Auburn Coach Butch Thompson discusses his pitching entering home opener

The Auburn coach sits down with Auburn Daily to discuss pitching, preview season

As Auburn gets ready to kick off the 2022 home slate at Plainsman Park, head coach Butch Thompson is ultimately happy with what he’s seen so far after winning two out of three games at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown in Arlington, TX this past weekend.

“We had a great experience. There were a lot of good things that happened. The starting pitching was in control. The defense traveled - you always like to see that in baseball, when you can travel to a venue and your defense can show up like that. It felt like a “Friday night in the SEC”-type atmosphere.”

Thompson knows that it’ll take more than one weekend to rebuild the trust and belief in this pitching rotation. “Pitching was our biggest challenge from last year and so the poise of those three men on the mound was huge for us. We’ll see, moving forward, how we build on some things we didn’t do as well and if some of these perceived strengths, from a small little glimpse, will hold up with some consistency.”

For a weekend, at least, the Auburn pitching staff was consistently strong in Arlington - a total of 13 pitchers, over 14 total appearances, combined for a 1.38 ERA and opposing batting average of .127 over 26 innings, with four earned runs and 25 total strikeouts. As Thompson pointed out, though, it wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination.

“We walked too many, but we didn’t give up too many hits, and no extra-base hits - I think we gave up only one extra-base hit for the weekend. For a college baseball staff against three Big 12 teams, that was huge.” Auburn pitchers gave out a total of 15 free passes over the weekend.

Thompson had real praise for the mental approach of his team, something Auburn’s worked on all offseason with the help of noted mental training expert Dr. Jason Selk, instrumental in the St. Louis Cardinals World Series titles of 2006 & 2011. “Poise is a word I would use. The poise of Joseph Gonzalez in the first five innings against Texas Tech in that environment - it was very much a road game for us, with how many Texas Tech people showed up at the ballpark. His poise was off the charts. And just carry that over to Sunday and Trace Bright got us off to a great start with five innings of two hits (allowed). Those guys showed real poise for us.”

Jordan Armstrong’s four scoreless innings in relief of grad transfer Tommy Sheehan on Friday and Gonzalez’s five scoreless innings were both throwbacks to an older style of pitching that Thompson noted hasn’t been emphasized as much in college baseball in recent years.

“Armstrong and Gonzalez, Bright to a lesser degree, but Armstrong and Gonzalez were a lot of sinkerballs. Armstrong and Gonzalez feature that, and we’ve been so vertical-stacking the last few years in college baseball and how hard could you throw up in the zone and could you throw a breaking ball that would tunnel and share space with it. But these guys are back to some guys that I love. It’s the sink and the slider - it’s the Tim Hudson style! At least for this weekend, it held up so well.”

Gonzalez, specifically, set out in his Saturday start to emphasize the slider early, establishing it as a threat and making Texas Tech’s potent lineup acknowledge and guard against the offspeed pitch. “But for Joseph, just having a second pitch and being able to throw the slider first, allows the fastball to play another foot. The sink helped with that. You were able to get a slider over early - now the hitter’s got to respect that, his wheels start turning and thinking, and now when he gets the fastball that’s running down and away from him... It plays well.”

What a terrific performance by @AuburnBaseball RHP Joe Gonzalez so far today. Has been sitting in the upper-80s, and into low-90s with his FB, and doing a nice job of keeping Tech off balance. Five shutout frames for the righty. 2-0, #WDE, B5.

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) February 19, 2022

As a follow-up, Thompson expounded that it’s not just the pitcher’s stuff, it’s the way with which you deliver it. “It’s one thing to do it with poise, it’s another to do it with conviction. It was not a timid way to go about it.”

For a pitching staff that took its lumps in 2021, this weekend was a welcome sight, partially as a result of going through those growing pains last year. “You know, they were thrown into something last year. They were not the 1, 2, & 3, but when the 1, 2, & 3 miss 6-8 weeks, you have to step up and try and play some of those roles. They’re more prepared for it. So I think it’s some growth and development, and it’s a backhanded positive that they got to get some experience last year, even if it was tragic at times. It’s gotten to help them more. They got to really pitch and grow some last year, maybe before they were ready.”

Of particular note was Auburn’s unique approach to game calling by the battery. In modern college baseball, we see more coaches utilizing newly-passed rules allowing for on-field technology, like Apple Watches or one-way radios, to call the game from the dugout. FloSports made a point on the broadcast this weekend to show the earpiece of Auburn catcher Jake Wyandt, the senior transfer from Presbyterian, and a corresponding shot of Auburn pitching coach Tim Hudson in the dugout holding a walkie-talkie. Coach Thompson clarified that Auburn players call their own games, and with good reason: “I think it creates more conviction and more ownership, and actually more growth. I think at the end of the day, if a pitcher after a ballgame can’t get on an interview with you guys and you can’t pass the buck, you’re getting closer to choosing the option of ownership.”

It all comes back to Thompson’s idea of instilling confidence and ownership in the work and preparation and execution of the young pitchers. “I did ask Tim (Hudson), because we have the electronic communication, ‘how many pitches did you call this weekend?’ And he thought it was less than ten a game. And we felt like we held up very well. Lots of conviction and ownership. So when we talk about (Trace) Armstrong, or Gonzalez, or Burkhalter, or Trace Bright - see, they can bank that. That was them. That wasn’t Tim Hudson thinking for them. That’s them having full ownership. They had great outings, and made great decisions.”

Thompson’s approach to coaching and development is ultimately focused on one aspect: The player as a person. “All right, I’ve got them for this moment in time. How am I gonna help them be a better man? Am I going to set a good example? So we run our own game, not just to try and build a better man, but I think it builds a better pitcher too. I think it’s a win-win in all of these categories.”

Auburn fans definitely believe in the approach that Thompson is taking - season tickets are sold out, surpassing even the sales total the season after 2019’s College World Series trip. “We didn’t get to come off the (College) World Series and have that park packed. It feels like we’re a young program that built up to a certain level and we didn’t get to enjoy it, and I think our people just realize it. And so people stepped up to the plate for us. I’ve tried to remind our players of that. We are so aware of how many people are behind us, and intend to give them our best each and every single day”

Single-game tickets are still available as Auburn prepares to kick off the 2022 home slate against Troy on Wednesday at 5:00 PM in Plainsman Park.