Jim Schlossnagle & Co. still finding their rhythm early in 2023 campaign

No. 5 Texas A&M is sitting at 3-1 after a midweek loss to Lamar and a three-game home set against Portland upcoming. On Thursday, Jim Schlossnagle joined TexAgs Radio to offer his thoughts on Tuesday's loss, where the Aggies go from here and more.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• Are we pressing at the plate? Maybe. When you have some new kids that are committed to excellence and high achievers, they want to do well and win every game. So do I, and I’ve dealt with this before. I don't want them to play carelessly, but I'd like for them to care a little less. Jack Moss knows that when you are at home plate, I need you to put together a good at-bat. We have some guys that are popping balls up, and any time you see a good hitter popping balls up, that's an overtry. I think we have a lot of guys that want to get off to a good start, but the swings are too much. That happens every day in Major Leagues and in baseball. Thankfully we've won the last couple of games over the weekend. Our defense was a question mark at the beginning, but so far we've done well. We tried to address the offense yesterday.
   
• Can a loss get that out of their system? I don't think a loss can get these things out of their system. I know I've felt it the entire weekend. I think that's what led to Brett Minnich’s injury. He was trying to create something out of nothing. We didn't play badly, though. Playing badly to me is a ton of free bases and errors, but we hit nine balls over 97 mph in that game, and Lamar caught five of those. Austin Bost was caught at the track with the bases loaded. I think the game of baseball just got us on Tuesday, but I don't think we played poorly.
   
• Before Houston and the conference play, I think we have a couple of guys I want to work with. We had nine guys throw simulated games yesterday. Brad Rudis needed a re-check. Rudis looked the best I've seen him yesterday. You have guys like Evan Aschenbeck and Carson Lambert that have gotten back on the mound. We have Brandyn Garcia, and we need to pick and choose our time with him. I don't want to ride Robert Hogan or Shane Sdao too much, too early, but we have to win those games.
   
• There are going to be a lot of games this year that are not going to be the best. When you look at the Major League draft, if we don't play well, we are going to lose, but if we play well against these teams with high draftable players, that is what we are looking for.
   
• There are no young teams anymore. No team is going to come into Olsen Field and be spooked by the crowd. These teams are juniors and seniors, and they aren't new to college baseball.
   
• I wasn't upset with our attitude and effort on Tuesday night. We just got outplayed.
   
• We are going to give Kaeden Kent as many bats as we can. Kasen Wells and Stanley Tucker too. Kent had the chance to be the most complete offensive player. Injuries just give you opportunities to make your team better. I thought Kent did a nice job. Hunter Haas crushed two balls. I think that's the plan moving though; to get most of the guys opportunities, with Kent getting the majority of those.
   
• Just watch them. Put your eyes on Max Kaufer and Nathan Dettmer. Kaufer is encouraging and fired up every time he gets up to bat. JD Gregson and Hank Bard both did a great job with that. Kaufer has walked five times and has a high on-base percentage. Gregson has had a couple of hits. Right now going into the season, they are giving the best that we can hope for.
   
• I think there are a couple of individual adjustments we need to make with the new pace-of-play rules. We have a couple of pitchers that need to speed up their routine. They are doing great. I hate putting the umps in situations where they have to think more about ball fouls, outs and safe. They are getting used to it.
   
• They say they aren't looking at the length of the game, but they want to increase the pace of play. It's such a drastic change in the way kids grew up playing and umpires grew up umpiring.
   
• I think it's important to get Dettmer back on the mound. Portland will be as good or even better than Seattle. We have Dettmer on a short leash at this point, and our offense needs to continue to trust. We are also breaking out a brand new uniform on Sunday that everyone is going to like.