Tennessee baseball head coach Josh Elander met with the media following the Vols’ 4-2 series-evening win in game two against Missouri Saturday in Knoxville.
Elander discussed Landon Mack’s shaky start, Cam Appenzeller’s incredible relief outing, a balanced day offensively and more.
THREAD: LIVE Updates, Score, Notes: No. 22 Tennessee Baseball vs. Missouri Game Two
See everything Elander said after the win below.
On freshman pitcher Cam Appenzeller coming in with the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth inning and getting out of the jam:
“He’s not a normal freshman. I think we’ve all seen that, and maybe I’m being mean to him because every time I bring him in he’s got the bases loaded or some kind of fire going on. But he’s growing up. It’s really good stuff. It’s slow heart rate, good poise, and he’s very excited for moving forward to the next week with how he’s been able to kind of stack these outings up.”
How Cam Appenzeller has been able to earn his role so quickly as a freshman:
“They’ve got a chance to earn it every day by how they walk in the building, how they treat Meghan Anderson (UT’s Director of Certification & Operations), who runs our academic stuff, how they go to class. They’re always buying something, we tell them every single day, with how they go about their business. But (Evan) Blanco, some of the older guys have done a good job of taking him under his wing, and it comes easy for him. He’s a premier athlete. I mean, can really play basketball. He’s a scratch golfer, but now he’s starting to get in-tune with the recovery and the arm-care stuff that’s putting him in a position to have success long-term. A lot of good days ahead with him on the mound.”
On what went into moving Blake Grimmer to second base and the leadoff spot in the lineup:
“Just wanted to mix up the mojo. I thought last night, we just needed a little reset, and I knew with looking at the starter, I mean we looked at the VAA, which is the approach angle from the pitcher, it’s similar to AJ Russell. It’s a different fastball. It’s a real heater. So we had to get to some fastballs, so I wanted to stack some of those older guys up and let them run and set the tone.
“We talked about putting Grimmer over there at some point and how we get Grimmer and Levi (Clark) in there at the same time, along with Stone (Lawless) and Trent (Grindlinger). Late last night I was like, ‘This is a good time to go for it.’ Not as offensive as a day we hoped for, but it was those guys, I thought they computed well and strung together enough for us to get the win.”
How big it was to get production from the bottom of the lineup with Levi Clark and Trent Grindlinger both driving in runs:
“Trent was great. I mean, again, he’s hitting over .500, taking advantage of all the opportunities that he has. Just a great make-up kid. It’s an easy guy to bet on, and just staying on the ball in the four-hole, not trying to do too much, gets the first run of the game [in] and taking his walks and just quality, quality, quality. That’s what he seems to keep bringing, and the moment it wasn’t too big for him, so it was good.
“Then Levi taking his walks, and even the one where he hit deep sac fly to center, just misses a homer – the first swing he’s a little bit out of control, but he’s able to reset and still get the job done in the middle of the at-bat. And the first one, too, doing a good job of getting on top of a real fastball. So put together some good ones right there, and it’s good to see him. We need him to keep going, because he needs to be a big piece for us.”
On what he liked about the offensive approach, specifically with two strikes:
“Thank you, that’s a good note right there. Little ways to win. We’ve been close in these games. There’s maybe one hit we’ve got, and we got it done, or we haven’t got it done, but probably my favorite thing is [that] Stone (Lawless) leads off with a double. We’re trying to jump the heater, it’s a good fastball, he’s going to throw it, so we don’t want to be late to it. It’s a double down the line, there’s a 50/50 ball we can tag on in right field, Stone opens to the ball, lets it play out, tags, gets over there, and then we get in with the sac fly. Levi (Clark) with the one-pitch reset in the middle of that at-bat.
“Maybe not the most exciting inning, but as a coach, you’re like, ‘Okay, we’re playing some ball here. So, those are older guys that know what it takes to execute and win. We’ve challenged them, ‘You guys know how to do it, but you have to do it.’ And I think the further we get into SEC play – the difference between last night and tonight [is] I thought guys were just competing and trying to win the game rather than not trying to do this or trying to do too much. That’s what’s beautiful about this league is once those guys turn the page to that, it’s pretty fun.”
On what traits Blake Grimmer possesses that would make him a good second baseman:
“Well, I’ve seen him. We started recruiting him when he was 14 years old. He was a shortstop, like a lot of guys are at that age. But he’s always been able to move around to different positions, and I think it really is a credit to how he goes about his business, but also my trust in Coach (Ross) Kivett and Ricky Martinez and how they go about their business, and the details and the homework that goes into putting him in a position where the ball – we’re hoping – is close to that, right? And he’s done a great job of that so far.
“I just don’t like surprises. I think that can scare the kids at times. So, I overly communicate when it comes to the lineup stuff. And I’m young and still learning, but I called Grim (Blake Grimmer) late last night, and I was like, ‘Hey, I think it’s time to do it,’ after we talked about it. And he was like, ‘I’m all for it. Let’s get Levi (Clark) in here too.’ So, when you’ve got a kid with makeup like that and a teammate like that, it gives you a little bit more confidence to take maybe that little bit of leap of faith.”
On Landon Mack’s outing and what has led to recent command issues:
“Yeah, that’s the thing. Tegan (Kuhns), too. Tegan’s been firing strikes, and then Landon… their stuff is dynamic. It’s explosive. From any kind of scouting world, they’re premium pitches. Landon’s is running a ton where Tegan’s is rising. So, they made some adjustments to try to get him more in the zone, but the reality is it’s such high-octane stuff, there’s going to be swing-and-miss, and they’re going to spray it a little bit at times.
“So, we just want to make sure we’re condensing the misses because, again, those lefties, they’re really trying to just basically cover the outer third of the plate. That’s what they’re trying to do when those lefties are trying to get him. We’ve worked with Reyn (Josh Reynolds) to get him underneath the baseball a little bit, be able to ride it versus those lefties and keep them off just cutting the plate in half and going from there.
“But it’s real compete. I thought he handled… you know, hey, he was getting ready to go and then all of a sudden, hit the pause and reset. That can be a tough thing to navigate. Those guys are so – those pitchers – they’re always a little weird. That routine is incredibly important. So, he’ll take something from this tonight and be better next week. But he’s going to give us a chance to win every time we get the ball.”
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On some of the adjustments Landon Mack was making in his outing:
Well, sometimes you talk about adjustments or vert (vertical). Sometimes it’s just me versus you. It’s mano-a-mano. And he does a good job of like, “hey, I’m going to put an end to this.” Because, if they go 2-3 or 4-5, it’s a mess there real quick. We probably don’t go to Appy (Appenzeller) right away. It changes how we navigate the rest of the game. So, I learned a long time ago from some great coaches that I’ve worked with here and other places. The game can be in the second, the third, the fourth, or whatever. That was a huge spot for him to leave it just at two and our guys took a punch back right after that. It was a really good sign.”
On why Bo (Rhudy) was the guy to go to get the final out and what his role is moving forward:
“I think everybody has got a chance to earn their role every single day. But we need to figure it out because he’s been pretty good for us. It’s a different fastball. It’s really high spins. It has been landing on some heaters. The matchups, if you look on paper, it’s literally bright green on lefties and red. So, you try to stay away from the bright green matchups. And I thought Appy (Appenzeller) did a great job. He was right at 70 pitches. But we’ve got to figure out what we’ve got with Bo Rhudy, too. I thought he just competed on Tuesday and how he threw the ball. And he really threw the ball well in Georgia after (Brayden) Krenzel came out of the game. So, we want these guys to seize those moments and opportunities and hopefully that’s one that gives them confidence going into the next one.”
On the decision to take Cam Appenzeller out and go to Bo Rhudy for the final out:
“A lot of it was matchup-based. We do a lot of homework. If we get to this spot in the game — our team here, our coaching staff does a great job of making sure that ultimately I have to make the decision. But you’ve got to look through it and sometimes you bet on the numbers. Sometimes you bet on the character, the makeup. There’s a lot of things that go into that and I’m learning as we go there. But I thought Appy (Appenzeller) just did a great job. At that point in the game, it was time to go to (Bo) Rhudy. And he got it done for us.”
On the balancing act of trusting the numbers vs. the kid:
“I think a lot of it is leaning on my staff. Craig Bell, Chuck Jeroloman and Josh Reynolds. I don’t think it has to be like, “hey, it’s just my decision at times.” I know I’m the head coach, but I have great people around me that are ready to help and I want their opinion. Sometimes I’ll tell them, “hey, what do you got?” I’ve been here before. I say, “well, what do you think?” The collaborative effort, I think, is going to then make a decision. Just like we tell our players to with conviction and let’s go with it. So, that’s what we’ve been doing.”
