May 16, 2024 • 35 mins
D1 Baseball's Joe Healy joins the podcast to discuss where Kentucky Baseball fits into the national college baseball scene.
Hosted by Darren Headrick and Darren Williams
Presented by Assured Partners
Hosted by Darren Headrick and Darren Williams
Presented by Assured Partners
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome back into Behind Kentucky Baseball,brought to you by Assured Partners, proud
to offer Frankenmuth Insurance. Start aFrank conversation today at www dot Assured partners
dot com. I'm Darren Hedrick alongsidemy broadcast partner Darren Williams. Everybody here
in Lexington and listening around the worldknows him as Dub and Darren. As
we sit here recording today, we'llintroduce our special guest in just a second.
(00:23):
But as we sit here, theWildcats are getting ready to take on
the Vanderbilt Commodorees. They're practicing downon the field right now and a chance
to win an SEC regular season titlethis week on the line. What a
place to be, right It's beena fun journey throughout the season watching these
guys go at it with obviously thebest conference in the world when it comes
to baseball, and they just keepgetting better. Man, we had that
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Friday and Sunday games down in Gainesvillethis weekend. We're fun to watch.
I know, me and me andfamily we're watching Sunday afternoon and just a
nail bier. Really fun brand ofbaseball to watch. Exciting team I think
Lexington's bought it. I mean,the crowds have been insane the last couple
of weeks. You obviously got thenew stands in KPP just for the regional
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super regional, like this place isgoing to be rocking this weekend as we
do for the conference regular season title. And you got a little bit of
Hoover plans in some postseason baseball comingto Lexington here soon. So a lot
of fun, a good time tobe a Kentucky bodcast, and obviously a
lot to get to. So whydon't we hop in with our special guest.
He is our first repeat guest ofthe year. He's Joe Healey from
D one Baseball dot Com. Joecovers a lot of the SEC for D
(01:30):
one and Joey had you on backin the fall. I think it was
right after an exhibition game, andwe talked a lot about the potential of
a really good season for the Wildcats. And now here we are late May,
they're in contention for an SEC title, potentially a number one overall seed
in the NCAA Tournament. What hasbeen your biggest impression or the thing that's
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impressed you the most about watching Kentuckythis spring. I mean, I mean,
first, what's most impressive is thatI'm the repeat guests on your podcast.
First, So take that Logan Salo, which I'm not picking on him,
that's just a name that came tomind that I know you've had on.
Yeah. So what impressed me withthe team is that the physicality of
(02:16):
the offense has allowed this team towin games they just couldn't win last year.
And I think that's really been thebiggest difference between last year and this
The results fairly similar, but thisteam has won some games there is just
no shot last year's team would havewon. I think about the game they
won in Columbia against South Carolina wherethey're down whatever it was, six to
nothing, sixty to one, andthen South Carolina in a game they scored
(02:38):
twelve runs. Kentucky beats them.That team last year, no disrespect,
no shot probably to win that gamewhen they get down like that, they
just didn't. The offense was notmade to operate that way. This year,
you've got the best of both worlds. And I know I've heard you
on your calls, Darren talk abouthow look this team still runs, this
team can still put a bunt down. I think they're the most effective bunning
team in the country, but theycan also get the three run home run,
(03:00):
and well you can do both ofthose things, You're really really dangerous
because as you guys know, youknow, you go to Hoover or you
know, for Kentucky's sake, fingerscrossed. You know, in Omaha the
ballpark just plays different, and soyou're not going to be able to just
sit back and try to hit athree run homer. You're going to have
to try to manufacture something. Andin twenty twenty four college baseball, there
are very few teams that feel comfortabledoing that the way Kentucky does. Got
(03:23):
a lot of shade there on thetwenty twenty three Cats. Joe were a
part of it. Yeah, aright, I'll allow it. You know,
vibes are good here in Lexington.I'll allow it. When you look
at this Kentucky lineup, man,we talked about in the fall a ton
and just like you said one throughnine, we had James mcquin Ryan Walschman
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on last week and they spoke aboutit. This is a deep lineup.
Where does it stack in the country. Though obviously you're one, you're ranked
two in the country right now,talking about the number one overall seed,
where does it stack up in thecountry as we get into postseason play.
The first thing that makes that atough question is that it's a very offensive
time in college baseball right now thatyou know, everybody's everybody's got a couple
(04:08):
of dudes in their lineup, right, But because of the versatility, like
I like this, I don't know, like it's a step behind for me,
it's a step behind Tennessee. It'sa step behind Texas A and M
for me. But the list afterthat, I mean, you look at
somebody their conferences. Florida State isprobably in this conversation, but it's probably
a top you know, twelve tofifteen lineup in the country. And again
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that's hard because we're gonna to nitpickbetween a bunch of good lineups. But
again, this team can do alot of things a lot of other offenses
can't do. If Tennessee is ina situation, look, they've got a
lot of forces in that lineup thathit the ball a long long way.
But if you put them in asituation where it's like, hey, we
need to we need to get abutt down because we're tied in extra innings
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and we need a run, andwe got a guy standing on second base
and nobody out, and we gotto get a butt down. I don't
trust them to do that nearly asmuch as I would trust Kentucky to do
that. And that's the type ofbaseball you have to be able to play
when we get into a postseason timeand you're just gonna play close games because
all the teams are good. Ilove the graphic they showed on the broadcast
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on the SEC net Oric this weekendat Gainesville of the stolen based leaders in
the SEC and just Kentucky's out atthe top by a lot. This team
runs, they bunt, but theyalso crush the ball too. Like you
were saying, Joe, it's aton of fun to watch. And obviously
you've had a lot of good wordsto speak about Kentucky, so we appreciate
you. Ton. Yeah, Imean it this team. I think you
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guys hit out at the beginning thatthis team is fun to watch too.
I mean, it's just a product. If you're a neutral fan, which
I know you know listening to thispodcast mostly UK fans, But I tried
to tell people, if you're aneutral fan like and you're looking. Somebody
asked me, I'm looking for anSEC team to jump on board with,
and this was early in the season, and I told them Kentucky, because
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it's just like, hey, you'regoing to see a lot of things that
in every single game, like somany games today in college baseball and pro
level, it's you know, strikeout, strikeout, home run, walk strikeout,
strikeout. That's not going to bethe deal with Kentucky. But you're
also going to get the home run. You're also going to get some guys
in the mound that can blow itpast you. You've got some guys in
the mound that are old school pitchabilityguys. There's a lot of variety there,
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and so it does create a funproduct to watch in addition to obviously
being extremely successful. Talking about pitching, Joe, it's something that I've talked
to other people in interviews that havehad me on their shows. They've asked
about pitching. And from the wordgo, this year, Kentucky has had
a stable starting rotation. It largelyhas stayed the same outside of Trey Pooser
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going in for Travis Smith on Fridaynights. When you think about so many
teams in this league, it feelslike every week when the release comes out,
most teams have one, if notmaybe two TBAs on the weekend.
How important was it for Kentucky tohave an established rotation and an identity on
the mound going into the season.As we've seen it play out, it's
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such an underrated aspect. I mean, dub can speak to this. When
when you go in every week knowing, here's exactly how I have to prepare
because I know exactly what I'm goingto be doing next weekend, that's huge
for a pitcher. You can kindof stay on track. And also I
think about a guy like Dom Nyman, where look he had two tough starts
in a row, right, threeouts combined across two starts, and it
would have been easy for Mene andpat Rozelle to be like, look,
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we still believe in you, butlet's take a week off, like let's
you know, let's back away,let's let's work on whatever it is need
to work on. We'll get backto it. And they said, no,
we're just we believe in you.We're just going to keep putting you
out there. And he responded,right, I mean, he's been he's
been really good in response to that, So I think that's part of it.
Also is these guys in the moundknow, like we're in these roles
because they trust us and we're notone bat outing is not going to lead
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to this huge sea change in theway we approach our pitching. So it's
it's the routine a is huge,and then be just the understanding of you're
our guys. And I think aboutTrey Pooser in this way too, of
he didn't expect to be a Fridaystarter, that the team didn't expect him
to be a Friday starter, andhe's really only and this is not a
shot at him, but he's onlythe Friday starter because he was replacing the
guy who was the Friday starter,right, so they put him in that
(08:07):
role. So now he's in asituation where he's like an accidental Friday starter
and like the dude has just battledevery single time out he's most of the
time facing guys with better stuff,and again not a shot, but like
you know, he's most of thetime facing a guy with some better wipe
out stuff, a better pro prospect, and yet he's been as good or
better most of the time. He'staken them out. I can speak on
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tray and I spoke about this onBBN tonight last week. Trey Pooser has
been unbelievable this year, coming intothe SEC. Like I was, older
guy transferred from a small mid majorand he's come in and he competes every
single week, every single Friday start, and it'll be this case on Thursday
against Vanderbilt. I just feel likeTrey's gonna give us a quality start and
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we're going to look up in thesixth inning and have a chance to win
every single week. And that's beenvital because obviously we've cashed in on a
few of those. You know,you lose all them, that's baseball season.
But just having every single Friday nightyou have a chance to win late
in the game has been vital forKentucky and they've jumped on the opportunity.
That's why we're sitting here that weekfourteen and we're in first in the SEC
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and jumping on. On Dubb's point, Joe, I think when you look
at Kentucky going in we all talkedabout this on the first time we had
you on back in the fall.There was a lot of unknowns there were
quality players. You knew they werebringing in talent from the transfer portal,
but some of them were coming frommid majors or even Division two, so
there were some unknowns of how thatwould translate in the SEC. But I
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think the one thing at the endof the season, they've all come from
winning cultures or winning programs, butthat experience means so much, especially in
this league, absolutely does, andthat it is an art form more than
a science. When you talk aboutrecruiting players from the mid major level,
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for example, to bring them intothe SEC. Because obviously you have to
have a skill, that's a baseline, that's table stage, but beyond that,
you do have to understand the valueof, hey, this is a
grind. There's no weekend where inmost of the leagues you have a weekend
or two where it's like, hey, you play C plus baseball and we're
going to be fine. You justcan't do that in this league. So
there has to be a mentality piece, and additionally, there has to be
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kind of that total willingness to sellout for victories, to do whatever,
to be humbled and take a smallerrole, because that's the other thing here.
A lot of these mid majors wereyou know, the big man on
campus on their baseball team, youknow wherever they came from, right,
And it's going to be different whenyou go to the SEC. With a
few exceptions shout out to Sonny Dasharea couple of years ago, but for
most, in most cases, likeyou're going to come in and you're just
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going to be a lesser role thanwhat you were where you came from.
And you have to be able tojust say that that's who I am in
this spot. And I think CoachMinch and his staff have done a great
job of identifying those guys because,let's face it, you look at some
of the guys who have been mostimportant on the mound. I think about
Cam O'Brian, like he's been extremelyimportant, but you look at his numbers
at Campbell and it's like, okay, Like when they brought him in,
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I'm not gonna lie to you,I looked at it and said, what
do they see that I don't see? But because they've done such a good
job at finding the right pieces,I just assume there's something I don't see.
Like I don't think of it asa silly move. I think of
it as like, Okay, clearlythere's something that I don't understand about this.
Let me educate myself. And Ithink we've seen that not no one's
going to have one hundred percent hitrate on transfers. That's just not the
way it works. But this program'sdone a really good job of finding good
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fits. I think you could sayput Robert Hogan's name into that conversation too.
They transfer from A and M wipeoutSlaughterer. I mean, I thought,
kid's got some really good stuff,and he's helped us win some ball
games, so he's blossomed this year. He has really helped us win some
of these SEC games that are close. Real quick, Joe as We're going
to shift and talk a little moreabout the SEC and the SEC tournament in
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a minute. But we've been ableto watch Jack kagleone, Charlie Condon,
these guys develop and a merge.It's been fun to watch if you're a
fan of college baseball. They're notthe only ones in this league. I
know you're working most weekends so youdon't get to see all of Kentuck these
games, but how much have youenjoyed watching players like Devin Burks, Ryan
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Walts, Schmidt and Emilian Peatree developinto superstars within the Kentucky program. So
much fun, especially you know whenyou when you know some of the backstory
there right, Like you know,I wrote a story about Devon earlier this
season and getting to meet his momand kind of understanding their story and you
know, sweet sweet and sweet lady, and just understanding where here, oh
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absolutely like a plus where he comesfrom, helps you appreciate what he's doing
more, especially as look he's he'sbattling it physically, he's battled at the
plate. He's not having the offensiveyear he would have wanted to have,
and yet he just kind of keepsgoing out there. And I think it's
a testament to what he brings thatthey they're still, especially with Grant out
last weekend, they're putting them backin a third in the lineup, even
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though he's hitting two forty or whateverit is, right So, and then
you know, with with Petra,it's it's this is a kid who had
to learn English basically to come here. I can't imagine what it would be
like to go to another country andtry to go to school at a high
level, university, play baseball ata high level program and oh, by
the way, I don't speak thelanguage, not really, it's not very
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well. Can't imagine. And thenWaltermid with the injuries he's dealt with.
I mean, this is a guythat we didn't know, you know,
what he was going to be thisseason because it's like, Okay, we're
hoping to have him back by secplay. That was the original prognosis.
But even then, it's like,will it take two weeks, four weeks
for him to feel like himself?Nope, he was immediately himself and he's
been such a superstar. And soyeah, the guys who have been programmed
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guys, it's you know, that'ssomething that's less and less in today's world,
which that's not the criticism is justfact, like, you know,
there's less development, there's more microwaveor roster by bringing guys into the portal.
So to see some of these guyswho have been in the program multiple
years flourish and get better, it'sreally kind of what brings a lot of
people, myself included, into lovingcollege baseball when when you first discover the
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sport and get into it. There'sdefinitely been a sense around Lexington, around
those guys who helped us on theteam last year make the incredible run,
and you think of Devin Burk's,Mason Moore, Petrie Grant Smith, Waldy
Nolan, those kind of guys whoare here for last year and that amazing
run and doing it again this year. So I fully agree Lexington's falling in
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love with this team. They lovesporting them. I mean, Kpp,
the crowds You've made a comment lastyear about, I mean, this is
what this place has been built for. And now you're seeing it back to
back weekends against Tennessee and Arkansas.I already know the place is going to
be rocking. Against Vandy Regional,it's going to be rocking. Let's get
a couple more wins and let's geta super regional in here. Man.
So what have you seen about obviouslyyour experience with it, the Kentucky fan
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base really grabbing a hold of thebaseball team and run with it, and
what that can do for the programmoving forward into twenty twenty five and beyond.
This is how you take the nextstep as a program, because it
takes more than obviously have to havegood coaches, good players, all that
stuff. But you have this beautifulfacility, and look, let's be honest,
you got some things working against you. I love baseball, I don't
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know that I love it enough togo sit outside when it's forty two degrees
and missing right. Tried twenty sixin January of practice. Yeah, fair
enough, fair enough. So youknow it's important for Kentucky to be playing
well in April and May when theweather warms up and people can come out
right. And that's what's happened hereis that you know, you put a
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good product in the field. Youyou know, you get some days where
you want to be outside and enjoyit, and you have these big crowds
because you're relevant, and that's howyou build on that. I don't think
anyone who went to I'll just usethe example of I was there for the
Tennessee series and obviously that result didn'tgo the way Kentucky wanted. But there
can't be a single person who wasat KPP that weekend who didn't who thought
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like, I don't really want tobother with this again. No, I
mean the crowds were electric even inthe games they lost. Like everybody who
came to that park, I guaranteeyou left saying they wanted to come back,
and I have to assume it's beenthe same way for the Arkansas series.
I assume it'll be the same waythis weekend. That's how you take
when people ask me, what doesit take, you know, to get
from this place to that place?That's part of it. Like Kentucky is
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currently creating a baseball culture on campus, and that's an overused word culture,
but it's true in this regard ofyou're creating a group of people who are
going to remember this season forever,regardless of how it ends. From this
point, it's already been a specialseason. People are going to remember it,
and that's what's going to bring themout in twenty twenty five. That's
what's going to have them increase,you know, whether it's donations or just
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being supporting this team. That's howyou do all the things you need to
do behind the scenes to make theprogram better. That's why I say it.
To build a baseball program in aworld where there's not as much money
as there is with basketball and footballto throw around, that's how you have
to do it. In Kentucky's inthe middle of it. Let's take a
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(16:53):
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(17:15):
That's www dot assured Partners dot com. Joe Healy of D one Baseball
is our guest this week on BehindKentucky Baseball, and Joe will switch gears
a little bit now and talk aboutbigger picture as we enter the postseason the
Southeastern Conference. You've got three nationalchampions all trying to get in, not
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just to the NCAA tournament, buttrying to get into the SEC tournament.
What can you say about the depthof this league where three national champions have
struggled to get to postseason after winningit all. Yeah, I mean,
that's that's life, right. Imean, if you need it, life
in the SEC, if you neededany sort of piece of evidence of what
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life is like in this league.You can look at that where you know
this LSU team, which is onethat I definitely said, like, okay,
yeah, ole miss Missisippi State,they really struggled after winning a national
title. But that's not going tohappen here, not in the era of
transfer portal and the way that JayJohnson recruits and you know all that stuff
like and yet here they are rightand this year I think is particularly tough
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in that regard because of the wayyou've got two juggernauts in the East with
Kentucky and Tennessee. You've got twojuggernauts in the West with A and M
and Arkansas. They have won somany games. That's what's happened is there's
really not much of a middle there. I mean, you can maybe look
at Georgia or Mississippi State, butfor the most part, you've got four
up top, and then you've gotthe rest kind of below that. And
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so you've got all these teams kindof beating up on each other. And
we as we sit right now,we've got I think five teams with between
ten and twelve sec wins. Aswe go into next week or into this
weekend, right before we go toHoover. So you've created a situation where
that Tuesday in Hoover last year,for the most part, didn't really have
a lot of meeting. Right theteams that we're in, we're going to
(19:03):
get in. The teams that wereon the host line were on the host
line. This year is a differentdeal. Man, Like Tuesday and Hoover
might actually be the most important dayof the entire tournament. That's a great
point. I'd have to agree withthat, and you we talk about it
all the time. You know,when I was a player in twenty two
and twenty three, it does nothingmatters except getting fourteen SEC wins, right,
like that is number one. Thisyear, you don't have nine or
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ten SEC teams with fourteen wins andwe're looking up it's a week fourteen,
Like there ain't time, you know, for you to mess around and lose
anymore. If you're those teams betweenten and twelve thirteen wins. Do you
see a scenario this year where someteams could have thirteen SEC wins and make
it into the NCAA Tournament. Ithink so. I think we're going to
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see at least one, we mightsee a couple My partner on my podcast,
Mark Ethridge. He's crunched the numbersbefore, and I think I've seen
him on ESPN two, where thirtyeight percent of teams that have won thirteen
SEC games in the regular season getin. Now, most of those are
have incredible RPIs. So I lookat it this year and there's good RPIs
(20:08):
across the league. But I thinkabout a team like Alabama, right they
need one team or one win toget to thirteen regular season wins. Their
RPIs eleven. They get to thirteen, that RPI is roughly in that same
spot. That's a team I feelcomfortable getting in. When you have a
discussion about LSU, though, Imean, now, granted they need a
sweep this weekend against Ole Miss toget to thirteen, but there are arepis.
(20:30):
Thirty five good but not probably notgood enough to get in with thirteen,
at least historically right now. Everyfield is different, who knows,
but historically you got to be betterthan thirty five in the RPI if you're
going to get in with thirteen regularseason wins. Before Hoover of course,
So I think it's going to betough because I do think we're going to
have multiple thirteen win teams on thatcut line, and the committee's going to
(20:52):
have to draw a line somewhere.And so there is a scenario where a
thirteen win team in the SEC getsin and a thirteen win team or more
or in the SEC gets left out. So how important then is Hoover,
especially on Tuesday? Obviously Kentucky willbe playing their first game on Wednesday and
automatically into the double elimination bracket Tuesday, the day before, teams twelve through
five are going to be playing singleelimination. I mean, are they what's
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the game plan there? Do yousave your ace only throw the sixty pitches
on Thursday and night? Or whatdo you do there? If you're those
teams and you're going for it andyou have to win on Tuesday. Yeah,
that's the thing. Like that istough because it's such a quick turnaround.
If I were in their shoes,and that's the only way I can
really think about it, I thinkyou have to just pitch your ace straight
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up because most teams still need thewins, right, Like LSU can't really
afford because they can't go to Hooverwith eleven wins and feel comfortable being able
to do enough. So for me, that's it. But I would think
about it more from the bullpen standpoint, which is, can we afford with
a let's say, a six runlead, Like if you're trying to think
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of Okay, if you're LSU andwe've got a six run lead, we
normally go to Griffin Herring here,but he's our best bulltit on. Can
we instead go to, you know, pick believer Nate Ackenhouse right, like,
because if we can hold some bulletsfrom Herring, maybe we can start
him on Tuesday. And he's notgoing to go seven probably, but can
he go four right and get usoff to a good start. So to
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me, it's I mean, yeah, a perfect world, you'd save,
you'd save a starter, you know, and then spin them around for Tuesday.
I think more likely though, isyou think about it from a bullpen
standpoint and you just build backwards.But to your point, I mean,
Tuesday is going to be I thinkevery single game is going to have impact
in terms of people, in termsof you know, where they fit in
the in the postseason pecking order.So I think this those games are going
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to get played like Game three's ofa Super Regional. I think in a
lot of ways in terms of mixingand matching, because it's for some teams
that they have to win to getin there well. And I think the
most exciting thing about the tournament justfrom a pure baseball fan perspective, Joe,
is it feels like you have thetop four teams and then everybody else.
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There's kind of a gap between fourand five. But at the same
time, George is playing terrific baseballright now, Mississippi State's getting stronger,
and then you've got teams like Vanderbilt, who Kentucky you'll see starting this weekend,
and Florida. Those teams are loadedwith talent, and Florida is a
scary team. If they like thematch and spark that team, they could
be one that nobody wants to seeif they can get to the postseason.
(23:32):
So it feels like this is atournament that's wide open right now. Totally
agree, and that that's part ofwhat makes those teams that are kind of
fighting their way in. If you'rean ACC team or a Big twelve team
that's going to host a regional,you don't want Florida to get in the
field because they're going to be anabsolute and actually in that case, it's
probably Florida State that doesn't want it, because that's probably where Florida ends up
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going. That's an absolute nightmare tosee them in your regional because they've got
the talent to win it, ofcourse, the talent to get to Omaha.
Frankly, and you guys saw itlast weekend where you know that Florida
offense is like a like it canit can do the old microwave routine in
a hurry. You know, Ithink just ask Johnny for Johnny Hummel,
Like he throws a breaking ball that'sreally not that bad, shin hi to
(24:15):
Jack Kagleon and the dude hits itoff the scoreboard. Like what do you
do? You know, nothing youcan do, but he's at one and
a kind of talent man. Speakingof that, I mean, obviously Kentucky
fans have come out to KPP andsupported me and Darren Hendrick have had the
opportunity to go down to Hoover,I've had the opportunity to play there.
The SEC tournament's one of the mostspecial weeks ever. I remember our run
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in twenty twenty two where we lastedfour or five days there. Do you
just see the incredible fan bases fromall over the league come together. What
could you tell Kentucky fans about theexperience in Hoover, what to expect,
give give me a tip or twoif some of our listeners are gonna head
down to Hoover and watch some highquality baseball this week. Yeah, it's
(25:03):
a great question. So first isit feels like it's a baseball tournament but
also kind of like a state fairin terms of and I love it being
in Hoover. I know, Iunderstand the value in like, let's at
least have the conversation about moving itto a big league ballpark or a place
(25:25):
with a roof, Like I getthat, But I hope it never moves
from Hoover. I think it's aperfect spot. That city really wraps its
arms around that tournament, even justlike in town. You're driving on some
random road in Hoover, Alabama,and they've got SEC flags just flying on
the light bowls, right, Imean, they really care about that tournament.
(25:45):
So I would say get there ifyou're going for like if you have
day passes or if you're able toget in for multiple games, come early
or stay late, if you know, depending on when Kentucky's playing, and
just kind of hang out because there'sgonna be fans from all fourteen because some
people leaving for teams that didn't qualifybought tickets a long time ago and are
just going to say, eh,let's just go, so hang out and
(26:08):
meet some fans from other teams.It's a good Vibes's place because for the
most part, most teams that arethere have had pretty good seasons that are
feeling good about themselves, and yeah, there's things to play for, but
there's not kind of like the negativeenergy there is sometimes in like a regional
or a super or whatever. Likeit's just a bunch of fans having a
really good time. It's big,open parking lots, so you can kind
(26:30):
of like mingle and hang out,low stressed, a lot of tailgating,
yep, yep, it's a greattailgate scene, so come early for that.
You know, it's low stress becausethere's you know, big giant parking
lots. The parking is easy tocome by. It's not having to find
parking on the street in a downtownarea. It's all that stuff. Also,
shameless plug our Buddies. Across thestreet, there's a brewery called Brockscap
(26:53):
Brewing Company. They've been a sponsorof our podcast. But I say this
genuinely you're looking to wait out trackI think after a game, if you're
looking to kill some time before agame in the afternoon, that's a really
good spot to just grab a beer, to a cool space. They've oftentimes
got food trucks out there on likea lawn, and they've got the games
going on a big screen. Soif you're also trying to time out,
(27:14):
hey, when do I head overto the park, you can keep track
of the game because they've got itup on the big screen. So a
cool spot just to spend some time. If you're kind of in between things,
just pray that there's no rain.Don't screak it into existence. There's
no rain next week at all,sunny and seventy five every single day.
A little more on the SEC tournamentfor you. Obviously, we saw Vandy
(27:37):
win last year and then four orfive days later lose in their regional.
Do you buy in any of that? As like all, if we make
a deeper running hoover, play sixgames, play five six games one week,
we got a little bit of ahangover for the next week in the
regional. Do you buy I thinkit can a little bit. I think
it can. It varies from teamto team, right, but I do
(28:00):
think there is something to You're playingthrough Sunday, and then you know,
most of the teams that win theSEC tournament are hosting, which makes it
a little easier because you're not goingto you know, be going on the
road. But you win the SECTournament on Sunday and then you turn around
and you know, seventy two hourslater, basically once you get back home
the next day, you're practicing,you know, for the regional and me
(28:22):
that's that is a quick turnaround andto play whatever it ends up being dependent
on if you've started to play onTuesday or Wednesday. To play that many
games in consecutive days is really taxingon a pitching staff. So you've probably
got some guys that have a heavierworkload than they've had all season. You've
probably had some guys who hadn't pitchedin a while who you had to go
in there. Maybe that's a goodthing. I guess you could get those
guys ready, But I think it'sI think just as often, you know,
(28:47):
winning the thing is I think youcould look at it as a positive
with the team being hot. Ithink it's kind of a fifty to fifty
thing with whether it's a good orbad thing. I think it just depends
on the mentality of the team andhow healthy the team is. And the
opposite is true, right. Ithink Tennis he benefited from going on and
out last year, and Tony Vitellowas open about that when they lost.
He's like, look, I mean, yeah, we came here to win.
We're not out there looking to losegames. But given that we just
(29:10):
lost this game, we can gohome and get rest and get a little
bit healthy and then come out andplay well in the regional. And they
did and they end up in Omaha. So the opposite can also be true,
where look, nobody wants to losegames, but if you're going to
lose games, if you lose early, not always the worst thing in the
world. I said the same thingabout us last year. We had a
little extra rest there. That wasnice. Yeah, that's a great point.
I mean, yeah, that's absolutelytrue. Joe Healey from D one
(29:34):
Baseball is our guest, and whenyou look forward now to the NCAA,
we'll start wrapping up with this.When you look forward to the regionals,
it feels like it's a lot aboutlike the NCAA Tournament and Basketball Joe.
A lot of it just depends onwhat kind of teams you get in your
four team pods. Sometimes there aretough matchups you got to deal with.
Indiana certainly was a challenge for Kentuckylast year that the CAATs ended up winning.
(29:59):
But it also feels like just thematchups, or you know, getting
the number one team LSU having togo to Baton Rouge in the Super Regional.
It all comes down to matchups onehundred percent. I mean that there's
some nightmares for host teams. Soif you're a Kentucky fan, these are
kind of some of the things tolook for when the draws do come out
on the on the foe line isone is a four seed that just happens
(30:21):
to have a dude on Fridays,because that'll happen. I think about last
year with I was covering the regionalin Tuscaloosa and Nichols was there small school
in Louisiana and they had a guyon Friday named Jacob Myers who comes out
throwing like ninety seven ninety eight witha real breaking ball, and it's like
okay, like all right, likesure, you know, all yeah,
(30:41):
they survived it, Alabama did.But like that's just the kind of team
you just absolutely don't want to see. Or I mean, pin like an
IVY League team that's old, right, I mean, we see how well
these Ivy League transfers are doing inthe SEC. I mean, A and
M's got a couple of them.So an old team like that's something to
look for. Is like if youlook at the roster and it's mostly grads
(31:03):
and seniors, like you might bein for a rough weekend because those guys
are gonna are going to come toplay. So yeah, it is a
lot about matchups. And that's trueat every round. I think about for
East Carolina, which is generally generallyaccepted as the best program to never get
to Omaha in terms of consistency,and I would challenge your listeners to go
look at the Wikipedia page for EastCarolina's postseason years because they are always opposite,
(31:26):
like an absolute juggernaut. They've neverbeen the team. Because in super
regionals, so much is about ifyou advance. What did the opposite bracket
do? Like are you opposite anational seed or are you opposite the regional
that got blown up in a threeseed won it? And cause that can
matter whether or not you get toOmaha. You just I mean, I
think about Kentucky last year, likeif they draw anybody but LSU, I
(31:48):
think maybe we're having a different conversation. But you did, and that's that's
what you have to deal with.But that ends up having a large bearing.
I always say, man, you'vegot to be good, you've got
to be healthy, and you gottabe lucky. It takes a little bit
of luck to have success in this, no doubt. No, Yeah,
we'll just have no, well,just a couple of minutes before we get
out of here, and obviously we'lltalk when we get to Omaha together and
(32:13):
we'll talk a little more of KentuckyWildcats here in a month or so.
Let's talk about this weekend, right, I mean, we got a chance
to win the league this weekend.Vanderbilt coming in eleven wins, they're fighting
for their lives. The things Iknow about them is they have one of
the best coaches, if not thebest coach in the history of college baseball
and Tim Corban who will have hisboys ready to play. And Carter Holton
(32:35):
is a stud I remember him lastyear and he diced us up. So
tell us a little bit about bandy, what to expect this weekend and what
are your eyes on the matchup?Yeah, they go as their starting pitching
goes. When Carter Holton and BryceCunningham give them quality starts, they tend
to win games. When they don't, they tend to lose games. And
I got asked last week on aradio show, like why does Vanderbilk get
(32:57):
slept so often? And I thinkit's because they've been up a few times
this year. And I think it'slargely just that they when there's weekends because
they're facing a good offense, orit's a small ballpark, or the wind
is blown out all weekend, thoseweekends where the starting pitching isn't particularly good
for them, they don't have theoffensive firepower to really keep up in that
regard. So that's the thing.If you can keep if you can get
(33:20):
Vanderbilt starting pitchers out of the gameearly, or if you can rough them
up early, they're not equipped toplay an ugly nine to seven, ten,
eight type of ball game. Soif you can ugly the game up,
you got a pretty good chance.But if you look up in the
sixth seventh inning and it's three toone either way, you start to get
nervous because that's the way they wantto play. They want to play close
games, they want to be ableto play. I mean, they're one
(33:40):
of the teams that will play smallball with Kentucky if it comes to that,
They're willing to do that. They'reone of the few teams that can
do that. So if I'm Kentucky, it's hair amount that you jump on
their starters early. It's not aboutrunning pitch counts necessarily. It's about hunt
the pitches you can drive and driveand try to get their starters out of
the game because that's when you're goingto be able to feast. So you're
telling me to score or what youKentucky fans seem to be a rowdy.
(34:04):
That's as let's get this pleasure,Joe. I know you've got another Road
to Hoover podcast out you and Mark? What else is going on at D
one Baseball that you've got coming up? Oh gosh, so much? I
mean Mark and I Highway to Hooverpodcast twice a week, do an episode
early in the week to recap,and then in the later in the week.
(34:27):
And Darren, you've been a guest, I thank you for that.
I talked to a specific person froma specific program to really deep dive that
team this week. I'm talking TexasA and M on an episode due later
this week. Also, look formy SEC Tournament preview, going to have
a preview out at the end ofthe weekend, probably on Sunday, that
breaks down every team what they needto do in the tournament, a small
scouting report for each team. Soif you're just now kind of if you're
(34:49):
a Kentucky fan, it's like,hey, this team is really good,
Like let me jump on the baseballbandwagon, but haven't really paid a lot
of attention to the SEC. Myhope is that that SEC Tournament preview will
gets you up to speed ahead ofnext week. That's while we're here,
best in the business. Joe,appreciate you, my man. Thank you.
Joe absolutely fellows season. That's JoeHealey from D one Baseball and this
(35:10):
has been behind Kentucky Baseball, presentedby Assured Partners. They're proud to offer
Frank and Mouth insurance. Frankly speaking, when you need them, they'll be
there. Call us at eight fivenine, five, four three one seven
one six today and hopefully the nexttime we're on Behind Kentucky Baseball we'll be
talking about maybe an SEC championship huh, but get it. Definitely getting ready
(35:31):
for the postseason. This has beenBehind Kentucky Baseball for Joe Healey of D
one Baseball and Darren Williams. I'mDarren Hedrick. We'll talk to you next
time here on the UK Sports Network
Welcome back into Behind Kentucky Baseball,brought to you by Assured Partners, proud
to offer Frankenmuth Insurance. Start aFrank conversation today at www dot Assured partners
dot com. I'm Darren Hedrick alongsidemy broadcast partner Darren Williams. Everybody here
in Lexington and listening around the worldknows him as Dub and Darren. As
we sit here recording today, we'llintroduce our special guest in just a second.
(00:23):
But as we sit here, theWildcats are getting ready to take on
the Vanderbilt Commodorees. They're practicing downon the field right now and a chance
to win an SEC regular season titlethis week on the line. What a
place to be, right It's beena fun journey throughout the season watching these
guys go at it with obviously thebest conference in the world when it comes
to baseball, and they just keepgetting better. Man, we had that
(00:46):
Friday and Sunday games down in Gainesvillethis weekend. We're fun to watch.
I know, me and me andfamily we're watching Sunday afternoon and just a
nail bier. Really fun brand ofbaseball to watch. Exciting team I think
Lexington's bought it. I mean,the crowds have been insane the last couple
of weeks. You obviously got thenew stands in KPP just for the regional
(01:06):
super regional, like this place isgoing to be rocking this weekend as we
do for the conference regular season title. And you got a little bit of
Hoover plans in some postseason baseball comingto Lexington here soon. So a lot
of fun, a good time tobe a Kentucky bodcast, and obviously a
lot to get to. So whydon't we hop in with our special guest.
He is our first repeat guest ofthe year. He's Joe Healey from
D one Baseball dot Com. Joecovers a lot of the SEC for D
(01:30):
one and Joey had you on backin the fall. I think it was
right after an exhibition game, andwe talked a lot about the potential of
a really good season for the Wildcats. And now here we are late May,
they're in contention for an SEC title, potentially a number one overall seed
in the NCAA Tournament. What hasbeen your biggest impression or the thing that's
(01:55):
impressed you the most about watching Kentuckythis spring. I mean, I mean,
first, what's most impressive is thatI'm the repeat guests on your podcast.
First, So take that Logan Salo, which I'm not picking on him,
that's just a name that came tomind that I know you've had on.
Yeah. So what impressed me withthe team is that the physicality of
(02:16):
the offense has allowed this team towin games they just couldn't win last year.
And I think that's really been thebiggest difference between last year and this
The results fairly similar, but thisteam has won some games there is just
no shot last year's team would havewon. I think about the game they
won in Columbia against South Carolina wherethey're down whatever it was, six to
nothing, sixty to one, andthen South Carolina in a game they scored
(02:38):
twelve runs. Kentucky beats them.That team last year, no disrespect,
no shot probably to win that gamewhen they get down like that, they
just didn't. The offense was notmade to operate that way. This year,
you've got the best of both worlds. And I know I've heard you
on your calls, Darren talk abouthow look this team still runs, this
team can still put a bunt down. I think they're the most effective bunning
team in the country, but theycan also get the three run home run,
(03:00):
and well you can do both ofthose things, You're really really dangerous
because as you guys know, youknow, you go to Hoover or you
know, for Kentucky's sake, fingerscrossed. You know, in Omaha the
ballpark just plays different, and soyou're not going to be able to just
sit back and try to hit athree run homer. You're going to have
to try to manufacture something. Andin twenty twenty four college baseball, there
are very few teams that feel comfortabledoing that the way Kentucky does. Got
(03:23):
a lot of shade there on thetwenty twenty three Cats. Joe were a
part of it. Yeah, aright, I'll allow it. You know,
vibes are good here in Lexington.I'll allow it. When you look
at this Kentucky lineup, man,we talked about in the fall a ton
and just like you said one throughnine, we had James mcquin Ryan Walschman
(03:44):
on last week and they spoke aboutit. This is a deep lineup.
Where does it stack in the country. Though obviously you're one, you're ranked
two in the country right now,talking about the number one overall seed,
where does it stack up in thecountry as we get into postseason play.
The first thing that makes that atough question is that it's a very offensive
time in college baseball right now thatyou know, everybody's everybody's got a couple
(04:08):
of dudes in their lineup, right, But because of the versatility, like
I like this, I don't know, like it's a step behind for me,
it's a step behind Tennessee. It'sa step behind Texas A and M
for me. But the list afterthat, I mean, you look at
somebody their conferences. Florida State isprobably in this conversation, but it's probably
a top you know, twelve tofifteen lineup in the country. And again
(04:30):
that's hard because we're gonna to nitpickbetween a bunch of good lineups. But
again, this team can do alot of things a lot of other offenses
can't do. If Tennessee is ina situation, look, they've got a
lot of forces in that lineup thathit the ball a long long way.
But if you put them in asituation where it's like, hey, we
need to we need to get abutt down because we're tied in extra innings
(04:50):
and we need a run, andwe got a guy standing on second base
and nobody out, and we gotto get a butt down. I don't
trust them to do that nearly asmuch as I would trust Kentucky to do
that. And that's the type ofbaseball you have to be able to play
when we get into a postseason timeand you're just gonna play close games because
all the teams are good. Ilove the graphic they showed on the broadcast
(05:12):
on the SEC net Oric this weekendat Gainesville of the stolen based leaders in
the SEC and just Kentucky's out atthe top by a lot. This team
runs, they bunt, but theyalso crush the ball too. Like you
were saying, Joe, it's aton of fun to watch. And obviously
you've had a lot of good wordsto speak about Kentucky, so we appreciate
you. Ton. Yeah, Imean it this team. I think you
(05:32):
guys hit out at the beginning thatthis team is fun to watch too.
I mean, it's just a product. If you're a neutral fan, which
I know you know listening to thispodcast mostly UK fans, But I tried
to tell people, if you're aneutral fan like and you're looking. Somebody
asked me, I'm looking for anSEC team to jump on board with,
and this was early in the season, and I told them Kentucky, because
(05:53):
it's just like, hey, you'regoing to see a lot of things that
in every single game, like somany games today in college baseball and pro
level, it's you know, strikeout, strikeout, home run, walk strikeout,
strikeout. That's not going to bethe deal with Kentucky. But you're
also going to get the home run. You're also going to get some guys
in the mound that can blow itpast you. You've got some guys in
the mound that are old school pitchabilityguys. There's a lot of variety there,
(06:15):
and so it does create a funproduct to watch in addition to obviously
being extremely successful. Talking about pitching, Joe, it's something that I've talked
to other people in interviews that havehad me on their shows. They've asked
about pitching. And from the wordgo, this year, Kentucky has had
a stable starting rotation. It largelyhas stayed the same outside of Trey Pooser
(06:36):
going in for Travis Smith on Fridaynights. When you think about so many
teams in this league, it feelslike every week when the release comes out,
most teams have one, if notmaybe two TBAs on the weekend.
How important was it for Kentucky tohave an established rotation and an identity on
the mound going into the season.As we've seen it play out, it's
(06:58):
such an underrated aspect. I mean, dub can speak to this. When
when you go in every week knowing, here's exactly how I have to prepare
because I know exactly what I'm goingto be doing next weekend, that's huge
for a pitcher. You can kindof stay on track. And also I
think about a guy like Dom Nyman, where look he had two tough starts
in a row, right, threeouts combined across two starts, and it
would have been easy for Mene andpat Rozelle to be like, look,
(07:21):
we still believe in you, butlet's take a week off, like let's
you know, let's back away,let's let's work on whatever it is need
to work on. We'll get backto it. And they said, no,
we're just we believe in you.We're just going to keep putting you
out there. And he responded,right, I mean, he's been he's
been really good in response to that, So I think that's part of it.
Also is these guys in the moundknow, like we're in these roles
because they trust us and we're notone bat outing is not going to lead
(07:44):
to this huge sea change in theway we approach our pitching. So it's
it's the routine a is huge,and then be just the understanding of you're
our guys. And I think aboutTrey Pooser in this way too, of
he didn't expect to be a Fridaystarter, that the team didn't expect him
to be a Friday starter, andhe's really only and this is not a
shot at him, but he's onlythe Friday starter because he was replacing the
guy who was the Friday starter,right, so they put him in that
(08:07):
role. So now he's in asituation where he's like an accidental Friday starter
and like the dude has just battledevery single time out he's most of the
time facing guys with better stuff,and again not a shot, but like
you know, he's most of thetime facing a guy with some better wipe
out stuff, a better pro prospect, and yet he's been as good or
better most of the time. He'staken them out. I can speak on
(08:28):
tray and I spoke about this onBBN tonight last week. Trey Pooser has
been unbelievable this year, coming intothe SEC. Like I was, older
guy transferred from a small mid majorand he's come in and he competes every
single week, every single Friday start, and it'll be this case on Thursday
against Vanderbilt. I just feel likeTrey's gonna give us a quality start and
(08:50):
we're going to look up in thesixth inning and have a chance to win
every single week. And that's beenvital because obviously we've cashed in on a
few of those. You know,you lose all them, that's baseball season.
But just having every single Friday nightyou have a chance to win late
in the game has been vital forKentucky and they've jumped on the opportunity.
That's why we're sitting here that weekfourteen and we're in first in the SEC
(09:11):
and jumping on. On Dubb's point, Joe, I think when you look
at Kentucky going in we all talkedabout this on the first time we had
you on back in the fall.There was a lot of unknowns there were
quality players. You knew they werebringing in talent from the transfer portal,
but some of them were coming frommid majors or even Division two, so
there were some unknowns of how thatwould translate in the SEC. But I
(09:33):
think the one thing at the endof the season, they've all come from
winning cultures or winning programs, butthat experience means so much, especially in
this league, absolutely does, andthat it is an art form more than
a science. When you talk aboutrecruiting players from the mid major level,
(09:54):
for example, to bring them intothe SEC. Because obviously you have to
have a skill, that's a baseline, that's table stage, but beyond that,
you do have to understand the valueof, hey, this is a
grind. There's no weekend where inmost of the leagues you have a weekend
or two where it's like, hey, you play C plus baseball and we're
going to be fine. You justcan't do that in this league. So
there has to be a mentality piece, and additionally, there has to be
(10:16):
kind of that total willingness to sellout for victories, to do whatever,
to be humbled and take a smallerrole, because that's the other thing here.
A lot of these mid majors wereyou know, the big man on
campus on their baseball team, youknow wherever they came from, right,
And it's going to be different whenyou go to the SEC. With a
few exceptions shout out to Sonny Dasharea couple of years ago, but for
most, in most cases, likeyou're going to come in and you're just
(10:37):
going to be a lesser role thanwhat you were where you came from.
And you have to be able tojust say that that's who I am in
this spot. And I think CoachMinch and his staff have done a great
job of identifying those guys because,let's face it, you look at some
of the guys who have been mostimportant on the mound. I think about
Cam O'Brian, like he's been extremelyimportant, but you look at his numbers
at Campbell and it's like, okay, Like when they brought him in,
(11:00):
I'm not gonna lie to you,I looked at it and said, what
do they see that I don't see? But because they've done such a good
job at finding the right pieces,I just assume there's something I don't see.
Like I don't think of it asa silly move. I think of
it as like, Okay, clearlythere's something that I don't understand about this.
Let me educate myself. And Ithink we've seen that not no one's
going to have one hundred percent hitrate on transfers. That's just not the
way it works. But this program'sdone a really good job of finding good
(11:24):
fits. I think you could sayput Robert Hogan's name into that conversation too.
They transfer from A and M wipeoutSlaughterer. I mean, I thought,
kid's got some really good stuff,and he's helped us win some ball
games, so he's blossomed this year. He has really helped us win some
of these SEC games that are close. Real quick, Joe as We're going
to shift and talk a little moreabout the SEC and the SEC tournament in
(11:45):
a minute. But we've been ableto watch Jack kagleone, Charlie Condon,
these guys develop and a merge.It's been fun to watch if you're a
fan of college baseball. They're notthe only ones in this league. I
know you're working most weekends so youdon't get to see all of Kentuck these
games, but how much have youenjoyed watching players like Devin Burks, Ryan
(12:05):
Walts, Schmidt and Emilian Peatree developinto superstars within the Kentucky program. So
much fun, especially you know whenyou when you know some of the backstory
there right, Like you know,I wrote a story about Devon earlier this
season and getting to meet his momand kind of understanding their story and you
know, sweet sweet and sweet lady, and just understanding where here, oh
(12:30):
absolutely like a plus where he comesfrom, helps you appreciate what he's doing
more, especially as look he's he'sbattling it physically, he's battled at the
plate. He's not having the offensiveyear he would have wanted to have,
and yet he just kind of keepsgoing out there. And I think it's
a testament to what he brings thatthey they're still, especially with Grant out
last weekend, they're putting them backin a third in the lineup, even
(12:50):
though he's hitting two forty or whateverit is, right So, and then
you know, with with Petra,it's it's this is a kid who had
to learn English basically to come here. I can't imagine what it would be
like to go to another country andtry to go to school at a high
level, university, play baseball ata high level program and oh, by
the way, I don't speak thelanguage, not really, it's not very
(13:11):
well. Can't imagine. And thenWaltermid with the injuries he's dealt with.
I mean, this is a guythat we didn't know, you know,
what he was going to be thisseason because it's like, Okay, we're
hoping to have him back by secplay. That was the original prognosis.
But even then, it's like,will it take two weeks, four weeks
for him to feel like himself?Nope, he was immediately himself and he's
been such a superstar. And soyeah, the guys who have been programmed
(13:33):
guys, it's you know, that'ssomething that's less and less in today's world,
which that's not the criticism is justfact, like, you know,
there's less development, there's more microwaveor roster by bringing guys into the portal.
So to see some of these guyswho have been in the program multiple
years flourish and get better, it'sreally kind of what brings a lot of
people, myself included, into lovingcollege baseball when when you first discover the
(13:56):
sport and get into it. There'sdefinitely been a sense around Lexington, around
those guys who helped us on theteam last year make the incredible run,
and you think of Devin Burk's,Mason Moore, Petrie Grant Smith, Waldy
Nolan, those kind of guys whoare here for last year and that amazing
run and doing it again this year. So I fully agree Lexington's falling in
(14:18):
love with this team. They lovesporting them. I mean, Kpp,
the crowds You've made a comment lastyear about, I mean, this is
what this place has been built for. And now you're seeing it back to
back weekends against Tennessee and Arkansas.I already know the place is going to
be rocking. Against Vandy Regional,it's going to be rocking. Let's get
a couple more wins and let's geta super regional in here. Man.
So what have you seen about obviouslyyour experience with it, the Kentucky fan
(14:41):
base really grabbing a hold of thebaseball team and run with it, and
what that can do for the programmoving forward into twenty twenty five and beyond.
This is how you take the nextstep as a program, because it
takes more than obviously have to havegood coaches, good players, all that
stuff. But you have this beautifulfacility, and look, let's be honest,
you got some things working against you. I love baseball, I don't
(15:03):
know that I love it enough togo sit outside when it's forty two degrees
and missing right. Tried twenty sixin January of practice. Yeah, fair
enough, fair enough. So youknow it's important for Kentucky to be playing
well in April and May when theweather warms up and people can come out
right. And that's what's happened hereis that you know, you put a
(15:26):
good product in the field. Youyou know, you get some days where
you want to be outside and enjoyit, and you have these big crowds
because you're relevant, and that's howyou build on that. I don't think
anyone who went to I'll just usethe example of I was there for the
Tennessee series and obviously that result didn'tgo the way Kentucky wanted. But there
can't be a single person who wasat KPP that weekend who didn't who thought
(15:48):
like, I don't really want tobother with this again. No, I
mean the crowds were electric even inthe games they lost. Like everybody who
came to that park, I guaranteeyou left saying they wanted to come back,
and I have to assume it's beenthe same way for the Arkansas series.
I assume it'll be the same waythis weekend. That's how you take
when people ask me, what doesit take, you know, to get
from this place to that place?That's part of it. Like Kentucky is
(16:11):
currently creating a baseball culture on campus, and that's an overused word culture,
but it's true in this regard ofyou're creating a group of people who are
going to remember this season forever,regardless of how it ends. From this
point, it's already been a specialseason. People are going to remember it,
and that's what's going to bring themout in twenty twenty five. That's
what's going to have them increase,you know, whether it's donations or just
(16:32):
being supporting this team. That's howyou do all the things you need to
do behind the scenes to make theprogram better. That's why I say it.
To build a baseball program in aworld where there's not as much money
as there is with basketball and footballto throw around, that's how you have
to do it. In Kentucky's inthe middle of it. Let's take a
quick time out and remind folks aboutour presenting sponsor, Assured Partners. When
(16:53):
the unexpected happens in business, yourinsurance coverage is the real MVP. Assured
Partners and their partner for Franks Insuranceare true team players. They provide unique
coverage to face risks head on soyou can stay in the game. Get
frank about your business insurance called AssuredPartners today at eight five nine, five
four three one seven one six,or visit us at Assured Partners dot com.
(17:15):
That's www dot assured Partners dot com. Joe Healy of D one Baseball
is our guest this week on BehindKentucky Baseball, and Joe will switch gears
a little bit now and talk aboutbigger picture as we enter the postseason the
Southeastern Conference. You've got three nationalchampions all trying to get in, not
(17:37):
just to the NCAA tournament, buttrying to get into the SEC tournament.
What can you say about the depthof this league where three national champions have
struggled to get to postseason after winningit all. Yeah, I mean,
that's that's life, right. Imean, if you need it, life
in the SEC, if you neededany sort of piece of evidence of what
(17:57):
life is like in this league.You can look at that where you know
this LSU team, which is onethat I definitely said, like, okay,
yeah, ole miss Missisippi State,they really struggled after winning a national
title. But that's not going tohappen here, not in the era of
transfer portal and the way that JayJohnson recruits and you know all that stuff
like and yet here they are rightand this year I think is particularly tough
(18:18):
in that regard because of the wayyou've got two juggernauts in the East with
Kentucky and Tennessee. You've got twojuggernauts in the West with A and M
and Arkansas. They have won somany games. That's what's happened is there's
really not much of a middle there. I mean, you can maybe look
at Georgia or Mississippi State, butfor the most part, you've got four
up top, and then you've gotthe rest kind of below that. And
(18:41):
so you've got all these teams kindof beating up on each other. And
we as we sit right now,we've got I think five teams with between
ten and twelve sec wins. Aswe go into next week or into this
weekend, right before we go toHoover. So you've created a situation where
that Tuesday in Hoover last year,for the most part, didn't really have
a lot of meeting. Right theteams that we're in, we're going to
(19:03):
get in. The teams that wereon the host line were on the host
line. This year is a differentdeal. Man, Like Tuesday and Hoover
might actually be the most important dayof the entire tournament. That's a great
point. I'd have to agree withthat, and you we talk about it
all the time. You know,when I was a player in twenty two
and twenty three, it does nothingmatters except getting fourteen SEC wins, right,
like that is number one. Thisyear, you don't have nine or
(19:26):
ten SEC teams with fourteen wins andwe're looking up it's a week fourteen,
Like there ain't time, you know, for you to mess around and lose
anymore. If you're those teams betweenten and twelve thirteen wins. Do you
see a scenario this year where someteams could have thirteen SEC wins and make
it into the NCAA Tournament. Ithink so. I think we're going to
(19:48):
see at least one, we mightsee a couple My partner on my podcast,
Mark Ethridge. He's crunched the numbersbefore, and I think I've seen
him on ESPN two, where thirtyeight percent of teams that have won thirteen
SEC games in the regular season getin. Now, most of those are
have incredible RPIs. So I lookat it this year and there's good RPIs
(20:08):
across the league. But I thinkabout a team like Alabama, right they
need one team or one win toget to thirteen regular season wins. Their
RPIs eleven. They get to thirteen, that RPI is roughly in that same
spot. That's a team I feelcomfortable getting in. When you have a
discussion about LSU, though, Imean, now, granted they need a
sweep this weekend against Ole Miss toget to thirteen, but there are arepis.
(20:30):
Thirty five good but not probably notgood enough to get in with thirteen,
at least historically right now. Everyfield is different, who knows,
but historically you got to be betterthan thirty five in the RPI if you're
going to get in with thirteen regularseason wins. Before Hoover of course,
So I think it's going to betough because I do think we're going to
have multiple thirteen win teams on thatcut line, and the committee's going to
(20:52):
have to draw a line somewhere.And so there is a scenario where a
thirteen win team in the SEC getsin and a thirteen win team or more
or in the SEC gets left out. So how important then is Hoover,
especially on Tuesday? Obviously Kentucky willbe playing their first game on Wednesday and
automatically into the double elimination bracket Tuesday, the day before, teams twelve through
five are going to be playing singleelimination. I mean, are they what's
(21:17):
the game plan there? Do yousave your ace only throw the sixty pitches
on Thursday and night? Or whatdo you do there? If you're those
teams and you're going for it andyou have to win on Tuesday. Yeah,
that's the thing. Like that istough because it's such a quick turnaround.
If I were in their shoes,and that's the only way I can
really think about it, I thinkyou have to just pitch your ace straight
(21:38):
up because most teams still need thewins, right, Like LSU can't really
afford because they can't go to Hooverwith eleven wins and feel comfortable being able
to do enough. So for me, that's it. But I would think
about it more from the bullpen standpoint, which is, can we afford with
a let's say, a six runlead, Like if you're trying to think
(21:59):
of Okay, if you're LSU andwe've got a six run lead, we
normally go to Griffin Herring here,but he's our best bulltit on. Can
we instead go to, you know, pick believer Nate Ackenhouse right, like,
because if we can hold some bulletsfrom Herring, maybe we can start
him on Tuesday. And he's notgoing to go seven probably, but can
he go four right and get usoff to a good start. So to
(22:22):
me, it's I mean, yeah, a perfect world, you'd save,
you'd save a starter, you know, and then spin them around for Tuesday.
I think more likely though, isyou think about it from a bullpen
standpoint and you just build backwards.But to your point, I mean,
Tuesday is going to be I thinkevery single game is going to have impact
in terms of people, in termsof you know, where they fit in
the in the postseason pecking order.So I think this those games are going
(22:47):
to get played like Game three's ofa Super Regional. I think in a
lot of ways in terms of mixingand matching, because it's for some teams
that they have to win to getin there well. And I think the
most exciting thing about the tournament justfrom a pure baseball fan perspective, Joe,
is it feels like you have thetop four teams and then everybody else.
(23:07):
There's kind of a gap between fourand five. But at the same
time, George is playing terrific baseballright now, Mississippi State's getting stronger,
and then you've got teams like Vanderbilt, who Kentucky you'll see starting this weekend,
and Florida. Those teams are loadedwith talent, and Florida is a
scary team. If they like thematch and spark that team, they could
be one that nobody wants to seeif they can get to the postseason.
(23:32):
So it feels like this is atournament that's wide open right now. Totally
agree, and that that's part ofwhat makes those teams that are kind of
fighting their way in. If you'rean ACC team or a Big twelve team
that's going to host a regional,you don't want Florida to get in the
field because they're going to be anabsolute and actually in that case, it's
probably Florida State that doesn't want it, because that's probably where Florida ends up
(23:52):
going. That's an absolute nightmare tosee them in your regional because they've got
the talent to win it, ofcourse, the talent to get to Omaha.
Frankly, and you guys saw itlast weekend where you know that Florida
offense is like a like it canit can do the old microwave routine in
a hurry. You know, Ithink just ask Johnny for Johnny Hummel,
Like he throws a breaking ball that'sreally not that bad, shin hi to
(24:15):
Jack Kagleon and the dude hits itoff the scoreboard. Like what do you
do? You know, nothing youcan do, but he's at one and
a kind of talent man. Speakingof that, I mean, obviously Kentucky
fans have come out to KPP andsupported me and Darren Hendrick have had the
opportunity to go down to Hoover,I've had the opportunity to play there.
The SEC tournament's one of the mostspecial weeks ever. I remember our run
(24:40):
in twenty twenty two where we lastedfour or five days there. Do you
just see the incredible fan bases fromall over the league come together. What
could you tell Kentucky fans about theexperience in Hoover, what to expect,
give give me a tip or twoif some of our listeners are gonna head
down to Hoover and watch some highquality baseball this week. Yeah, it's
(25:03):
a great question. So first isit feels like it's a baseball tournament but
also kind of like a state fairin terms of and I love it being
in Hoover. I know, Iunderstand the value in like, let's at
least have the conversation about moving itto a big league ballpark or a place
(25:25):
with a roof, Like I getthat, But I hope it never moves
from Hoover. I think it's aperfect spot. That city really wraps its
arms around that tournament, even justlike in town. You're driving on some
random road in Hoover, Alabama,and they've got SEC flags just flying on
the light bowls, right, Imean, they really care about that tournament.
(25:45):
So I would say get there ifyou're going for like if you have
day passes or if you're able toget in for multiple games, come early
or stay late, if you know, depending on when Kentucky's playing, and
just kind of hang out because there'sgonna be fans from all fourteen because some
people leaving for teams that didn't qualifybought tickets a long time ago and are
just going to say, eh,let's just go, so hang out and
(26:08):
meet some fans from other teams.It's a good Vibes's place because for the
most part, most teams that arethere have had pretty good seasons that are
feeling good about themselves, and yeah, there's things to play for, but
there's not kind of like the negativeenergy there is sometimes in like a regional
or a super or whatever. Likeit's just a bunch of fans having a
really good time. It's big,open parking lots, so you can kind
(26:30):
of like mingle and hang out,low stressed, a lot of tailgating,
yep, yep, it's a greattailgate scene, so come early for that.
You know, it's low stress becausethere's you know, big giant parking
lots. The parking is easy tocome by. It's not having to find
parking on the street in a downtownarea. It's all that stuff. Also,
shameless plug our Buddies. Across thestreet, there's a brewery called Brockscap
(26:53):
Brewing Company. They've been a sponsorof our podcast. But I say this
genuinely you're looking to wait out trackI think after a game, if you're
looking to kill some time before agame in the afternoon, that's a really
good spot to just grab a beer, to a cool space. They've oftentimes
got food trucks out there on likea lawn, and they've got the games
going on a big screen. Soif you're also trying to time out,
(27:14):
hey, when do I head overto the park, you can keep track
of the game because they've got itup on the big screen. So a
cool spot just to spend some time. If you're kind of in between things,
just pray that there's no rain.Don't screak it into existence. There's
no rain next week at all,sunny and seventy five every single day.
A little more on the SEC tournamentfor you. Obviously, we saw Vandy
(27:37):
win last year and then four orfive days later lose in their regional.
Do you buy in any of that? As like all, if we make
a deeper running hoover, play sixgames, play five six games one week,
we got a little bit of ahangover for the next week in the
regional. Do you buy I thinkit can a little bit. I think
it can. It varies from teamto team, right, but I do
(28:00):
think there is something to You're playingthrough Sunday, and then you know,
most of the teams that win theSEC tournament are hosting, which makes it
a little easier because you're not goingto you know, be going on the
road. But you win the SECTournament on Sunday and then you turn around
and you know, seventy two hourslater, basically once you get back home
the next day, you're practicing,you know, for the regional and me
(28:22):
that's that is a quick turnaround andto play whatever it ends up being dependent
on if you've started to play onTuesday or Wednesday. To play that many
games in consecutive days is really taxingon a pitching staff. So you've probably
got some guys that have a heavierworkload than they've had all season. You've
probably had some guys who hadn't pitchedin a while who you had to go
in there. Maybe that's a goodthing. I guess you could get those
guys ready, But I think it'sI think just as often, you know,
(28:47):
winning the thing is I think youcould look at it as a positive
with the team being hot. Ithink it's kind of a fifty to fifty
thing with whether it's a good orbad thing. I think it just depends
on the mentality of the team andhow healthy the team is. And the
opposite is true, right. Ithink Tennis he benefited from going on and
out last year, and Tony Vitellowas open about that when they lost.
He's like, look, I mean, yeah, we came here to win.
We're not out there looking to losegames. But given that we just
(29:10):
lost this game, we can gohome and get rest and get a little
bit healthy and then come out andplay well in the regional. And they
did and they end up in Omaha. So the opposite can also be true,
where look, nobody wants to losegames, but if you're going to
lose games, if you lose early, not always the worst thing in the
world. I said the same thingabout us last year. We had a
little extra rest there. That wasnice. Yeah, that's a great point.
I mean, yeah, that's absolutelytrue. Joe Healey from D one
(29:34):
Baseball is our guest, and whenyou look forward now to the NCAA,
we'll start wrapping up with this.When you look forward to the regionals,
it feels like it's a lot aboutlike the NCAA Tournament and Basketball Joe.
A lot of it just depends onwhat kind of teams you get in your
four team pods. Sometimes there aretough matchups you got to deal with.
Indiana certainly was a challenge for Kentuckylast year that the CAATs ended up winning.
(29:59):
But it also feels like just thematchups, or you know, getting
the number one team LSU having togo to Baton Rouge in the Super Regional.
It all comes down to matchups onehundred percent. I mean that there's
some nightmares for host teams. Soif you're a Kentucky fan, these are
kind of some of the things tolook for when the draws do come out
on the on the foe line isone is a four seed that just happens
(30:21):
to have a dude on Fridays,because that'll happen. I think about last
year with I was covering the regionalin Tuscaloosa and Nichols was there small school
in Louisiana and they had a guyon Friday named Jacob Myers who comes out
throwing like ninety seven ninety eight witha real breaking ball, and it's like
okay, like all right, likesure, you know, all yeah,
(30:41):
they survived it, Alabama did.But like that's just the kind of team
you just absolutely don't want to see. Or I mean, pin like an
IVY League team that's old, right, I mean, we see how well
these Ivy League transfers are doing inthe SEC. I mean, A and
M's got a couple of them.So an old team like that's something to
look for. Is like if youlook at the roster and it's mostly grads
(31:03):
and seniors, like you might bein for a rough weekend because those guys
are gonna are going to come toplay. So yeah, it is a
lot about matchups. And that's trueat every round. I think about for
East Carolina, which is generally generallyaccepted as the best program to never get
to Omaha in terms of consistency,and I would challenge your listeners to go
look at the Wikipedia page for EastCarolina's postseason years because they are always opposite,
(31:26):
like an absolute juggernaut. They've neverbeen the team. Because in super
regionals, so much is about ifyou advance. What did the opposite bracket
do? Like are you opposite anational seed or are you opposite the regional
that got blown up in a threeseed won it? And cause that can
matter whether or not you get toOmaha. You just I mean, I
think about Kentucky last year, likeif they draw anybody but LSU, I
(31:48):
think maybe we're having a different conversation. But you did, and that's that's
what you have to deal with.But that ends up having a large bearing.
I always say, man, you'vegot to be good, you've got
to be healthy, and you gottabe lucky. It takes a little bit
of luck to have success in this, no doubt. No, Yeah,
we'll just have no, well,just a couple of minutes before we get
out of here, and obviously we'lltalk when we get to Omaha together and
(32:13):
we'll talk a little more of KentuckyWildcats here in a month or so.
Let's talk about this weekend, right, I mean, we got a chance
to win the league this weekend.Vanderbilt coming in eleven wins, they're fighting
for their lives. The things Iknow about them is they have one of
the best coaches, if not thebest coach in the history of college baseball
and Tim Corban who will have hisboys ready to play. And Carter Holton
(32:35):
is a stud I remember him lastyear and he diced us up. So
tell us a little bit about bandy, what to expect this weekend and what
are your eyes on the matchup?Yeah, they go as their starting pitching
goes. When Carter Holton and BryceCunningham give them quality starts, they tend
to win games. When they don't, they tend to lose games. And
I got asked last week on aradio show, like why does Vanderbilk get
(32:57):
slept so often? And I thinkit's because they've been up a few times
this year. And I think it'slargely just that they when there's weekends because
they're facing a good offense, orit's a small ballpark, or the wind
is blown out all weekend, thoseweekends where the starting pitching isn't particularly good
for them, they don't have theoffensive firepower to really keep up in that
regard. So that's the thing.If you can keep if you can get
(33:20):
Vanderbilt starting pitchers out of the gameearly, or if you can rough them
up early, they're not equipped toplay an ugly nine to seven, ten,
eight type of ball game. Soif you can ugly the game up,
you got a pretty good chance.But if you look up in the
sixth seventh inning and it's three toone either way, you start to get
nervous because that's the way they wantto play. They want to play close
games, they want to be ableto play. I mean, they're one
(33:40):
of the teams that will play smallball with Kentucky if it comes to that,
They're willing to do that. They'reone of the few teams that can
do that. So if I'm Kentucky, it's hair amount that you jump on
their starters early. It's not aboutrunning pitch counts necessarily. It's about hunt
the pitches you can drive and driveand try to get their starters out of
the game because that's when you're goingto be able to feast. So you're
telling me to score or what youKentucky fans seem to be a rowdy.
(34:04):
That's as let's get this pleasure,Joe. I know you've got another Road
to Hoover podcast out you and Mark? What else is going on at D
one Baseball that you've got coming up? Oh gosh, so much? I
mean Mark and I Highway to Hooverpodcast twice a week, do an episode
early in the week to recap,and then in the later in the week.
(34:27):
And Darren, you've been a guest, I thank you for that.
I talked to a specific person froma specific program to really deep dive that
team this week. I'm talking TexasA and M on an episode due later
this week. Also, look formy SEC Tournament preview, going to have
a preview out at the end ofthe weekend, probably on Sunday, that
breaks down every team what they needto do in the tournament, a small
scouting report for each team. Soif you're just now kind of if you're
(34:49):
a Kentucky fan, it's like,hey, this team is really good,
Like let me jump on the baseballbandwagon, but haven't really paid a lot
of attention to the SEC. Myhope is that that SEC Tournament preview will
gets you up to speed ahead ofnext week. That's while we're here,
best in the business. Joe,appreciate you, my man. Thank you.
Joe absolutely fellows season. That's JoeHealey from D one Baseball and this
(35:10):
has been behind Kentucky Baseball, presentedby Assured Partners. They're proud to offer
Frank and Mouth insurance. Frankly speaking, when you need them, they'll be
there. Call us at eight fivenine, five, four three one seven
one six today and hopefully the nexttime we're on Behind Kentucky Baseball we'll be
talking about maybe an SEC championship huh, but get it. Definitely getting ready
(35:31):
for the postseason. This has beenBehind Kentucky Baseball for Joe Healey of D
one Baseball and Darren Williams. I'mDarren Hedrick. We'll talk to you next
time here on the UK Sports Network
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