Baseball Media Day - Interviews

Full Media Day Video

Alex Bregman - Interview

Andrew Stevenson - Interview

Andrew Stevenson - Interview #2

Cody Glenn - Interview

Brady Domangue - Interview

Paul Mainieri - Summary

I'm paraphrasing and summarizing.

Scholarships.
- Baseball only gets 11.7 for 35 players
- No one gets "full" or meal plan
- TOPS is a huge help
- Budget cuts hurt them a few years ago with aid they could use

Top pitcher besides Nola: Broussard
- Has great stuff but is still rusty coming off of "Tommy John" surgery from a torn elbow ligament

Aaron Nola:
- Handles expectations better than anyone
- Thinks he will (somehow) be better than last year!
- Stronger. Hold velocity later in games. Sharper CB. Deceptive CH.

SEC Strength:
- Great top to bottom
- Calls it "Big Leagues of College Baseball"

Batting Order:
- Ibarra will most likely protect Bregman in the 4-hole with Moore possibly hitting there vs. righties
- Chinea and Scivicque could hit in the 4/5 spots as well
- Likes McMullen in leadoff because he excels so much there
- Laird will hit 2nd
- Stevenson gets the Mitchell/Jones treatment meaning put him in the bottom where there's less pressure even though he's built to be leadoff
- Hale/Zardon are battling for 2B and will hit in the bottom
- Foster has become a real presence and Left and hitting. Thinks he needs to be more consistent, and if he does, could play professionally
- 1B will be whoever does not catch

Biggest Improvements:
- Foster: most improved overall!
- Stevenson will hit close to .300
- Ibarra and McMullen will be even better with a full SEC season under their belts

Biggest Concern:
- Closer. Winning close games defines a season.
- Domangue will get the first shot, but he hasn't looked great yet. Broussard and McCune will get next shots

Change of ball in 2015:
- He only knows what the data suggests
- Extra 20 feet possible on long balls
- Agrees with the change
- Eludes to UCLA saying 85 mph, waist-high fastballs should leave the park
- Won't change how he recruits because of it
- Says roster limits affected recruiting as much as the bat change a few years ago

Freshmen:
- Loves Poche. Has every attribute except maybe 2-3 mph to be a "special" pitcher. Praises Dunn with working help him pitch at college level. Pretty good chance to be in weekend rotation by SEC. Not typical Freshman.
- Parker Bugg has been disappointment because of mono. He was good in the fall. Might get clearance on Wednesday of next week. Upper 80s with great size and should develope into power pitcher. Will get meaningful innings.
- Initially thought Robertson or Zardon would play 2B. But Ibarra stays and Hale is moved to 2B instead of taking 3B. Thinks Robertson or Zardon should earn that spot much like Hanover and Austin Nola who got their shot halfway through a season.
- Dakota Dean isn't ready defensively. 4 lefty freshman hitters: Dakota, Fraley, Stone, DeHart
- Fraley had poor fall. Comes back and looks great and exciting to watch. Has high hopes but may need some time. Will not be out there on opening day. Compares to Mahtook.

Bunting:
- If LSU played like UCLA, they wouldn't get out of the SEC
- Would not change how he called the 2 CWS games
- Has coached in 40 tournaments at LSU including SEC and NCAA... only knocked out 0-2 twice
- Wants to be balance and have excitement at the Box

Other Pitchers:
- Hunter Newman is out of the race for a starters spot because he's still not healthy. Throwing up to 120 ft. but no pitching at all yet. Could still see innings down the road.
- Hopes Poche will be like Nola and Gausman as a freshman. Believes he is developed enough.

Alan Dunn:
- Most intelligent person he's met. Had to adjust somewhat to college and has done very well
- In MiLB, his job was to develop guys he was handed. Winning wasn't necessarily imperative, and you could be patient. With college, he had to be a little more forward.
- Has to adjust to recruiting
- Been here 2 years and both have produced the SEC pitcher of the year

OOC Schedule:
- Says Southern Cal was scheduled for opening weekend this year but the new coach cancelled
- Purdue hosted a regional 2 years ago when they were scheduled
- Midweek games are strong: Tulane, ULL
- Likes playing teams from everywhere (the north)
- Yale was a favor to a friend of the program. He was glad to do it.

(Random) Unionization of NCAA athletes:
- Football players shouldn't complain. Coming from baseball with only 11.7 scholarships, he can't see why they would be unhappy with $200,000 in scholarships plus a degree.
- Thinks it would be a disaster