Jim Schlossnagle dives into potential lineup, pitching changes moving forward

Texas A&M claimed its second conference series of the season on the road over Auburn. After returning from a short weekend on The Plains, Jim Schlossnagle joined TexAgs Radio to detail the series win, potential changes in the lineup, pitching staff and more.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• We saw it coming. I told the team after Texas State, you better bring your big boy pants this weekend cause we will be dealing with weather and a doubleheader. It is what it is. Friday was an extremely long day. These guys grow up playing nine million baseball games. It’s not digging ditches. It’s playing baseball.
   
• I think we have shown toughness all year. Things all year have been self-induced. How we lost that middle game, I don’t get into the call at home plate because when you have runners on base. Every pitch and play has an impact on the game. That’s a losing mentality to harp over that. The takeaway is we have toughness. Brett Minnich being back has made us better. Brandyn Garcia, if we can pick the right spots for him, that’s great. We won ball games without Evan Aschenbeck having to pitch. This week is going to be even tougher. UTSA has a great team. They played a double-header and their third game got rained out. They could throw a weekend guy out there. It looks like they could win Conference USA if they keep it going.
   
• Brandyn is building confidence. He didn’t come here incredibly confident. He lives on the edge with a lot of 3 balls or 3-2 counts. I don’t think he’s a starting pitcher, but we will attack each game one game at a time. I think having success with the first hitter he faces gives him confidence going forward.
   
• Nathan Dettmer is 10th in the league in innings pitched. He’s had bad first innings, but he has given us length. They decided they were not going to sit with two strikes. We gave up 12 runs with two outs. Auburn got the timely hits a lot with two outs. Dettmer struck out 11, and hopefully, in the second half of the season, we can get that from him more often. 
   
• Minnich gives you another physical presence in the lineup. We want our best hitters up with people on base. Hunter Haas and Jack Moss are on base all the time. Do you shuffle the lineup? Are the guys you put in front of them able to get on base? Austin Bost has 25 to 30 more at-bats with runners on base. He’s had bad luck. Trevor Werner has had a ton of bats with runners in scoring position. We left runs on base over the weekend. It would have been awesome to see Brett play in the first six weeks, and it could have brought us two more wins. 
   
• Max Kaufer is always in deep counts and draws walks. The ball is coming off his bat better. He’s supposed to be in high school. The two balls he hit this weekend, in high school or summer league, go out of the ballpark. A year from now, as he gets stronger and develops more, he’s going to be a good player for us. Hank Bard is doing a good job. Kaufer is growing up before our eyes.
   
• Rest was super important. Every weekend is a beating. Four games in four days with a travel and practice day. We have a light workout today, and then we have another heavy week.