Jim Schlossnagle pleased with A&M's early strike-throwing capabilities

Texas A&M pitching has punched out 47 hitters and only walked seven through the first four games in 2024. On Thursday's edition of TexAgs Radio, head coach Jim Schlossnagle spoke about the Aggie pitching staff in addition to looking ahead to this weekend's set with Wagner.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• I feel like we’ve thrown a lot of strikes. We just need to keep moving forward. You need to score to win. If we can get strike throwers on the mound, that will give us a chance to win because we’re going to face the elite of the elite in the SEC. Hitting will come and go. That’s the part of the game most people don’t understand. You can play well and lose. If the pitching is throwing strikes, that will give us a chance on most days.
   
• I’m assuming Jackson Appel is fine. He wasn’t on the injury report. I think they just banged heads. He hit in the cages at practice yesterday, so I’m assuming he’s fine.
   
• As of right now, assuming everything stays true to form, we’ll pitch Tanner Jones for an inning this weekend — more than likely in a start on Sunday. We just want him to feel good. As of now, we’ll throw Ryan Prager in Game 1 and Justin Lamkin in Game 2. We’ve got a couple of bullpen guys I need to see how they’re feeling. We’ll throw those first two lefties and do whatever we have to do to win them and then hopefully get Jones a start.
   
• Chris Cortez has had great bullpens and is way more consistent in his practice with Max Weiner. I felt his last three innings of the intrasquad scrimmage were his three best. Then he handled the misfortune during the game and kept throwing strikes. I think Weiner told me he didn’t get to a two-ball count until his 15th hitter. Let’s see him do it one more time, and then we can all really hop on board.
   
• I’m excited for Jason Bodin, Brett Antolick, Eldridge Armstrong III, Kaiden Wilson and Troy Wansing to throw this weekend. There are only so many innings to go around. Some of those guys threw in simulated games yesterday. Bodin flashed some 97s. Those are some really good arms that we have to get experience.
   
• How can you not be impressed with Ali Camarillo? He’s playing great defense and hitting well. He’s a great guy and brings great energy to the team. It’s a long season, so we’ll just take it game by game. He needs to come on with you guys and do the whole interview in Spanish. We need some Latin flare.
   
• Weston Moss was awesome. He threw a first-pitch strike to start the inning, but it was a hit. Still, he just kept making pitch and after pitch. He limited damage. If you get a leadoff double, there’s a high chance he’ll score, and in years past, we would’ve folded. Moss did a great job. I’m super proud of him.
   
• Peyton Smith has some really unique pitches and has great energy. I just want strikes. All that stuff is fine if you can execute pitches. Some guys thrive on that emotion. It’s awesome as long as you’re effective. I don’t care if you kick it to home plate. He has been through a lot of injuries, so for him to transfer to A&M, he has a chance to earn a role. He’s beloved by his teammates, so we’re all rooting for him.
   
• Trisha Ford is so legit. We’ve spent a lot of time together with the 12th Man Foundation during the offseason. She’s a real coach. She’s doing awesome things here. They had a great weekend. There are a lot of games this weekend, and I really encourage our fans to bounce around to both places to see a lot of great baseball and softball here.
   
• I try to attend everything I can until our season starts, and then I’ve got a lot going on when it starts. I’ll watch the women’s basketball game on TV tonight. I don’t get to see a lot of basketball, but I’m a fan. We’ve got a great culture among our head coaches with Mike Elko coming in and being a great fit within our athletic department. I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and I have a firm belief that the head football coach dictates the culture within an athletic department. Coach Elko has reached out to people. He has been visible. He communicates, and there’s a group text with all the head coaches. There has been a notable change since Elko arrived.
   
• Billy Liucci claims a lot of great sports performances, so I’m just ready to see it on full display. I’ve seen him flip a football around and I was impressed. He’s got a little bit of Tim Tebow. We’re going to find out on Friday night when he throws the first pitch. We’ll celebrate Mr. Liucci's birthday on Friday, so come and support us.
   
• Wagner is an older team. There are no young teams anymore. They scored on North Carolina. The games were competitive early. We’ve got to play well. That’s the bottom line. It’s going to be good preparation for conference play and the big tournament we have next week.