DOMINIC KEEGAN
Asked about playing with Enrique Bradfield Jr.
He’s impressed
Has he played with a faster player? No.
What’s he learned at Vanderbilt?
You’ve got to wait your turn
They were loaded his freshman year
He wasn’t used to watching other kids play
He had to learn it wasn’t his time, he had to get better and learn more.
Only nine can play at a time
Asked about the medical scare (he had a blood clot last year)
He lost a lot of muscle mass
Had to get his body back in shape
Had to prove he was ready to go
He was on blood thinners for a while and could do everything but play ball
What held him back?
Timing was tough.
Couldn’t find a rhythm
When did he feel he was 100% back?
Maybe the Hawaii series
Then he felt good during quarantine
Was he scared for his life or his career?
Said it’s a blur, it happened quickly
At the time he was more scared about playing baseball
He was pumped up going into the year
Asked about what else has helped him
Working with Mike Baxter and his approach
That includes what pitches he’s taking and where he’s swinging
Said he’s taking a good amount of pitches that, when he’s too agressive, he swings at
So being selective has helped.
Asked about his weight
Said he was 185-190 at one point
He’s 210 now.
Said he got weight back for Hawaii series but it may not have been all good weight
TIM CORBIN
Asked about Keegan
His power doesn’t come from loft
It’s in between a fly ball and a line drive
It’s hit hard with backspin; it has a lower ceiling but has a lot of energy
Asked about his health scare and how his parents feared for his life
Corbin said he was concerned about the health also
Said he wondered if he could recover but they got great advice and medial care
They trusted it but you never know how that goes.
Hoped he’d be okay first; there was fear he wouldn’t be able to throw or hit and those were real concerns
When did they know things would get better?
Said that came batting practices looked more like “him”
Added he had awkward injuries and things; he had to get wisdom teeth out at one point and missed a week
Said he was sent home with Covid at one point
Asked about confidence in Bradfield
If you can play really good defense, you find your way to the field
Adept with glove/can cover ground
He’s got a good sense of the game; he’s played high level baseball and summer ball
Said they’ve had long conversations about non-baseball things in recruiting
Said he can get into a lot of different things that a lot of kids can’t in those conversations and that he’s got human skills and is grounded
Said they talked a lot about UFC; they both love that
What do the four days off give them a chance to do?
Rest
Channel pitchers back in a structure
Today they’ll start to have an idea of what the pitching structure looks like
Want to play Tuesdays
Could Cooper Davis play this weekend?
He’s hopeful
Had his helmet on Tuesday and moved around well
Wlll the odd dynamics of the schedule (all the games last week, no midweek this week, followed by a mid-week next week) change how they structure pitching?
Will change how they use Hliboki
Probably not Schultz, Rocker, Leiter
Said Little might be a possibility (that’s how I determined it)
Said once they determine the rotation and that’ll help them plan with the rest of the arms
But said they probably won’t get to a Tuesday plan before they get through the weekend
Where is Carter Young’s power coming from?
He’s got more left-handed loft power
That’s common with switch-hitters who are right-handed; they’re have more backspin from the right side
But Carter’s a strong kid
There’s strength and there’s a twitch to him
And there’s some pop
Asked about Enrique and shared issues
Said he doesn’t know if it’s intentional
You want to surround yourself with people with good personality and a sense of humor who you can talk to about other things
A lot of players in the program share common values and interests
They’re looking for that type of person
They don’t want to homogenize them all
The people who struggle in baseball are the ones where it’s their identity and it’s all that matters
That makes it difficult for them to progress through the game
They want it at the front of their brain and be meaningful
But they want them to be able to step away and have balance as a person
And that matters for their future because there’s life after baseball, and also life in baseball in different roles
Has he been surprised about particular interests in players
Said sometimes players play instruments that surprised him
Conrad Gregor played the oboe
Khalil Greene (Clemson) was a WWF historian; he knew everything about it. He would ask if he would be willing to have him over to watch the Pay Per Views and if he could watch with them, to the point he’d have him to his house for fights
JJ Bleday was a concern pianist and they had no idea. Said he was coming down into a hotel lobby after losing to Ole Miss and was in a bad mood and Bleday was playing the piano and Tim made a comment to Maggie about how good the music at the hotel was. He looked up and Bleday was playing the grand piano.
Asked about the plethora of hitting options with Davis coming back
There are kids who are plugged in who’ll have to share time
They’ll have to talk about what roles inside teams look like for kids who don’t play
Brought up Spencer Jones and how he’ll be back
Doesn’t believe they have a bunch of 3- and 4-hole hitters
But they have a lot of 7-hole hitters who’ll progress and become that in time and a lot of similar players
The lineup has a long way to go
Asked about playing with Enrique Bradfield Jr.
He’s impressed
Has he played with a faster player? No.
What’s he learned at Vanderbilt?
You’ve got to wait your turn
They were loaded his freshman year
He wasn’t used to watching other kids play
He had to learn it wasn’t his time, he had to get better and learn more.
Only nine can play at a time
Asked about the medical scare (he had a blood clot last year)
He lost a lot of muscle mass
Had to get his body back in shape
Had to prove he was ready to go
He was on blood thinners for a while and could do everything but play ball
What held him back?
Timing was tough.
Couldn’t find a rhythm
When did he feel he was 100% back?
Maybe the Hawaii series
Then he felt good during quarantine
Was he scared for his life or his career?
Said it’s a blur, it happened quickly
At the time he was more scared about playing baseball
He was pumped up going into the year
Asked about what else has helped him
Working with Mike Baxter and his approach
That includes what pitches he’s taking and where he’s swinging
Said he’s taking a good amount of pitches that, when he’s too agressive, he swings at
So being selective has helped.
Asked about his weight
Said he was 185-190 at one point
He’s 210 now.
Said he got weight back for Hawaii series but it may not have been all good weight
TIM CORBIN
Asked about Keegan
His power doesn’t come from loft
It’s in between a fly ball and a line drive
It’s hit hard with backspin; it has a lower ceiling but has a lot of energy
Asked about his health scare and how his parents feared for his life
Corbin said he was concerned about the health also
Said he wondered if he could recover but they got great advice and medial care
They trusted it but you never know how that goes.
Hoped he’d be okay first; there was fear he wouldn’t be able to throw or hit and those were real concerns
When did they know things would get better?
Said that came batting practices looked more like “him”
Added he had awkward injuries and things; he had to get wisdom teeth out at one point and missed a week
Said he was sent home with Covid at one point
Asked about confidence in Bradfield
If you can play really good defense, you find your way to the field
Adept with glove/can cover ground
He’s got a good sense of the game; he’s played high level baseball and summer ball
Said they’ve had long conversations about non-baseball things in recruiting
Said he can get into a lot of different things that a lot of kids can’t in those conversations and that he’s got human skills and is grounded
Said they talked a lot about UFC; they both love that
What do the four days off give them a chance to do?
Rest
Channel pitchers back in a structure
Today they’ll start to have an idea of what the pitching structure looks like
Want to play Tuesdays
Could Cooper Davis play this weekend?
He’s hopeful
Had his helmet on Tuesday and moved around well
Wlll the odd dynamics of the schedule (all the games last week, no midweek this week, followed by a mid-week next week) change how they structure pitching?
Will change how they use Hliboki
Probably not Schultz, Rocker, Leiter
Said Little might be a possibility (that’s how I determined it)
Said once they determine the rotation and that’ll help them plan with the rest of the arms
But said they probably won’t get to a Tuesday plan before they get through the weekend
Where is Carter Young’s power coming from?
He’s got more left-handed loft power
That’s common with switch-hitters who are right-handed; they’re have more backspin from the right side
But Carter’s a strong kid
There’s strength and there’s a twitch to him
And there’s some pop
Asked about Enrique and shared issues
Said he doesn’t know if it’s intentional
You want to surround yourself with people with good personality and a sense of humor who you can talk to about other things
A lot of players in the program share common values and interests
They’re looking for that type of person
They don’t want to homogenize them all
The people who struggle in baseball are the ones where it’s their identity and it’s all that matters
That makes it difficult for them to progress through the game
They want it at the front of their brain and be meaningful
But they want them to be able to step away and have balance as a person
And that matters for their future because there’s life after baseball, and also life in baseball in different roles
Has he been surprised about particular interests in players
Said sometimes players play instruments that surprised him
Conrad Gregor played the oboe
Khalil Greene (Clemson) was a WWF historian; he knew everything about it. He would ask if he would be willing to have him over to watch the Pay Per Views and if he could watch with them, to the point he’d have him to his house for fights
JJ Bleday was a concern pianist and they had no idea. Said he was coming down into a hotel lobby after losing to Ole Miss and was in a bad mood and Bleday was playing the piano and Tim made a comment to Maggie about how good the music at the hotel was. He looked up and Bleday was playing the grand piano.
Asked about the plethora of hitting options with Davis coming back
There are kids who are plugged in who’ll have to share time
They’ll have to talk about what roles inside teams look like for kids who don’t play
Brought up Spencer Jones and how he’ll be back
Doesn’t believe they have a bunch of 3- and 4-hole hitters
But they have a lot of 7-hole hitters who’ll progress and become that in time and a lot of similar players
The lineup has a long way to go
