Baylor Bear Insider
Even with a 46-player roster that has the locker room busting at its seams, sixth-year Baylor baseball coach Steve Rodriguez is trying to make his team as flexible as possible.
"With the (COVID-19) virus happening . . . our guys know they're going to have to learn a lot of different positions," said Rodriguez, whose team went through its first full-squad workout on Friday. "Our infielders are learning each spot; our outfielders are learning each spot. We're trying to prepare for some of those things that might arise. Hopefully, they don't. But, if they do, we're going to be ahead of the curve."
Unquestionably his deepest team, Rodriguez has a seasoned pitching staff led by Preseason All-Big 12 pick Luke Boyd returning to the closing role, weekend starters in Hayden Kettler, Jimmy Winston, Tyler Thomas and Evan Godwin, bullpen bulldogs in Ryan Leckich and Logan Freeman and younger arms like Luke Thompson, Zac Childers and Will Rigney.
"The majority of the excess is definitely on the pitching side," Rodriguez said of a roster that includes 23 pitchers and one two-way player in outfielder/left-handed pitcher Cam Caley. "That's a bonus for us, just because it gives us some depth in that pitching staff and into the bullpen. And with those Super Seniors coming back, it makes it pretty nice for (pitching coach Jon Strauss) to know he can rely on some veterans in the back end of the game."
Boyd, who had a seamless transition to the closer role with six saves, one win, a 0.82 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 11.0 innings, said his confidence in the pitching staff is "almost unlimited."
"Leckich and Freeman, their numbers speak for themselves," Boyd said. "If I didn't have them in front of me last year, I wouldn't have had the season I had. With Hayden Kettler, maybe he doesn't have the same velocity he used to have, but he's an absolute vicious competitor. I don't know anyone in the nation . . . that could throw 83 to 85 MPH and shut out Arkansas for five innings. I'll go to war with him any day."
The highlight of a COVID-shortened 2020 season was the Bears (10-6) sweeping Arkansas, LSU and Missouri at the Shriners Hospitals for Children College Classic at Minute Maid Park.
"It shows that when we execute, we can compete with anyone at any time," said Boyd, who got the save in each of the wins. "It's a great stepping stone. I know that's in the past, I don't know that it helps us this year, but it is a good experience to have under our belt. It lets us know that we should have confidence no matter who we're facing."
Opening this season with a three-game series at home against Jacksonville State (Feb. 19-21), Baylor will get a similar test the next week when the Bears face Texas A&M, Auburn and Oklahoma in the Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond.
"(Those games are) huge, just because its going to really prepare us to get into conference play," Rodriguez said. "The conference is going to be really good this year, and I think we have a really good team, I really do. Just the depth we have, the overall talent, and this is an interesting group of baseball players. Their skill level is pretty impressive, and their knowledge of the game makes my job really easy."
Catcher Andy Thomas, one of the "Super Seniors," said he gets the "same juice," whether it's the opening weekend or "the seven series against a team that's not very good."
"The talent may be better on the field, but we've still got to play the exact same game," said Thomas, a career .323 hitter who as named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team along with Boyd and freshman outfielder Jared McKenzie. "Whether it's a midweek or Friday night, I get the same juiced-up. That might be a little bit of the fifth year coming out, but some of our younger guys will definitely have some nerves for that Round Rock tournament."
Rodriguez said one of the team's keys for success this season will be having a veteran like Thomas leading the pitching staff behind the plate. Named to the Butch Posey Award watch list a year ago, he took over for All-American and first-round draft pick Shea Langeliers.
"He's just in a very key spot on the field that allows us to really rely on him to work with the pitchers and Coach Strauss and also help manage that bullpen as well," Rodriguez said.
Boyd said Thomas's baseball IQ is "like having another coach on the field."
"It makes it really easy that me and him and (Strauss) are always on the same page," Boyd said. "Having him back there and me focused on whatever he calls with his fingers, it makes me very comfortable in any situation I trust him more than anything."
The conference runner-up to Texas Tech two years ago in the last-completed season, Baylor was picked eighth out of nine teams in the coaches' preseason poll that was released earlier this week.
"We're always underrated, doesn't matter what it is. And we love to be there," Thomas said. "We'd rather be at the bottom and rise to the top than vice versa. It motivates us a little bit, but we don't spend too much time on it. We just go through our process and get the job done."
Before last season was cut short, Baylor had made three-consecutive NCAA regionals under Rodriguez.
"You've got to stay healthy," Rodriguez said. "When you're healthy, you have an opportunity to do some really good things. When you're not healthy, you're usually trying to put Band-Aids on certain things and it doesn't go well."
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