Tennessee baseball head coach Josh Elander met with the media following a doubleheader sweep of Nicholls Saturday in Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
With the pair of wins, Tennessee completed the season-opening series sweep of the Colonels to move to 3-0 on the young season.
Elander shared what he learned about his team, his thoughts on Blaine Brown’s excellent weekend at the plate, strong starts from Landon Mack and Evan Blanco, why infielder Manny Marin did not play Saturday and more.
See everything Elander said below.
On if he was shocked by what Blaine Brown did Saturday:
“No, not at all. Special player. I think he’s just been getting better each and every day. It’s funny, I was jogging by, off the field, at the end of the game, and the umpire was like, ‘Well, at least he finally got out!’ And he hit one right to the track right there. But, pretty cool to see him having fun and playing loose. He’s just a slow heart rate, very gifted. We’re expecting special things from Blaine all year long.”
On if he’s ever run across someone in his playing/coaching career that reminds him of Blaine:
“It’s funny you ask that because I was kind of thinking just right after he hit that ball to left for the home run… he kind of reminds me of Kameron Misner, who was a first-rounder from Missouri a few years back. Long body, leverage, but also athleticism and hand speed. I think that’s maybe just because of the height, but he’s pretty special. He can use the whole field, and it’s an elite combination of athleticism, but also real whip and leverage. It’s a special talent.”
On how Blaine’s personality helps him play so free and confident:
“Yeah, he fits in great with our guys. Between him and [Ariel] Antigua, it’s like a walking Apple Music festival right there. They know the songs of every single one of the guys’ walkout songs. [When] you have long days or whatever, you’re going to have a good day with those two guys running around. You can watch him, and he was singing Ariel’s walkout song. At one point, I was like, ‘Hey, man, we got two outs. Let’s make sure we score here if we can.’”
On what he saw from Landon Mack and Evan Blanco in their starts:
“Just poise and competitiveness from both of them. Landon had the one ball leave the yard in left [field]. I thought it was a good pitch. 2-0 challenge fastball, and tip of the cap to the guy for laying in on it. But other than that, I thought the curveball was good. The cutter, slider, hybrid that he’s got, was really, really thrown well today. And then again, a premium velo. I think he’ll get a little bit better each time out.
“And then Blanco, just kind of mix and match and plus minus and had all four pitches going today and just keeps guys off-balance. So it’s a lot of maturity there for, you know, we’re wearing I guess the Sunday creams on a Saturday, but really good job by him, just giving us a bunch of strikes right there.”
On what he saw from Cam Appenzeller and if what he saw is what he’s come to expect:
“Yeah. The velo continues to tick up a little bit. I remember when we were chasing him around the recruiting trail all over the country, he’d grab 93 mph, 94 mph every now and then. He’s a really good athlete. It’s just easy. He really attacked the strike zone today, and there’s no doubt more velo coming. I don’t know when, but it’s not a big velo deal. It is important to an extent, but he can really get outs, and he’s shown the ability against our hitters to, when there’s a mess going on, he can say, ‘Okay, I’m, I’m putting an end to this right now.’ So, really excited about what he’s able to do and when he’s getting back out there right away.”
On what role he envisions for Appenzeller:
“I told him when I met with him, it’s like, ‘Hey, we brought you here to pitch on the weekend,’ right? So again, I think there needs to be some sort of progression to that, and we’ve kind of overly communicated, even with how he’s going to lift throughout the week, and making sure early in the year to middle of the year, but we’re expecting his role to continue to evolve. Really confident about his ability to get outs really anywhere.”
On how difficult it is to keep Tyler Myatt out of the lineup:
“Yeah, they’re making it tough on me, which is good. We talked about Arkansas last year when the last game was played, that we were going to try to make it as hard as possible to get on the field. And I think we did that last summer, and we got some guys that are banged up right now in Blake Grimmer and Garrett Wright that are fully capable of being everyday SEC players.
“But you see a guy like Finley Bates, comes off the bench and leaves the yard. So again, we got a lot of guys we’re excited about, and it’s just going to be competition nonstop, but pretty cool what he did first at-bat the other night to leave the yard.”
On what he feels he learned about his team:
“I just really like how they stayed hooked up for 18 innings today. I know you’re going for a shutout there late in the, whatever, the seventh [inning] it is, but our two guys dive and do everything they can to keep the ball in the infield. Or Hunter High coming off the bench and diving to try to keep the ball in the infield.
“So again, just staying hooked up. I told them it’s not easy to win two games in one day. I don’t care who you’re playing or when or where you’re playing, it’s not easy to do in college baseball. So [I’m] proud of how they handled their business, and we’ll give them the day tomorrow, get a little reset, and we’ll look into next week, too.”
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On what he saw while being picked off three times in the first game…
“So, better coaching from the third base box is what we need, is what I saw. Honestly, they did a good job. Holding runners, changing looks and it can’t happen. At the end of the day, that’s on me, but we’ll be better about it. We’ve got some young guys getting out there, getting their feet wet. Some guys are going to be aggressive. We’re going to get got every now and then, but not a huge point of concern. But needs to be better, for sure.”
On Manny Marin not playing in Saturday’s doubleheader…
“Manny got hit with a pitch last weekend. He’s been kind of navigating that all week. We feel good about it. Woody (Jeff Wood) and Klenck (Dr. Chris Klenck) have done an amazing job with him. I think with a little bit of the colder weather last night, it was a little bit tight – I guess would be the right term. He had an X-ray pregame, it was negative, so he’ll be day-to-day. We don’t see him missing a lot of time, but obviously, he’s a huge piece for us. But at this point in the year, just want to keep the big picture in mind with Manny.”
On how good it was for Brayden Krenzel to pitch to other people other than his teammates…
“I think he needed it. I think we kind of were joking in the dugout, like: “There he is. We missed you.” So, I met with Krenzel probably ten days ago. I think sometimes guys with the competitive element of our rosters, they try to be something they’re not, instead of just stacking consecutive days and trying to be the best version of themselves. The best version of Brayden Krenzel is really, really good on the mound. So, I think the way he attacked the strike zone up to 94-95 – with the horizontal movement, the way he can plus and minus with the change and throw the breaking ball – he’s pitched a lot for us in big roles. He’s going to get a lot of outs for us this year and I got 100 percent confidence in him.”
On what makes Landon Mack’s pickoff to first base so effective…
“I think just the athleticism. It’s a shorter arm action. Sometimes guys have quick feet and a longer arm and you have a little bit of time. Other guys are more deception-based or even the balk move that guys get away with all the time. Just a great athlete. On PFP work or you could run him around with our infield group and he’d probably look just like some of our other infielders. Good athlete. It’s important to him, too. We’ve tried to make it this year – it needs to be important for you to protect 90 feet, to keep the ball in front and to hold runners. Proud of our guys doing that all weekend.”
On Trent Grindlinger offensively…
“It’s another slow heart rate guy. Played a lot of baseball from SoCal. Amazing family. Loved his visit and they’re just great people. He’s a guy that his teammates love him. They’re excited for him to get out there. They trust him to handle his business and he’s a worker. When he first got here this summer, it was nonstop getting videos while we’re out on the road recruiting. He was here all day, every day, swinging and getting after in the cage. “How do I get better? How do I close the gap?” Credit to Levi (Clark) and Stone Lawless and all those other guys. They’ve done a good job of kind of bringing him along. He’s going to be a big piece for us. Excited for him to get those first two nights tonight.”
