitcher's life easy. Those pitchers, if you let them throw a fastball every single time, good luck. You have to get into their secondary stuff and make them throw other pitchers. I haven't been in this league. I've gotten the chance to compete against some teams. The velocity is something that is obviously more than what you're going to see in other leagues, so if you can't hit a fastball, you can't play.
   
• I knew what Jack Moss was going to do. He's one of the best hitters I've ever coached. He had a great year last year in a great conference. He hit .305 with six home runs as a freshman. That's impressive. I knew Jack would be bigger, strong. I don't think Jack needs any motivation, but I think he has found another level since he got here. I think he's so excited to be here. I'm not surprised at all by Jack Moss. There's nothing about him at all that will ever surprise me about him because of his work ethic. He's a competitor. He is one of the best hitters I've ever had and one of the best competitors I've ever had. Mechanically sound. Mentally sound. He has all the parts to be a big name when it comes to the batter's box.
   
• Dylan Rock is a beast. Strength. Competitive. A knack to be on time. He is rarely not on time, and he's got a really good swing. That strength component, this dude is jacked out of his mind. He is a big dude. He looks like a boulder. He's super competitive and works his butt off to a point where we had to slow him down in the fall because he might’ve been doing a bit too much. What a great problem to have. He has impressed me. His exit velo is off the charts. He had a really good fall, and he has been an unbelievable pickup for us.
   
• I think Kalae Harrison is going to make some definite strides because we've made some mechanical adjustments. He's a guy that I kind of watched before I stepped in, and he's someone that I didn't really wait on to fix. I talked to him about some things, and he agreed. If you hit like he did, whether you're young or not, you're looking for some ways to get better. There is more in the tank there, for sure. He's hitting the ball better the other way, and at the same time, he's being more selective. When he's more aggressive, he actually sees the ball better. When he's passive and tries to dink and dunk, that's when he swings at bad pitches,  just trying to put it in play. For him, it's a mindset thing. There were some mechanical adjustments, but he's a worker too.
   
• We have a ton of guys that work. They work, they work, they work. They don't really have an option to, but we don't have to tell them to.
   
• Those guys are special for sure. I've been lucky to coach a couple of guys that have been picked pretty high with unbelievable tools where when the ball hits the bat, it just sounds different. Those guys have that sound. Are they doing it as consistently? No, not yet, but I think close and trying to get there. If one of those guys can come through and have a big year... If they both do, that’s some serious stuff.
   
• With Logan Britt, our relationship started off pretty early when he entered the transfer portal. When I was on the phone with him, we wanted him to come back. One of the issues he had was changing too much. He would change, change and change. I told him, "I promise you, I won't let you change.” Once it works and we find what works, we're going to stick with it. To his credit, he has done it. He's similar to a guy I had at ASU in Hunter Bishop, who was the tenth pitch overall. Once we finally got him to stay the same no matter what. I told Logan that I would hold him accountable and we were going to get this done. He has dived right in. That kid is in my pocket all the time like, “Let's hit, let's hit, let's hit." He would've hit on Christmas if we were allowed to. I can't say enough good things about him.
   
• I like everything about Austin Bost. That kid is just a great guy. He knows how to hit. He knows how to find the barrel, and he is always on time. Talk about a competitor. He is an absolute competitor and a great leader, great teammate. When he was out, you should've seen how many visualized at-bats he took. He's a tough kid who has a great swing, great approach and does everything right. He’s one of those where you can't not talk about him. He hit .300 in the SEC last year in conference play. This guy is a hitter. He is a real hitter. The competitiveness with him is off the charts, and he will do anything to get a hit. That really trickles down to some of the young guys, and that's why we need to get him back. When you have guys like that, it rubs off on the other guys. It was disappointing not to have him in the fall, but as long as he's healthy, I'm not worried about him. That guy will hit.
   
• The young guys have the great ability to take coaching right away. I know some of them came from great high school and select programs, and that helps a ton. Their work ethic and willingness to be coached is special. They're in there grinding. You've got Chanden Scamardo, Ty Hodge, Brandon Bishop, Austin Stracener. Those guys are in there all the time. Great kids, and they work. You can't ask for anything more than that out of a freshman. I know freshman year can be a lot because you've got all these things. You've got class, but those guys don't miss a thing.
   
• Scamardo has really put in a ton of work. He's really grinding. That strength component, and strength isn't a tool, but it should be when it comes to him. That guy could take his bat and break it. His hands are so strong. He has a good foundation, a good base and doesn't get knocked off his spot a lot. You don't see him taking pitches. He's in the same spot, and that's why he's consistent. He has really worked a lot on hitting the ball the other way. If he learns to do that consistently... I'm not sure about him yet, but it could be off-the-charts because the power and strength are real.