Schlossnagle previews his 2024 squad ahead of season-opener vs. McNeese

Texas A&M baseball will kick off its 2024 campaign on Friday with a season-opening series against McNeese State. Third-year head coach Jim Schlossnagle joined Monday's edition of TexAgs Radio to provide his updates on his star-studded squad.

Key notes from Jim Schlossnagle interview

• We need to start playing some games, and would obviously prefer more time. NCAA-wise, baseball is trying to get more ramp-up time. Hopefully, we can have some good weather, get out there this weekend, and figure out who we are and what we need to get better at.

• The weather has had an impact, but we were able to have five or six intrasquad games. We have about four innings to play tomorrow night. We are a little bit behind schedule in terms of the number of repetitions. Some of these schools that have indoor facilities or access to indoor facilities were probably able to do more.

• We will be ready to go, and we are going to be running a lot of pitchers out there to make sure we don't stretch anybody out. We’ll see what we can figure out.

• The guys have responded well to the competition. The challenge is trying to be the best version of yourself. You just have to keep challenging yourself and keep getting better in areas you need to. You can't control the lineup.

• We have options, and some of those options have become more clear closer to the season. None of that matters until you play a game.

• We are in a pretty good spot in terms of health, and a lot of that is on the players to get that extra help in areas they need. There isn’t enough time for us to monitor that, and they need to act like pros and take care of their business.

• Tanner Jones had a little strain. It didn’t show up on the MRI, so I don’t know if you can even call it that. He won’t pitch this weekend vs. McNeese. This weekend, we’re going to handle him with kids' gloves because we think a lot of him, and we want to have him ready in 2-4 weeks from now.

• For Jace LaViolette, it’s normal how he started. It’s abnormal how he played in SEC play. There were only 20 freshmen in the SEC last year that got 50 or more at-bats, and about 80 percent of those guys you would recognize because they are superstars. It’s not about managing my expectations. It's about managing theirs. Just being positive with them and having some of the older guys help out with that is huge because it will be a massive adjustment from high school play.

• Baseball requires patience from the players, coaches and fans. I know everyone wants everyone to be great out the gate, but they aren’t going to be. We just have to let a young player develop, and they are going to be learning on the job.

• There is no spring game and no Double-A. This is the big leagues of college baseball in the SEC, and they’re going to need to grow up in that.

• The transfer guys impact the clubhouse in different ways. Hayden Schott is a big personality and a lot of fun. He does a great job of keeping everyone loose, including me.

• Ali Camarillo is a really good teammate, and he had to go through some learning adjustments on how we do things in the fall. His standards for himself were pretty low, but Camarillo took care of that. He has raised his level and has been great.

• Ted Burton has dealt with some injuries, but we know when the lights come on, with his experience, he’s going to do fine. Those guys are definitely going to play a role on the team.

• I know the style of offense I want to play, and we certainly have the personnel. Seeing the ball going over the fence is great because it means you’re definitely scoring. I get it, home runs are sexy, but I don't want to just have to live off the home run. If we were that type of team, then it would be awfully hard to score. I want to be an offense that can play in any environment. Run bases, take pitches and be a good group of hitters who hit the ball all over the field. I want to play real offensive baseball.

• Ryan Prager looks pretty good. He has thrown really well. He’s stronger, and I think, mentally, he’s in a good spot. We know what he’s capable of, and I think he’s better today than he was then. If we can keep him healthy, he’s nearly as good as we have.

• Max Weiner has been nothing short of amazing. He’s really good at developing relationships. He’s a truth-teller and doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He can tell a player something in a way where they know tangibly what they need to improve in. He has done a good job in the situational aspects, and he has given guys some weapons that they didn't have beforehand.

• Shane Sdao is bigger and stronger. His average velocity is up. He is ultra-competitive, a really good athlete and brings us experience to a pretty inexperienced pitching group. His value can be anything from being available twice from the bullpen to being the starting pitcher.

• We are trying to raise the level of pitching to be like Florida, Arkansas and Vanderbilt, the schools have super high-end elite SEC pitching. We’re challenging everybody in our program to get better and go out and recruit those types of guys. Our pitching staff is better than we were last year but not where I want it still.