Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello, welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Soro of Wichita State University strategic communications story of the season's. First, third for shocker baseball has been the pitching staff. It's e r a is 4.05, and if it holds in that neighborhood over the rest of the season, it would be the staff. Lois. Since 2018, we'll, we'll discount the abbreviated 2020 season. Most striking about the staff's performance as the strikeout to walk ratio. The shockers Enter Tuesday's game at Earl Roberts, number 11, nationally, 3.33 strikeouts for each walk. So to talk about this, we've got pitching coach Mike Pelfrey, Mike. So strikeouts aren't everything. They're not the only way to get people out, but they're really, really helpful. And walks are, are really bad most of the time. So what, what's the big picture view? How is this staff improved in this area?
Speaker 2 00:01:00 Well, I think that, uh, you know, we always emphasize on the walk side of it, we always emphasize throwing the ball of the plate. You know, we tell our guys here that, you know, if they want to pitch, they will throw the ball of the plate. It's not, it's not, it's not optional. So, uh, the walks have, have always been a huge emphasis. Uh, the strikeouts, um, you know, we, I think we, we rated, we've ranked last year, um, one of the highest percentage teams of uses of fastballs and which was like 64% of the time we threw a fastball last year, uh, we've started to make an adjustment. Last time I checked, I think we were down to 55%, uh, of usage of the fastballs. So we're almost 50 50. We're close to it. Uh, half the time we're throwing more off speed pitches and, and we're, I think we're finding out that in college baseball, when you, when you command a secondary pitch, you throw a secondary pitch, there's there's gonna be a lot more strikeouts.
Speaker 1 00:01:51 So when you say throw the ball over the plate, there are gonna be people who say, well, yes, of course. That's what, that's what pitchers do, is throw the ball over the plate. Explain that a little more in detail. Why is that sometimes difficult? Why do you really have to emphasize that?
Speaker 2 00:02:03 Well, you know, I think kids get, c kids get caught up in velo. Kids get caught up in, and, you know, you know, trying to strike somebody out. You get a head oh two, you get a head of one two, and next thing you know, it's three, two before you know it, you know, um, you know, obviously when you, you know, guys, all these guys will be unbelievable in the bullpen and they step across the white line and the extra adrenaline, the extra emotions, you know, it's a, it's a learning process on learning how to control those, you know, and then that gets in the way. The next thing you know, you don't throw any strikes. Uh, and that still happens every once in a, it still happens every once in a while with these kids. Uh, but, but they, I think they're learning as we go.
Speaker 2 00:02:38 And, and you know, if they don't, they don't throw the ball to the plate. We're gonna, we're gonna take 'em out. And if, you know, I told the other day that, you know, the relievers, I was like, you know, when I bring you in the game, you know, as the fourth inning, the 14 inning game, uh, I want you to throw multiple innings, but you have to give me a reason to do that. And 45% strikes, or 37% strikes, or 50% strikes or multiple walks, that's not a good reason. You know, and you, you will, you will come out. Um, so that, and that's if that we allow them to, to make it through the inning.
Speaker 1 00:03:04 So I've heard kind of a version of this with the royals a lot with their changeover and their pitching mantra, I guess now is throw it down the middle of the plate because your natural movement will then keep it, you know, on other sides of the plate. And if you try to nibble, if you try to hit the outside, you're gonna walk people. Is that similar philosophy to what you're talking about?
Speaker 2 00:03:24 Yeah, I, we don't, I don't think we ever, so we have a couple young guys, um, Michael Mahal and uh, Nate Sneed that have, that have great stuff. We even did it the other day with Parker DeHoff. So when he comes in the game, we, we radio over to the catcher and say, and we tell him to set up right down the middle, you know, knowing, knowing that if we can get their direction going towards the middle of the plate, that they're gonna have a better chance to be able to throw strikes. Uh, and those guys have obviously, you know, had good springs so far and been very, very successful with that, with that approach. You know, obviously as we go on, we might start working more thirds of the plate and stuff like that. Uh, but you know, there's guys on there that we, that we do try to, we do set up down the middle and let their movement and all the action of the ball and let it let it take place.
Speaker 1 00:04:02 So we mentioned ERA R, which is kind of the old established, uh, way for people to evaluate pitchers, but it's not the only metric and we seem to have more and more all the time. What's your favorite statistical way of, of judging your pitchers? Uh,
Speaker 2 00:04:15 Well, I think, you know, for me, the, the bigger thing I pay to pay attention to his whip, uh, you know, walks plus hits and, you know, innings pitched and, uh, you know, cuz it's, it's, it's proven that if you have base runners or if you have a high whip or if you have a whip higher than, you know, a one three, which, you know, I tell them one, three or less. Uh, if you have a whip higher than that, which, which means, you know, you might be getting, you might have a whip at one eight and, and you have a grad era, a but over time, over the season, as it as it goes on, that's gonna even out, you're not gonna continue to get outta those innings when you, when you have almost two base runners per inning, you know, they're gonna come up and get hits and be able to do those things. So, uh, you know, even if you have a good era, a the whip's really high, it's gonna even out by the end of the year.
Speaker 1 00:04:55 So the e r a would include a little bit of luck and it, the whip will tell you over, over time, it's not gonna sustain.
Speaker 2 00:05:01 Yeah. And that's something that we go through with the fall, uh, in the fall and the early part of the, the spring, you know, when we're scrimmaging and stuff, like I have the ability to roll an inning, you know, so a guy might have nobody out and have have the bases loaded, but he threw his 20 pitches at inning and I have to roll the inning. And, and you know, at the end of the year, at the end of the fall, we look at the stats or the early part of the spring, we look at their stats and they have zero e r a Well no, that's not, that's not, that's not telling the full truth.
Speaker 1 00:05:25 Sure, sure. Uh, let's talk about the weekend rotation, which always seems like a good building block foundation. Uh, Clark Canti, Peyton Tulley, grant Adler, they've all made five starts. They've pitched into the fifth inning or longer in 12 of those 15 starts. So how does their consistency kind of start the story of this staff's success so far this season?
Speaker 2 00:05:44 Well, it's, it's, it's huge obviously. Um, you know, obviously if, if you know, they give you length, um, it allows us to be able to line up the bullpen obviously a little better. You know, um, you know, if our starter gives us us two innings and then you think you count on the bullpen to cover seven, something's gonna go wrong. Something's gonna go wrong in there cuz you're not gonna expect every guy to be able to come in there and be able to do well. So, uh, getting length from starters is, is is always an, an important part of it. And, and obviously makes it better. Cause I tell people, you know, I tell people this, that if you're in the bullpen, you're in the bullpen for a reason. Cuz you couldn't, you, you weren't, you weren't able to start, you know, your stuff's not as good, you're not as consistent. There's a reason that you are in the, there's a reason that you are in the bullpen. So, um, you know, obviously, like I said, getting linked from those guys and those guys have been, have been awesome. Uh, makes us a lot better pitching staff.
Speaker 1 00:06:32 So the weather's getting better. Shockers are gonna have home games. They've got a home series this weekend. Uh, people are gonna get out to see these guys. Give us a quick starting report on those three weekend starters and, and what fans might see when they come out to X stage.
Speaker 2 00:06:44 Well, uh, Clark Candy Audi on, on Friday is, is he's like one of the ultimate competitors. Um, his, you know, his routine in between starts is incredible. He has this laser, laser focus, uh, but he wants to get after it and he wants to compete. Um, and his fast ball is 88 to 92 right now. And I know as it warms up, I expect it to take, you know, get to the 93, 94, 95 range. Um, but he's gonna attack you. He's gonna come at you, he's gonna use a slider more than uh, uh, probably 50% of the time. Uh, mainly be fastball, slider. But he has a, he has a change up that's really good. And he has a curve ball too that he, that he mixes in. But he's gonna attack you and he's gonna be aggressive and he's gonna throw the ball over the plate. Um, on Peyton Toley, uh, obviously has been incredible, uh, you know, on both sides of the ball. But, but, uh, when he's on the mound, I think this is the thing that, you know, he's 88, 92, uh, and the thing that makes him different and everybody else, like his extension is, is seven seven, uh, when he releases the ball. So he gets really out there and they tell you the average extension is like six foot. So every foot that you can add onto that, uh, is three more miles an hour to the hitter. So
Speaker 1 00:07:54 Explain that extension. What's that
Speaker 2 00:07:56 Mean? So, uh, extension where you, where you released a baseball outside
Speaker 1 00:07:59 Pr, he's so tall, he's pretty tall.
Speaker 2 00:08:00 He's tall, he kind of jumps off the rubber and he gets this extension and he releases, so releases the ball. It's, it's at seven feet, seven inches. Uh, so it's, what is it, 52.5 feet? Right? So that reaction time to the hitter, every foot that you, that you shorten it up is three more miles an hour on, on vo perceived velocity to the hitter. So as 88 92, and you're judging that off an average, average release height of, of six foot is seven seven. So that's like four or five miles an hour. The hitter, so as 88 point 92 that's he's throwing is, is 93 to 97 in their eyes and, and to the hitter, just cuz the reaction time of seeing the ball is shorter. Uh, so that makes it, that makes it different. That makes it tougher. Uh, he has been, he has, he's, you watch em when he throws the ball, jumps on the hitter. It's, it's been pretty, it's been pretty impressive. Uh,
Speaker 1 00:08:46 How do they me measure extension? It's gotta be a camera video thing.
Speaker 2 00:08:52 Yeah, so we have, we have Rap Soto, we have TrackMan, we have all those, uh, those new high technology stuff is stuff that, that gives us all that information, um, be able to tell that. But, um, there's, it's, it is through high def, high def video. Yeah. Um, so that tells us that. And, and then, you know, the thing about him, like, you know, he, he was a guy last year that threw fastball 75% of the time and we, we go out to a mound visit the other day and, and you know, on the first 10 he's given up, he's given up four hits and he's given up two runs. And you know, I tell him, I said, dude, you got him in swing mode, that's awesome, but we gotta start throwing more off speed pitches, right? And this is a guy that's 75, 80% and, and he ended up at the end of the game throwing 44 first cent fast balls, which I didn't even think that he was, honestly, think he was capable of doing that cuz that's, that's such a huge drastic thing. But he had his change up working and his slider was working and that's, that's the one pitch that's really I think taking his game to the next level. Uh, his slider is, is is went out and got better this summer and it's, it's been pretty good and been pretty consistent.
Speaker 1 00:09:54 So when you say something funny like you've got him in swing mode, that's awesome. Does he get the humor?
Speaker 2 00:09:59 Does that, yeah, he things up, he gets it. I said, Hey dude, this is great. I love quick, I love quick outs, but we gotta start mixing a little better. You know, and then, and we talked about, you know, we talked about pitching in more, getting 'em uncomfortable cuz they were in there and hacking and they had the Good Scout report on this dude's gonna throw ton of heaters and they, they were doing that. And so we made, we adjusted off that. And then, you know, for the next, um, well I guess it would've been six and a third innings after that. Cause there was two outs in the first, at the time, uh, he gave up one hit
Speaker 1 00:10:25 And this is Sunday
Speaker 2 00:10:26 Against Creighton, his Sunday against Creighton, you know, and he was, but he was credits credit to paid totally. He was able to make that adjustment, uh, which is, which is pretty, which is pretty cool. And, and obviously be able to execute pitches after that. Um, and then Grant Adler on Sunday, um, he, he's been pretty fun to, he's been pretty fun to, to be able to work with, you know, and he's a little bit, he's a little bit different. You know, those, there's times when he throws and he doesn't wanna throw a bullpen in between starts. I'm like, well I've never done that with anybody before, but I'm, I'm willing if that's what you wanna do. And that's what he did at junior college. Hey, we can, we can do that. You know, we can make that adjustment. But, uh, you know, he is anywhere from 87 to, you know, he was up to 91 last night.
Speaker 2 00:11:05 Uh, but he, he literally throws probably 15 to 20 fast balls a game tops. And he has a cutter that's great with, with, with a really high spin rate. He has a slider that we've got at over 3,200. He has a curve ball that's 28, 2900. Uh, and he's gotta change up too. So he's, it's incredible on the mount of, of his command and being able to command all these, all these pitches and, and as sharp as they, as sharp as they are too as well. Uh, he's been pretty, he's been pretty good. And, and you know, the thing about him is he wants to be out there and he doesn't wanna come outta the game either. Uh, which goes, which goes true for all three of those guys, you know,
Speaker 1 00:11:42 Explain the thirty two hundred and twenty eight hundred for people who might not be familiar with, uh, spin
Speaker 2 00:11:47 Rate. I guess that's the spin. That's the spin rate. Yeah. It's the RPMs, the ball, when to release it. And, and obviously the higher the spin spin rate, the the sharper something is or the better it is, you know, and, and being at 3,200 on his, you know, over 3,200 on a slider, he would have a top 10 slider in the big leagues. Uh, so the guy's been, like I said, he's got all the stuff to be, to, to be good and have a chance to go on and play at the next level and do all those things. And, uh, you know, but he's, his, his command of, you know, five, six pitches is, has, has, has been, been pretty impressive.
Speaker 1 00:12:16 Why doesn't he want to throw bullpen in between starts?
Speaker 2 00:12:19 I don't know. He just always says, I'm always really sore afterwards and I prefer not to just do something really light. And I'm like, buddy, I'll work with you if that's what you've done in the past and it's worked for you and do all those things. But that's a little bit different routine than, than what I'm used to. But, uh, I try to work off them and try to accommodate, accommodate them. And uh, you know, I ask 'em every week, Hey man, you wanna throw a pin? You know, he's gonna come back on, uh, he threw on Tuesday cuz we, we only play two games against Creighton. Um, so he'll throw again Sunday. And, uh, so I've, I've asked him, um, you know, you wanna throw a pin this week? And just kind like, I'm like, I'm gonna work off you, so you just let me know where you're at. He's like, I'll be fine.
Speaker 1 00:12:55 So, and he is the one, I think someone tipped me off and then I watched the next game. He doesn't sit down a lot during games, whether he's pitching or not. Right. He's very active and and energetic. I noticed him middle of the game and he was just kind of walking around in the bullpen.
Speaker 2 00:13:08 Yeah. So he does not stop. Um, and, and actually joked around with him and early on because he would go down the bullpen and throw in between every inning. And I'm like, dude, this isn't junior college, man. What are you, what are you doing? You know, and he laughs about it. He's like, dude, that's what I've always done. I can't, I cannot sit still. I'm, I'm ready to go and I wanna keep moving. And so that's been a little bit different too, you know, like, uh, the other day, like I first in, I came over and I talked to him in the dugout. Uh, next thing I went in, I, I was searching around for him. I found him in the locker room, uh, the next day I was searching around again. I found him in, I I found him in the, uh, in, in the bullpen area. I'm like, dude, he's like, I'm sorry dude, I can't, but I'm, I'm used to it now. And, and that's his routine. And obviously he's been, he's been pretty name good for us. So we'll, we'll make that adjustment. He
Speaker 1 00:13:56 Has been grant handler from Derby, uh, Toley off to a great start. As you mentioned, pitching an hitting. He's four. Oh, he's got a 3.00 e r a, uh, he's hitting three 80 with three home runs, four doubles. How's he handling those demands of doing both,
Speaker 2 00:14:09 You know, last year, uh, that's, that's obviously we're asking a lot of him, uh, with the workload mountain and last year the kind of plan was we let him hit, but we never let him hit when he pitched. And that was kind of the normal progression. Okay, we're gonna get him to his freshman year of a normal, uh, workload season, you know, and try to do the hitting and, and the pitching, but just not on the same day. And then going into it, uh, you know, we still were a little bit skeptical, you know, but that was kind of the, the plan going in that okay, we're gonna let him hit too, you know. And I think he, he even, he's even come around and says, I love hitting when I'm pitching. Like, it's like back makes me feel like I'm in little League a Kent, you know? And I know the numbers he's putting up when he pitches is like little League two. I think he might be hitting like close, close to 700 or something. Uh, so it's been pretty, it's been pretty impressive. But, uh, he's obviously a big bodied kid. He's six six and he's 250 pounds. And you know, if anybody can, can withstand the workload of that and be able to be able to hold up, it should be him.
Speaker 1 00:15:05 So you've got three relievers with Saves, Jay Minor, Robert Krantz, and Nate Sneed. Uh, and I think they're all like multi inning saves Caden Favors has been a swing guy. He's got two starts, eight relief appearances. What's that? Tell us about the versatility in your bullpen.
Speaker 2 00:15:21 Well, a lot of, well we don't really necessarily have a, as that says right there, we don't really necessarily have a set closer, you know, but, you know, we bring guys in and give them, you know, if they're on, we're gonna keep, we're gonna keep running 'em out there, you know, if they're feeling it. If they're in a groove, if they're pitching well, uh, we're gonna keep running 'em out there. And we obviously, like you said, a couple of those guys are mult multiple inning saves and, uh, you know, have taken advantage of the opportunities. And they were out there and they were throwing well, and we just, we let 'em, we let 'em finish the game, eat the rest of the game. So, uh, but yeah, the versatility, we have some guys in the bullpen that, um, you know, you really, every year I think you, you want to get to about eight to 10 guys that you can count on, that you can fully trust that will throw most of the innings. And I think they're guys are starting to separate themselves and be able to do that. And then we ha we have our guys that we can, we can count on and we able to do that. And guys that are having really good years that, you know, if the game's close and the game's tight and this and that, we have guys that we can, we can go to, we, we feel comfortable about, uh, towards the back end of the bullpen. It's, and it's, it's beyond those guys as, as well.
Speaker 1 00:16:22 So Robert Krantz a sophomore last year. He threw 14 and a third innings, nine strikeouts, seven walks. He's already at nine and a third this season. 14 strikeouts and two walks. What's changed for Robert?
Speaker 2 00:16:34 Well, I think we, we've talked to, I've talked to him about this too. And, and I think last year too, his, his, um, his mindset as a freshman, it was pretty quick for him. You know, he would come in the game, the game would go faster than, than, you know, faster than, uh, and he did, he was fast on him and he didn't know how to necessarily be able to slow it down. Uh, you know, he went out this summer and he pitched for the Santa Barbara Foresters and, and that's obviously a great summer organization and had a really, had a good time and, and learned and was around a lot of other really, really good players. You know, I think they ended up winning the, the NBC tournament again for the third, fourth year in a row. Uh, but going through that, doing that, you know, when he came back in the fall, I, I, you could see it right away.
Speaker 2 00:17:18 Okay, this guy's different. And I'm talking about different in in the Heartbeat, which we talked about a little bit earlier. Earlier. You know, he stepped across the wide lines. It's different, you know, and, and part of the process is you have to learn to control your emotions. You have to be able to, to, you know, control your feelings, be able to control all those things. And he has done a better job of better job of that. Um, and you know, it's just, I think it's just a maturing process that he's, he's going through and, you know, he, he, he had the same stuff that he had last year. Stuff was plenty good enough last year. He just did not know that yet. Right. He did not recognize that. And the game was a little bit fast for him, but it's kind of slowed down for him and allowed 'em to, and you guys see the difference now.
Speaker 1 00:17:55 So Saturday and the opener against Creighton, uh, a frustrating loss for the shockers, but you got to see some depth and some youth on the staff. Uh, the shockers struck out 20 in that 14 inning game. Uh, and then you had freshman, Michael Mulholland, Nate Sneed, and Parker Deloff. They each threw an inning. None of them gave up a hit or a run, uh, through the 11th, 12th, and 13th to keep that tied. What growth are you seeing from your, your freshman?
Speaker 2 00:18:19 Well, uh, you know, same, same type of thing. Um, the more I think they get out there, the more they get to experience, the more comfortable they get, right? And all three of those guys have have the stuff to help, have the stuff to be able to contribute, you know, and there's always a, there's always a process that when you, you know, you leave high school or you come here from a junior college, that you have to, you have to know that you belong, right? And you have to get over that, that, Hey, I don't need to be better. I can do what I did in high school and it's still gonna work, you know? Uh, but, but they're starting to realize that hey, they're good enough and they should be a big part of this and be able to go out there and, and be able to contribute.
Speaker 2 00:18:57 Uh, but like I said, it takes time. So, so we'll continue to run those guys out cuz the stuff is there. Uh, they have the, they they've shown the ability to be able to, you know, throw the ball of the plate and be able to compete and be able to get people out. Uh, so that, I think the more that we, the more that we run 'em out there, the con the better and better they will, they will continue to get. But they've, uh, it wasn't like that in the fall, you know? Uh, Nate's knee had a pretty rough fall. Uh, Michael Mulhallen, uh, kinda got hurt after in the fall, and then he came back and learned part of the spring and it, it was not good at all by any means, you know, had a double digit ra. Uh, but he's starting to learn that, hey, I'm good enough to do this, you know, and he comes in and he attacks and he's aggressive and he's, he's really, really successful.
Speaker 2 00:19:36 You know, the one thing I was disappointed in on, on, uh, Saturday with those guys, which I, which I brought up earlier too, uh, you know, you bring, I bring Michael Mullen in. I bring, uh, Nate Sneed in, I bring a Parker Dill Hoffman. I want those guys to throw multiple innings, but those guys did not give me a reason to run 'em back out for the second inning. You know, Nate's knee threw, he threw 21 pitches and he threw only threw, he threw seven strikes or something like that. Well, that isn't 30. I think the strike in was like 37% or something. Well, I'm not running you back out after that. I wanted to, right, but you didn't give me a reason to be able to do that. Parker Deloff threw 12 pitches and he threw six strikes, 50%. I'm not running you back out there, you know, cause I'm asking that I'm asking for trouble, you know?
Speaker 2 00:20:15 Uh, so that's the thing that, you know, not only them, the other older guys too, you know, that, that, you know, that we, I think we used 10 guys in the game and, and Creighton used five or six, you know, five, five relievers and they used six total guys with their starters. So that was the difference really in the game. You know, we got, they got to our ninth and 10th guys and, um, you know, if guys would've come in and eaten multiple innings, this, you know, I think we would've won on, would've won on Saturday.
Speaker 1 00:20:38 So when I got here, Brock Rodden was in here doing some, I assume, looking at hitting stuff. And I kicked him out and I asked him if there were any questions he wanted me to ask you. He wanted to know who your favorite, favorite position player is on the shopper roster.
Speaker 2 00:20:49 Uh, I, I, I'm al so I'm always biased to the catcher, right? Uh, so that's my, that's my guy. That's the guy that I have to work with every day. I have to communicate with, be able to do those things. So Mauricio, uh, is, is my favorite, but then, but then Brock riding is, is right there as
Speaker 1 00:21:05 Well. That, that's a great way, cuz I wanted to ask about Mauricio, you've got a new catcher. What's his role in these, in this good performance by the pitching
Speaker 2 00:21:12 Stars? Well, I, I think it's everything, you know, because the, the, those, you know, and being a new guy here, you, you have to, you have to earn the trust of the pitchers, right? You can't come in and just demand it, right? You're gonna have to earn it. And he's done a good job of getting to know these guys. He's done a good job of, uh, you know, catching, you know, building that, building that trust, learning how to communicate with those guys. And, you know, we have this something called True media, you know, that, that ranks every catcher in the country that's caught, that's caught. And it, and it kind of tells you, um, okay, pitch framing, your guy is this, your guy is this. And it gives you a rank one to, you know, last year there was like 650 people total that caught in a, in a division one game.
Speaker 2 00:21:53 Um, you know, and, and you know, so along those same lines now, Mauricio's like 17th in the country, and that's in, that's in terms of getting strikes called strikes and getting balls called strikes. Uh, so he's been, he's been awesome. Uh, he's been really, really good. Uh, and the other thing that I'm, you know, we, we go over scout reports and we do all those things and I can, you know, I can use Utah Tech. We get our butt kicked on Wednesday at Utah Tech. Okay? So I go back and get all the analytics stuff, go over the videos, do all those things. I'm like, okay. And I gotta, I, I'm changing the game plan. We're, we're doing a 180 on the game plan. So we're in the hotel before we leave to go to the park. And you know, I said, tell, I tell Mauricio, I said, I need you to come meet with me.
Speaker 2 00:22:35 I need you to come sit down with me. And we started going over the lineup and pretty much everything that I had written down that we all wanted to change and wanted to start to do, he already, he had already had it. He already knew it. Like, and so his knowledge of the game, his understanding of the game, his ability to be able to make adjustments and be able to like, okay, well I recognize this, I recognize this, I saw this and we changed the total game plan from what, from what we had going into game one. And I think, you know, I think we gave up maybe less runs than we did in the first game in the LA next three, you know, and we won all three of the next games. But, uh, that's, that's something that's been pretty dang fun to be able to work with and be able to do that. And like I said, his understanding of the game and all that stuff is, is, is pretty helpful in helping be able to help these guys.
Speaker 1 00:23:14 Who's the best pitch framer you played with?
Speaker 2 00:23:18 Uh, I, I always tell people the greatest, um, catcher that I ever threw to was Henry Blanco. Um, and I played with him, I threw to him in, in New York. Uh, but his ability to, you know, you throw the ball three inches out and he was quiet and he did, he, he, he didn't move. He wasn't like real jarry. He was just quiet and quick to the ball and beat the ball to the spot and presented it. And I'm like, this guy's awesome. This guy's pretty good. Uh, but
Speaker 1 00:23:45 Yes. How much of a difference can that make? I mean, are we talking three outs a game or does it make a dramatic difference? So,
Speaker 2 00:23:51 Uh, you know, we get the stats back, uh, in that 1480 gaming gets c Creighton on Saturday. Okay. Uh, Maurice Maurizio stole 26 pitches, so there was 26 pitches that were out of the zone that he got called for strikes. So we threw 161 strikes that day, and that's 26. So it ended up being 16% of all of our strikes were from Mauricio framing the ball and moving it up and presenting the baseball to the umpire and the umpire gave us to call, uh, which is pretty incredible. I, I don't know if there's another game in the country where a guys had 26 of those before. Uh, so that's pre it was pretty impressive and, and, you know, pretty dang good on his part. So he's been a huge part of, of being able to helpiti staff as well.
Speaker 1 00:24:33 So how much of being a great catcher is learned through experience and how much of it is they just kind of have that innate sense of how to, how to do these things?
Speaker 2 00:24:43 Uh, I think experience is huge. You know, obviously the, the, the more you do it, the more comfortable you are, the more you see stuff, more you see swings, you see hitters reactions, those kind of type of things. You see foul balls, all those things. It, it gives you information, you know, and I think you have to be back there and ex have the experience to be able to recognize it and be able to understand it and under then be able to process of what understand process, what it tells you, you know, and then be able to apply it, you know, and that's where I think he's, like I said, he's, he's pretty dang good in that area. And it's, it's like I said, it's fun to work with from from my side of it,
Speaker 1 00:25:17 Just to catch people up. We had a couple inside baseball things. So Brock Rodden is the second baseman for the shockers and Mike Pelfrey, who we're talking to, of course, pitch for the shockers pitched in the big leagues, net Mets, twins, white Sox,
Speaker 2 00:25:30 White Sox, tigers,
Speaker 1 00:25:31 White Sox, tigers. So yes, you have that baseball background. You're now in your fifth year of coaching pitchers here at Wichita State. Take us through that, that journey. What have you learned? What have maybe you changed, what have you adapted over your time? Uh,
Speaker 2 00:25:44 Well I've had, I've had to change a lot because obviously, you know, I tell people that, that towards the end of my career I was kind of like a mm-hmm. <affirmative> mentor for the younger guys, you know, but I still had to take care of myself first, right? Make sure that I would still be able to do my job. Still getting out to be able to do those things and then be able to help guys on the side. Coaching is, coaching is different. Um, you know, there I got, I have 18 pictures, I have 18 different personalities that I have to, that I have to deal with, you know, and, and you know, you try to figure out what makes each guy click, um, how to get each guy kind of going, trying to get him point, get him in the right direction, um, you know, how to communicate with each, with each guy.
Speaker 2 00:26:21 And that's been, that's kind of been I think the biggest maybe adjustment because I, I, in the beginning, uh, I've always come in and I've always been, I've always been kind of one way, like, um, and, and, and that one way is kind of intense. And, you know, I get in your, you know, I'll get in your face, I'll get on you, uh, rip your butt if I have to, you know, to get what I want. Well, I've, I've, I've found out that that doesn't work. That doesn't always work. There's, there's guys that I can get on and I can push and I can tell 'em, you know, that's, that's not right and this needs to happen and this need to change now you need to do this. And guy, they'll respond Other guys, I do that. And they go, they, they, they go the opposite direction, you know?
Speaker 2 00:26:59 So that's the hardest, that's the hardest part. So I've, I would tell people that I've, I've gotten pretty soft now, which was total opposite of my personality of who I am. Uh, cause I've always been intense, but, but I've gotten soft. And, uh, you know, when guy doesn't, guy doesn't pitch well, you know, I'd want to, you know, before I'd want to get in their face and, you know, get on 'em and call 'em out and tell'em they need to be better. And then it didn't work, you know? And I found that out. We found that out pretty quick. So now I don't necessarily do that. Do I still challenge 'em? Yes. Do I still, you know, when they don't do something well as a group, do I bring it up? Yes, I do. I don't, I don't, I don't let it go, well, this is what we need to do better. This is what we did yesterday. This does not work. And I bring it up and I'm stern about it, you know? Uh, but I've, I've, I've become pretty soft now,
Speaker 1 00:27:43 Right? I'm not sure that's soft as much as it is different people process information in, in different ways, and you're smart to vary your approach.
Speaker 2 00:27:52 I, well, uh, I, here's, here's the way I think that, that, this is the way I viewed it. Kids now are different, you know, cuz Brent can, Brent Kim, this could go out there and just rip your butt and you, and you would respond, you know, it would be fine. Well, it doesn't work. It doesn't work anymore. So either, you know, in all reality, I look at it like, Hey, I can change, or I can, I can, I have to get out cuz it's not, it's not, it's not gonna work if I don't change. You know? So I've, I I learned that and I've tried to adjust and I've tried to, I've tried to, I've tried to be better about that and communicating and, and doing it the right way, you know? Uh, but I still get mad every once in a while. I still call him out. You know, that's, but it's not as, it's not as often I'll tell you that.
Speaker 1 00:28:32 Right. And, and obviously you're working with them, but I would also, I mean, I've done the stories on Jim Newland from the 89 team, and they really had to con constantly prop him up, tell him how good he was. So I think even, even back then, I think Brent would say you had different approaches with, with different guys.
Speaker 2 00:28:50 Yeah. Brent and Brent and I talked to Brent about that too. Um, you know, about getting advice and doing all those things. And he said, building relationships, that's what it's about, man. You have to build relationships. You have to figure out each guy. You have to figure out what makes em click in each guy. And you know, like I said, and before I was, I was just one way I was gonna get in your face and I was gonna call you out and I was gonna challenge you. And that, that for most kids, that does not work. You know? And I, I probably learned that the hard way.
Speaker 1 00:29:16 Okay. Mike has a game to prepare for the, we are recording this on Wednesday morning before the shockers play. Oklahoma State Wednesday night at X Stadium. Uh, the shockers have UMass in town starting Friday for a three game series, noon at Xs Stadium. And then we'll look ahead a little bit on Tuesday, Oklahoma comes to town for the annual game downtown at Riverfront Stadium. Mike, thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 00:29:38 Appreciate it, Paul. Take care.
Speaker 3 00:29:52 Hi, this is Rick Yuma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chak Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 00:30:21 Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse Podcast. Courtesy of Wichita State University's strategic communications, we encourage you to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 5 00:30:36 It's over. It is over. Ladies and gentlemen, say it slowly and savor it. Wichita State is going to the Final four for the first time in 48 years.
Speaker 6 00:30:51 Unbelievable. What a scene folks. The shocker fans are just going crazy in the stands.
Speaker 5 00:30:56 Just maybe the greatest win in the history of Wichita State Basketball.
