There was a Texas One Fund baseball event last week and an IT poster shared some nuggets
Baseball fundraiser tidbits -
Michael Cantù is back as a student assistant and will coach first base. Nolan Cain will coach third.
Schloss says he is not a big believer in bunting, unless you need 1 run in the 9th to win the game. He said the team will be very aggressive on the base paths, and that good teams steal at an 85% success rate. He says don’t just remember the time we got thrown out, but also remember the other 9 times we were successful.
40 msn roster this year, going to 34 next year.
Get your pitch. Take pitchers deep into the count, until you get the pitch you want. Juan Soto just signed the biggest contact ever, and he swings at fewer pitches than just about everybody.
They have all the contracts signed for the non- conference games, but still working on finalizing game starting times before releasing the complete schedule. We have the conf schedule - first SEC competition will be at Miss St, first home SEC series will be with LSU.
Pitchers in rehab all doing well, all may have a chance to contribute - but still have to show it on the mound.
When asked about starters, Will Mercer and Jared Spencer were mentioned. Spencer may be transitioned from a reliever to a starter.
Max talked about pitching philosophy - throw your best pitch in the strike zone, pitch to contact if necessary. Let your defense help, and it is almost selfish (and doesn’t work) to try and strike out everybody.
Avg ERA in the SEC was over 5, with starters only averaging 4.1 innings per game - offensive league. Don’t expect a lot of 1-0 ball games.
“Coach fed, team led.” Lots of leaders on the team, hopefully helping the young guys to learn how to make good decisions on and off the field. Schuessler, Flores, Dre Duplantier mentioned as team leaders.
Schloss repeated what he has said before - win 15 (half your games) in the SEC and you will make a Regional. Win 16 and you will probably host. Win 17 and you might be a top 8 seed. 3 SEC teams last year were under .500 in conference play and still made a Regional - and UF made the semifinals in Omaha.
Baseball will probably NOT get any of the proposed revenue sharing expected next year - money will go to the revenue generating sports, football and basketball. So NIL will continue to be important for baseball. No one knows what the NIL final rules will look like, but it is expensive for ball players to live in Austin, so financial help is absolutely needed. Please donate, and designate your donation for baseball.