One-on-One with Baylor Baseball Pitching Coach James Leverton

Watch the full interview with Levi Caraway and Baylor Baseball Pitching Coach James Leverton as he breaks down the current pitching staff and the reasons for optimism with the young arms, amongst other things.

*Time-stamped questions and brief overviews of each answer have been added below for convenience. Coach Leverton’s responses below are NOT direct quotes but highlights of what he discussed.*

LC (:25): “[The pitching staff] is a super young group of guys. Give me some reasons for optimism and what do you like about this group going into the spring?”

• JL: The fall was really good for the younger guys, embracing success and working through failure, learning from last year, plus highlighting some specific guys.

LC (3:55): “Naturally there's going to be some growing pains with those younger guys, but the way I see it, I'd rather throw those guys out into the fire and see what they're made of, as opposed to trotting out older guys who have kind of already hit their ceiling and you kind of know what you're going to expect – is that kind of a similar stance where you guys feel as well?”

• JL: The schedule will immediately test the pitching staff, high-leverage situations are expected and each player will have a different role. 

LC (5:21): “I know there were kind of some misses in the portal this summer, but it wasn't for a lack of trying, and Coach Thompson mentioned on Friday that for the weekend rotation, he's not really not expecting guys to go through the order two, three times. But if they do, that's great news. Does it kind of concern you that there's not a clear-cut handful of [top-of-the-rotation] guys going into the spring?”

• JL: Feels confident in this year’s pitching staff, enough pieces to get through games, plus managing loads will be important this spring.

LC (6:56): “Y'all have really hammered home that you feel a lot more comfortable about the depth in the bullpen; you feel a lot more comfortable about the strike-throwing ability – and that wasn't necessarily something a luxury that y'all had last year. So that's genuinely something y'all feel optimistic about going into this year?”

• JL: Experience in the fall will pay dividends, this roster has a variety of arms that can be used in many different situations and it will still be a question of how well guys perform under the lights.

LC (7:55): “Starting with specific guys, let's start with Colin McKinney and Tanner Duke … How excited are you about those two guys this spring, and what do you expect from them?”

• JL: Ceilings are very high for both, both have good secondary stuff and legit velocity, plus thoughts on what velocity means at this level.

LC (10:42): “The team is going to be relying on Mason Marriott a ton. What are you kind of expecting from him? Are you expecting more consistency, or is that kind of like a wait-and-see?”

• JL: Expecting consistency because of work ethic, improved mindset, plus how good Marriott can be when he’s on his game.

LC (14:36): “With the true freshmen, what have you seen from them, and have any of those guys really separated themselves throughout the fall [and early spring]?”

• JL: Excited to see those guys improve, mentions RJ Ruais, Jackson Elizondo and Stephen Sepulveda as top performers this spring.

LC (16:05): “When you're working with those freshmen who have come in, and you're the only pitching coach they've had in college, as opposed to kind of the older guys who were recruited by different staffs, and you're having to work with them as well – is there a big difference?”

• JL: Wants open dialogue with everyone and not a “my way or the highway” attitude, needing to love on the younger guys more, plus being confident in your ability.

LC (18:28): “Development-wise, analytics is such a buzzword in today's game, and you hear about Wake Forest hiring 20 people and whatnot. What is Baylor doing to develop pitchers using analytics?”

• JL: Coach Furlong is great with analytics, following what the numbers say but being able to hone in on specific things to make improvements.

LC (21:55): “Recruiting in today's age, people are so enamored with velocity. What is Baylor’s stance toward recruiting pitchers today? And do you think people who don't throw 93+ are kind of falling under the radar?”

• JL: If you can pitch, you can pitch, but velocity is obviously a good thing.

LC (23:11): “Obviously, [Baylor is] picked 11th or 12th in the in the preseason poll, depending on which one you look at. And I think, on paper, the pitching staff is the biggest question mark for this team, but you think there are reasons for optimism, and you think [the pitching staff] can exceed expectations this year?”

• JL: Rankings mean nothing right now because it’s about winning games. Optimism comes from the fact that the pitching staff has stuff, variety, left-handed pitching and increased strike-throwing this season.