On Spurrier retirement: He met him once on the field at a game. He has a ton of respect for him and feels emotional for him because of the time he’s invested. He seemed clear-cut on the finalization.
On the No. 1 ranking of his recruiting class: The quality of the kids academically and athletically is good. They don’t take for granted they’re here. They could have gone elsewhere. There are many progressions that must take place for them to be here.
On the draft: It affected them. They have the right amount of players on the roster. Had 1-2 more guys show up it would have increased the competition. Losing too many isn’t a good thing.
On losing players: they want them all because of the time put into it, especially with the assistants. They’ve developed relationships. When they don’t show up, there’s a loss.
They work with probabilities and guesstimates when putting a roster together and trying to project a number. It’s always “panned out” reasonably well, they’ve never been over-booked.
Has he ever been thrown for a loop in the process? As an assistant at Clemson, he did. Happened at the CWS one year, they lost nine kids.
The team is in the locker room now.
They’ll tour the capital tomorrow in D.C. It’s a chance for them to educate players in an area besides baseball. It’s something he’s always wanted to do. They’ll scrimmage and practice on the trip. They’ll use Navy’s baseball facilities. They’ll have three days of practice and it’s a tight schedule. The NCAA allows one trip every so often, this was a good chance to take it.
Hayden Stone is doing well. A March return is a possibility.
On David Price’s appearance yesterday: he understood it. It was going to be a bullpen day. Knowing David, he told John Gibbons he was good to throw, whenever. At that point in postseason, there are no roles, you do what you need to survive and be successful.
On Price being 0-6 in the playoffs: At some point, that’ll turn. Clayton Kershaw’s in a similar spot. Price cares a lot about his teams and that carries different emotions. With David, he wants to perform for an organization and his teammates.
He’s pulled good pitchers after 4 2/3 innings. He did it with Beede and he did it with Fulmer (which to the latter wasn’t fun.) The thought process is about the team, not the player.
On the middle infield: guys are becoming more comfortable. They’re landing throws, making plays, he sees progress over three weeks ago. But there’s no clarity on who starts.
On Black and Gold scrimmage weekend: He is more an observer than a coach. It’s a good chance for him to sit back and watch as a whole.
They’re at 37 players, they have to get to 35.
They’ve got a few pro players back on campus—Alvarez is one.
He’s still bothered by the “closure” phase of baseball, regarding Swanson, Fulmer, etc. Both those guys should be back in Nashville. They’re getting rings at the Auburn hoops game.
On the college baseball season moving back, potentially: the further back you move Omaha, it gets obscured by other things. He doesn’t want to see a loss of games. He would rather have that set of issues than the ones that would result from a change.
On Kyle Smith: the team makes advancements from his influence. He’s progressing on the field.
