Tennessee baseball head coach Josh Elander met with the media following the Vols’ 7-1 midweek win over ETSU Tuesday in Knoxville.
Elander weighed in on Blaine Brown’s poor start on the mound and the plethora of great performances from Tennessee’s bullpen arms. Additionally, Elander discussed Reese Chapman’s bounce back effort, what’s been working for Chris Newstrom and more.
To watch Elander’s post-game press conference, click HERE.
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See everything Elander said below.
On the response in the first inning:
“Yeah, it was great. I mean, Blaine wasn’t in the strike zone today, but what a great opportunity for Brady to get in there and put out a fire vs. his old team. But he did a great job getting ready and just competing over the white. That’s what we needed. So, again, hopefully that doesn’t happen too many times that we’ve got to go to him right in the first, but that was a huge, huge deal, I just think, for the program in general right there. And then, obviously, swinging the bat, it was good. We had a good work day yesterday. The guys kind of moving around on their own. So, coming out of the gates and getting to some heaters on time, that was nice to see.”
On Brady Frederick ‘putting out the fire’:
“It’s not exactly the most ideal spot to go into, but just poise, right? Sometimes they don’t have the big amount of time to get loose that he’s used to, right? But, again, just goes out there as a pro and throws it over the plate and competes. And that’s what we want from all our staff, and that was really cool to see tonight from them.”
On what went wrong for Blaine Brown compared to past outings:
“I think sometimes guys are just going to have a bad day out there, right? Again, we’re giving a little bit of a leash to run, but as the misses got a little bit more scattered, we just felt it was time to go to the next guy.
“The stuff was good. It was up to 95, and he threw some good breaking balls and all that. So, we’ll get him right back out there as soon as we can.”
On what it meant for Blaine Brown to deliver at the plate after struggling on the mound:
“It was huge. It was a great swing. Hammered that ball to right-center, kind of got us going out of the gates. And that’s what I told him when I took the ball, I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got plenty of baseball left today, so make sure you hit that reset button.” It was good. Brady (Frederick) picked him up there, and then he picked himself up in that first inning.”
On what’s been different about Chris Newstrom at the plate:
“I think it’s just settling in, and just some confidence. I mean, Chuck (Jeroloman)’s done a good job, and so has Kiv (Ross Kivett) and the other guys, but just making sure he’s covering the outer half a little bit better, a little bit more direction to the middle of the field.
“Just seeing him like – I know that was the first time probably Vol fans have seen him like that and hustle a double – I saw that for years on the road. I just loved watching him play because he was always on the hunt, like we talk about. I felt he would fit our system well.
“So, it’s cool to see those guys – I know some of the guys are still scuffing a little bit, see some flashes – but it’s nice when you see those guys start to settle in and stick with what works over the long-term out there.”
On Brady Frederick putting out the fire in the first inning:
“It was nice because last year I had to watch it on the other side when he was – we didn’t get any hits off him until (Gavin) Kilen tagged him late – he’s a huge piece of our pitching staff. Really our Swiss Army knife where we have all this perfect script, ‘Hey, let’s try to go from this guy to this guy,’ and then you basically throw it in the trash after the first inning and just adjust a little bit.
“But a guy that can really just get you outs in a lot of different ways, and you know he’s going to compete and you feel good when he’s out there.”
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How did he come in and kind of set the tone for the rest of the bullpen?
“I think just throwing strikes. Again, he gets to a three-ball count and he’s firing it over the white, saying ‘Here it is,’ and making the hitter have to do something with it.
“It was good to see him attack the strike zone, and I think a lot of our guys did that after the fact, too. Appy (Cameron Appenzeller) was great, threw some really good change-ups, and it was a good bridge to the rest of the game for those pitchers tonight.”
On what he saw from Bo Rhudy:
“It’s weird when you get – and it wasn’t a hugely lopsided score, but it was 7-1 going into the eighth when he comes in. Some guys hit the ball off the cap. Not really the best spin, but guys just kind of taking some free swings. I think he had seven swing and miss in two innings, which is a good sign. It’s a different fastball and a different look, but competing in the strike zone. Gives up a couple hits and just right back at it. So, it was good. We needed to get him out there because that was one of the things that really bugged me this weekend was not being able to get him out there in Texas.”
On Reese Chapman bouncing back with three hits:
“He was great. He had a good workday yesterday and made a few adjustments. That’s what you want. Guy doesn’t have a great weekend and has the self-awareness to say, okay, what do I need to do to make adjustments? That’s what this entire season is about and this game is about, right? So, it’s good when you have the maturity to go in there and say, “Hey, I need to make these changes.” Using the whole field, drives the ball to right. Also, hits the ball in the sixth hole tonight with two strikes. A lot of confidence with Reese.”
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