Skip Johnson pre-Wright State

  • 7 months ago
Skip Johnson talks to media on Feb. 22, 2024.
Transcript
00:00 >> Yeah, I thought the biggest thing I took out of it, we played with a big spirit.
00:04 And we played with an edge a little bit.
00:07 We got after it and never gave up and just kept getting after it every inning,
00:11 trying to win innings.
00:12 And I thought it was winning pitches on both sides of the defense and offense.
00:16 I think we could play catch better, but early in the year, that's gonna happen.
00:22 >> Since you've got a few days to kind of mull it over,
00:24 what's your biggest takeaway of things that you wanna do better
00:26 coming off that trip to Dallas?
00:28 >> Just play better catch, I think more so than anything.
00:31 Play better catch, that's the biggest thing that I saw more and
00:34 more so than anything.
00:35 We just gotta continue to work on our defense.
00:37 And I think that happens when you play other teams and
00:41 understand the environment that you're in.
00:43 >> I don't know if you'd categorize it as a slow start offensively, but
00:46 there are a couple guys specifically that have had really good starts, John, Jackson.
00:51 How good is it for those veteran guys to get off to a good start?
00:54 >> It eases their mind a little bit.
00:56 I mean, usually you're in a draft here and they fight a little bit and
01:01 they started off hot.
01:02 All they gotta think about is what can I do to help the team win?
01:06 If they do what they can do to help the team win,
01:09 everything other individual accolades will be good.
01:11 And I think that's the biggest thing, is just trying to see the ball and
01:14 win pitches and have good quality at bats.
01:16 >> Jackson was talking about how much he needed to mature over the course of
01:19 the season, how kind of tumultuous that last month, the year was for him.
01:24 How have you seen him mature?
01:26 >> I mean, I think his work ethic speaks for itself and
01:28 having the more the mental game, understanding what the mental game is,
01:32 slowing the game down, slowing the ball down.
01:34 When you slow the game down, you slow the ball down so you get to see it better and
01:39 breathe, that's the biggest thing.
01:40 And not to try to, he had a great freshman year.
01:44 He hit in a lineup where there's a lot of good hitters.
01:47 And last year, not to say they wouldn't have any good hitters, but
01:51 he wanted to be the man, instead of just going out there and
01:54 having good quality at bats.
01:55 That's the only thing you can't control is having a good quality at bats,
01:58 seeing the ball, hitting the ball hard.
01:59 You can't control if you get a hit or not.
02:01 You just gotta go out there and try to have good quality at bats and
02:03 see the ball.
02:04 >> You had a bunch of guys make debuts on the mound this past week.
02:08 Encourage, I don't know if encouraging would be the right word, but
02:11 there was a lot to like, I'm sure, from a pitching standpoint.
02:13 >> Yeah, I mean, I thought that we gotta continue to grow in a lot of areas
02:17 on the mound as well.
02:19 I think the will is the more innings they get, more games they get,
02:22 more reps they get.
02:24 I thought the fastball command was good.
02:28 I thought the breaking ball command was good.
02:29 I thought they didn't back down from, they went after hitters.
02:34 I mean, Crooks gets up the grand slam on a change up to a guy that's a good hitter.
02:39 He's an older hitter and you tip your hat,
02:41 you gotta have the guts to throw it in there as much as anything.
02:43 And so we're in that situation.
02:46 If we let the ball go, he tips off his glove on the infield,
02:51 I think he's out of the inning and that's okay.
02:53 But that's a part of learning, understanding what we're trying to do.
02:56 >> Specifically with Tyson and Ryan, they came in on Saturday night.
03:01 Did you learn anything more about those guys being thrown into that situation
03:04 against that team?
03:05 >> Yeah, I learned a lot for Lambert, for sure.
03:07 I mean, I kinda always knew it with Tyson.
03:10 I thought he was really good.
03:12 I thought his presence was really good.
03:15 His demeanor was really good.
03:16 Attacked the strike zone with no fear.
03:19 And I thought Ryan did that too.
03:21 I didn't know what Ryan was gonna do.
03:23 I mean, he gets comfortable in this environment and
03:25 also you throw him in that environment, it's a little different.
03:27 And I thought he did a great job of showing that he can maybe throw
03:32 the back end of our games.
03:33 >> What'd you say about the poise of the team in general?
03:35 I mean, you win extra innings on Saturday, come back on Sunday.
03:38 You end up going down Tuesday, came back, race a four and deficit in that game.
03:42 Just kinda staying in the fight.
03:43 >> Well, I mean, you win the big game on Saturday, you call it a big game.
03:48 It's a baseball game.
03:49 >> Sure. >> And
03:49 then you get to bed probably two o'clock.
03:53 And the game wants you to feel sorry for yourself.
03:56 And all of a sudden we kinda give up a couple runs early and
04:00 give up another run.
04:01 We get behind.
04:02 Our kids never stop fighting.
04:03 They could have just gave in.
04:04 It's like, you know what?
04:05 I got five hours sleep.
04:06 I'm tired.
04:07 But they kept playing the game one pitch at a time.
04:10 And that was a key to us coming back.
04:13 I mean, we got a little bit closer, got a little bit closer.
04:16 Bullpen came in, did their job.
04:18 And Lotus was really good, holding them off two innings and
04:21 kinda bridged the gap to get to the ninth or so to win it.
04:26 And had some really good at bats late.
04:28 Spikerman, 02 hit to left, kinda started it off.
04:31 And then Jacksonville was getting a big hit.
04:35 And then he went up there and it was attack.
04:37 And he wasn't looking for a walk, he was attacking.
04:40 So that was a really good sign to see.
04:41 >> What else did you see from Jackson, just first four games, that impressed you?
04:46 >> Willis?
04:46 >> Yeah, Willis.
04:47 >> I think the biggest thing was his poise, more so.
04:50 He took his walks, I think he had four walks.
04:52 We don't look at, he hit a ball hard in the third game.
04:55 And a lot of times guys try to get hits.
04:58 Instead of having quality at bats, you can't get hits.
05:00 You just gotta have quality at bats.
05:01 And so he took his walks when he had to take his walks.
05:05 And he's gonna grow as we get further into the season,
05:09 learning how to get on time, learning all those things.
05:11 I mean, those guys have faced different pitchers.
05:13 They're used to facing our pitchers through the fall and early spring.
05:17 Now you're facing a different pitcher, you gotta learn a different timing.
05:19 And you gotta really pick up on it quick.
05:21 And I think those things, he's gonna grow in those aspects.
05:25 >> Michael Snyder had a couple really big extra base hits Tuesday night.
05:30 What was that conversation like when he got in the portal?
05:33 And what'd you guys see in him?
05:34 And what's impressed you about what he's done so far?
05:37 >> Well, he's an older player, which is a really good sign.
05:40 He's calm.
05:41 He had Reggie got to talk to him about some of the things that is gonna help him
05:45 be a better player and a better hitter.
05:47 I think those things, they really worked on it in all fall and
05:50 all spring, which is really good.
05:51 I think those things are gonna continue to grow.
05:54 He had really mature at bats.
05:57 And I thought Isaiah, for being a freshman, came in and played.
06:03 He had a big walk up against Tennessee.
06:06 And then the next day, he was really good at, he controlled his at bats.
06:10 I thought it was really big that those guys are kinda,
06:13 they can see those older guys take their at bats and they can learn from those things.
06:17 I thought that was, a lot of times you're sitting on the bench,
06:21 you've been there for one or two days, you're not really paying attention.
06:23 I've always said this in clowning around, when you're with your girlfriend,
06:28 you're talking about baseball.
06:29 When you're with your baseball team, you're talking about your girlfriend.
06:31 So I thought they paid attention to the game, which is really big.
06:34 So I thought that was our spirit, our team spirit when we played with Edge.
06:39 I thought that was what was really, for the coaches,
06:44 we thought it was a great thing to see.
06:47 >> Last year, program record for attendance around here.
06:50 How excited are you to get home and get in front of the home fans and
06:52 fill this place up?
06:53 >> It's always fun to play at home.
06:55 I mean, I think we have some of the greatest fans in college baseball.
06:59 We just gotta keep getting them out here.
07:01 We gotta keep putting the product out on the field and keep playing with Edge.
07:04 Where I've always said this, it's like the song David Allen Coe, The Ride.
07:08 You make people cry when you play and sing.
07:10 You play with so much passion, they feel how much passion you play with.
07:14 That's really the true respect of a baseball player.
07:18 You can feel what he feels when he plays.
07:20 And so that passion is what really takes.
07:24 >> How's McKenzie doing?
07:25 >> He's good.
07:26 I mean, he should be able to play this weekend, which is a good sign.
07:29 He had some live at bats today, which is a good sign.
07:32 Had good at bats, hadn't seen live pitching in a couple weeks.
07:34 So I thought that was good.
07:36 He had some good live at bats, which is really good.
07:38 >> So a good problem to have, getting McKenzie back.
07:41 You're having to start figuring out how you can get Frederick at bats and
07:44 moving forward.
07:44 This seems like you have a bunch of options right now.
07:47 >> Yeah, our depth is really our key.
07:48 But with those guys being hurt, we didn't really have any depth.
07:51 So I think that's a key for us is getting those guys healthy so
07:55 we can mix and match as we go through.
07:57 If you have to go to the end of the game and make really three players be one
08:02 player, like if a guy can run or if a guy can bunt or if a guy can hit and run.
08:06 You're trying to make, or a guy can play defense.
08:08 You're trying to make three moves for one player.
08:11 So you have the depth to do that.
08:13 It's a really good thing to have.