Butch Thompson spoke with media Thursday to preview this weekend's series against UConn. Here's a summary...
**UConn is a proud, traditional baseball program. Went to Gainesville Regional last year. They are extremely athletic. Butch said he's close with UConn coach Jim Penders and AD David Benedict, who was an assoc. AD at Auburn.
** This series will continue to help us grow and figure out who we are.
** Butch wants more authority over the strike zone for his pitchers and hitters. Starting to feel good about AU's defense including left side of infield. Players are competing at a high level but we have to be a better team a month from now.
** Will go with same rotation this weekend. Love the pitching depth. Still have players he believes in that haven't played much. Drew Nelson and Konner Copeland are guys you could see this upcoming week with two midweek games. They need work.
** Going to find out in next few weeks whether this rotation can hold up against SEC competition. Need to get better. Chase Allsup has to get a fastball to the glove and the command has to be better. He has hung in there and battled. Bullpen was tremendous Friday but struggled Saturday and Sunday. Players will make the lineup over these next couple of weeks.
** Walks will come down as we get to SEC play and pitchers get better and gain more experience.
** Butch said being able to compete against other teams in the fall is very helpful and think it would be beneficial for football teams in the spring.
** Deric Fabian is a good player. Florida HS Player of the Year. Experienced a lot of highs and lows at UF. He's gifted and can drive a ball to both fields. He's a good base runner. He's a shortstop that's playing excellent third base right now. He's made us a stronger club.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
**UConn is a proud, traditional baseball program. Went to Gainesville Regional last year. They are extremely athletic. Butch said he's close with UConn coach Jim Penders and AD David Benedict, who was an assoc. AD at Auburn.
** This series will continue to help us grow and figure out who we are.
** Butch wants more authority over the strike zone for his pitchers and hitters. Starting to feel good about AU's defense including left side of infield. Players are competing at a high level but we have to be a better team a month from now.
** Will go with same rotation this weekend. Love the pitching depth. Still have players he believes in that haven't played much. Drew Nelson and Konner Copeland are guys you could see this upcoming week with two midweek games. They need work.
** Going to find out in next few weeks whether this rotation can hold up against SEC competition. Need to get better. Chase Allsup has to get a fastball to the glove and the command has to be better. He has hung in there and battled. Bullpen was tremendous Friday but struggled Saturday and Sunday. Players will make the lineup over these next couple of weeks.
** Walks will come down as we get to SEC play and pitchers get better and gain more experience.
** Butch said being able to compete against other teams in the fall is very helpful and think it would be beneficial for football teams in the spring.
** Deric Fabian is a good player. Florida HS Player of the Year. Experienced a lot of highs and lows at UF. He's gifted and can drive a ball to both fields. He's a good base runner. He's a shortstop that's playing excellent third base right now. He's made us a stronger club.
*****THAT'S ALL*****
