Practices Underway for Mitch Thompson and Baylor Baseball as Opening Day Approaches
Before Friday’s practice, pitcher Mason Marriott (Jr.), outfielder Ty Johnson (Jr.) and head coach Mitch Thompson fielded questions from the media. The full presser is attached above.
WACO, Texas – Year Two of the Mitch Thompson era is officially underway as team practices began Friday at Baylor Ballpark.
Coming off a season in which the Bears missed the Big 12 Tournament for the first time and broke a program record in losses (35), Thompson’s 2024 squad, which includes over 20 new faces, is poised to make markable and tangible improvements this go-around.
“Position-player-wise, we are bigger, faster and stronger,” Thompson said before Friday’s practice. “I think we’re going to hit for more power, we’re going to steal more bases and hopefully that translates into being better; that’s what it’s all about – getting better every day.”
As for the pitching staff, Thompson and his fellow coaches will have to rely on some younger arms this spring, but he has high hopes for the pitchers on the roster.
“I think we have more talent [on the mound this year],” Thompson said. “I think we’re going to throw more strikes, and I think we have more options of quality arms on the mound. All of those things are going to add up to hopefully giving us an opportunity to be more successful.”
When asked, junior righty Mason Marriott talked about the depth of this year’s roster and the reasons for optimism surrounding the 2024 Bears.
“At every position, we have three-to-four guys who can go play every single day,” Marriott said. “Our pitching staff is fantastic. We have guys from all around that have different strengths. It’s going to be a good team to watch.”
Ty Johnson, a junior outfielder from McLennan Community College and one of the aforementioned newcomers, raved about how tight-knit this group is.
“Team chemistry is off the charts,” Johnson said. “And I feel like that’s going to win us a lot of games. We have a tight group of guys, just 40 guys working toward a common goal. … We’re a team that loves playing. You can’t come up here and not see a parking lot full of cars getting work in, whether you come three hours before or after practice.”
As Thompson works to rebuild the program, it’s imperative that he and his staff bring in an infusion of transfer portal, junior college and freshmen talent. Over the offseason, Thompson brought in over 20 newcomers, including talented players like Johnson, Enzo Apodaca (Gonzaga), Tyriq Kemp (Western Oklahoma CC), Wesley Jordan (Navarro), Mason Greer (Missouri State) and Jack Little (Wichita State).
“You’re not going to win a ton of games in college baseball right now if you're playing an entire team of 18-year-olds because you're playing against a team full of 23-year-olds on the other side,” Thompson said. “I think it’s a good mix for us where we can build around some of the freshmen and can bring them along the right way, but the JUCO and transfer portal guys are going to have to step right into the lineup and help us rebuild this thing.
As for expectations going into Thompson’s second year, Baylor is slated to finish 11th in the conference, according to the Big 12 Preseason Poll.
Johnson, who played for an MCC squad that compiled over 90 wins over the last two seasons, is planning on bringing a winning culture to his new home across town.
“We expect to win – that’s the only expectation,” Johnson said. “We’re going to compete our tails off no matter what, no matter what people think of us. We know what we’ve got, and we have confidence in ourselves.”
Thompson, who is relatively weary of preseason polls, hopes his squad can use other people’s opinions as motivation this spring.
“It’ll all take care of itself on the field,” Thompson said. “It can always give you a chip on your shoulder and say, ‘Hey, we’re better than this.’ Hopefully, that’s the way our guys are taking in, but it is what it is, and we have to go out and prove it on the field if we want the respect of other people.”
The Bears, while picked near the bottom of the conference, will have plenty of opportunities to prove people wrong this season. Baylor is playing the most games against the RPI-Top-50 opponents (26) out of anybody in the Big 12 and the fewest games against RPI-Bottom-150 opponents (9) out of anybody in the conference.
“At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about – trying to have the [wins] and RPI to play in an NCAA Tournament,” Thompson said. “I’ll tell you right now that [making the NCAA Tournament] is these guys' goal and to do that, we obviously have to go win games, but we’re playing [against] the right people so that when we do win [the games], it’ll mean something.”
Baylor will open the season and kick off the Shriners Classic against Nebraska at 11 a.m. on February 16, followed by games against Oregon (11 a.m., Feb. 17) and Tennessee (6:30 p.m., Feb 18).