UK BASEBALL HC NICK MINGIONE:
* Hard to believe this is our 9th year here. Took his son to school today, and it hit him that he was putting him in a car seat when he first got here. He’s grown so much since then.
* A lot of fun last year, huh? So that means we’ve got to do it again. (Smiles)
* Busy off-season. A lot of new faces. Season tickets going great. Only seven box seats left. Environment was incredible last year. At times, players could not hear each other in the dugout. Want to keep that going.
* Currently 44 players on team, 29 first-year players. What does that mean? More gray hairs, less sleep in the fall. Excited about the group, though, on and off the field. Talent. People. Culture… MIngione says these are the three reasons the program has grown the last three years.
* On Pitching… Return 8 arms, 1 starter. A lot of opportunities for new people. Nove, Byers have been leaders. Hogan back after getting some key outs during their run to the CWS. Ben Cleaver has made the biggest jump of anyone, throwing 3-4 pitches for strikes.
* On Batting… Again, going to do whatever it takes to win. Feel like we have plug-and-play guys. Devin Burkes back. Had surgery in off-season. Expect him to be fully healthy on Opening Day. James McCoy also back as a starter. Better offensively, but also improving on the mound. Will use him or on the mound this year. Guys like Herrera and Small are back and improved at the plate.
* Among the transfers, 16 all-conference honors players. We lost a lot, but we also brought in a lot.
* MIngione says three freshmen have really stood out in preseason workouts: INF Tyler Bell (highest draft pick to show up at a college; 5 tool guy); UT/P Leighton Harris and Nate Harris
* We’ve knocked down the getting to the CWS wall, now we want to win it. Guys back this year are showing the new guys what the standard is now.
* On the middle infield being one of the best in the country last year, and now he has to fill out a lineup card without those names… Working hard every day, stressing defense. Expect it to be great again.
* On the bullpen… Simon Gregorson, Nove, Hogan, Byers are four guys with a ton of experience. Different looks, arm angles. They talk as a staff about “the clock,” which means they want an arm-slot guy for every guy on the staff.
* Feels like they can be an aggressive base running team again this year, guys coming in combined for 100+ SBs. They want to have at least 5 guys with double-figure SBs. Loves putting pressure on opponents. Sitting back and doing nothing is easy coaching. Love being aggressive. I don’t care what the analytics say in MLB, we’re playing against 18-year-olds, and we’re gonna keep the pressure on them.
* On rosters expanding (34, possibly 38) … it’s going to be better than it was. Scholarships will be in the 20s. It used to be 11.7. hard to tell families you want their son to come here but it’s gonna cost you $40K. A lot better now with that flexibility.
* On what he learned from the fall scrimmages… Thought they were a team. They were what we had hoped they would be. Second thing, I thought they were competitive, executed the system.
* On some of these guys who are back getting some playing time in Omaha… Emilian Pitre went from having 4 AB as a freshman to All-SEC as a sophomore and a high draft pick as a junior. It’s something to build on, even if it wasn’t a huge number of ABs.
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