What Auburn baseball coach Butch Thompson said to start fall ball

There's a good mix of veterans and newcomers on this year's squad.

The mood in the Auburn baseball offices is upbeat - fall ball starts today and head baseball coach Butch Thompson is excited about getting his squad back together and competing. 

"Since school started, we've been working basically two-a-days, for a month. 6AM workouts and conditioning and then come back in the afternoon and work on your skill and your craft. And even though we've got 24 new players and 24 returners, they've been working separate - pitchers with pitchers, infielders, catchers - everybody's been separated. To start today with everybody being together as one team - this is a significant day for us so we're excited to get things started." 

The challenge facing an Auburn squad that went to Omaha last year and then lost eight players to the MLB Draft is acclimating the newcomers while also holding serve with their (usual) daunting schedule.

"Our schedule coming up - it benefited us last year where we won enough games to be in the top 5, top 10 of RPI. We're gonna have that type of schedule again."

In addition to the usual non-conference matchups from in-state and local teams, Auburn welcomes ACC foe Georgia Tech back on the schedule for home and away matchups, as well as bringing the Big 10's Indiana for a home series on The Plains and traveling to Southern California to open the season.  And then, of course, you have conference play.

"Then you just add in that easy 10 weeks of the SEC. So right there, you already know that you're going to be challenged from a schedule standpoint." 

Six of Auburn's SEC opponents in 2023 made the NCAA Tournament's Field of 64, including three teams that joined Auburn in Omaha (Texas A&M, Arkansas, and eventual national champion Ole Miss).

Compounding the challenge is a lack of SEC experience on the mound - Auburn sent three of their starting pitchers to MLB - but Thompson doesn't see that as a complete negative.

"Eight guys going in the top 20 rounds. Five pitchers taken in the top 12 rounds. That's significant because not everybody has five draft eligible pitchers go during the top 12 rounds. [...] All eight had never been drafted before, in their careers. Not at a high school. Not from the junior college. Not from the four-year school they were at before here. It signals development, and I think you had a good [recruit] class that made it to school that was aware of that."

Those new pitchers will need to develop, and quickly, but answering those questions is what Fall Ball is all about. 

"Who's gonna be ready to pitch? And who can pitch with limited experience? Those are the things that we as a staff are talking about every day. We start that journey today. So it's an exciting next 45 days. We're gonna try to play as much as we possibly can. Every day we touch the field, we're going to try to make a huge portion of the day be surrounded about playing the game. And that's what these guys need." 

But not every pitcher will be throwing longer outings in fall. The long season last year, with the College World Series extending into late June, changed the summer directions from the coaching staff a bit.

"We didn't push the summer agenda. [...] We didn't push our position players, like a Cole Foster, to go out and keep playing. We backed off a little bit in the summer. As August got here, we started doing the exact same template as we run last fall. But something had to give at some point because of the length of the season, so we let go of the rope a little bit and allowed guys to get a little more recovery in the summer."

Junior RHP Joseph Gonzalez, the only returning starting pitcher and the de-facto staff ace, will be one of the pitchers that is limited in the fall - not because of injury, but because of workload and development.

"Joseph Gonzalez goes straight from Omaha and does 11 innings with (Team) USA - you're not gonna get good looks at him. I'm gonna pitch him once a week, either one or two innings. [...] I think Joseph still needs to develop a few things. So we're going to work on a couple of things, but it's going to be more of the "in the garage" and then pop out once a week and throw one or two innings. So he's really at an innings limit for an amateur at this age in college. For the year, we're going to try to probably squeeze five to eight more innings out of him. [...] We'll just be mindful of his innings; these guys without experience, they're the ones that need the innings right now."

Thompson talked up the value of catcher Nate LaRue's game-calling and defense, as well as the 2B to SS transition happening for the 3rd straight offseason as Cole Foster shifts across the diamond, but surprised with some of the other veterans he named as potentially key contributors this season.

"(Catcher) Ryan Dyal is a veteran in our program that's continued to just stay around and hang in there. It just looks like some of that experience sticks out like a sore thumb. [When you add recruit Ike Irish to the mix] The catching skills are going to be great; we feel great at catcher."

Thompson also mentioned Bryson Ware, who was a junior college shortstop but has played in the outfield at Auburn, as a potential piece at 3B and Cam Hill, a returning two-way veteran, as a player at 1B, saying "hopefully some of the guys that were in the program last year step up."

The outfield looks to be a strength as well, and Thompson is excited about the potential mix out there.

In the outfield, I feel great. You got a Bobby Pierce. We're so thankful for Kason Howell, centerfielder. If I got to coach at this level for 20 more years, I would be happy if Kason Howell was a centerfielder on that ball club. We're gonna get one more year out of him, and he's done an amazing job. 

After discussing Mike Bello being back for left field and Josh Hall, cleared for full baseball activities after season-ending surgery required when he had the "walk-off" catch to defeat LSU in Baton Rouge, Thompson addressed newcomer Justin Kirby.

"I put a portal piece in there; Justin Kirby has been amazing from Kent State. He arguably might possess the most pop that we have on the team, from these early indications. So we're excited about our outfield, and excited about catcher." 

Rebuilding the infield is the biggest challenge, outside of the pitching rotation, that this Auburn team needs to figure out over fall ball. There's plenty of options, from Kansas transfer Cooper McMurray to West Georgia transfer Brody Wortham and JuCo All-American Caden Green to challenge for the three remaining infield spots, along with internal options Ware, Hill, Brody Moss, and newcomers transfer Ty Maudlin & freshman Gavin Miller (who Butch specifically mentioned as a candidate for early playing time at 3B).

The big takeaway is Auburn baseball is going through a transition, and this strong incoming class of freshman turned down MLB opportunities to come to Auburn and develop as ballplayers, a fact that's not lost on Butch Thompson.

"They're gonna wait a couple years and try this route - they're betting this is the best route to be a big leaguer. Hopefully, they'll make a huge mark on Auburn before they walk out the door. [...] Players want to play with great people and have a chance to win championships together. These good ones start hanging out together and they want to get hooked up. Karl (Nonemaker)'s done an amazing job of recruiting. 

Ultimately, Auburn baseball's coaches, players, and staff have worked hard and the results are known inside and outside the program.

"People know who we are. We've been here long enough now where there's a real identity to our program. Just keep waking up every day, working hard, to make sure you're continuing to track that. We're in a pretty good place right now; I don't want to understate it."

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