What Butch Thompson said ahead of Auburn traveling to Alabama
AUBURN — As this team nears the half way mark of conference play, Auburn travels to in-state foe Alabama for a three-game series this weekend.
Both the Tigers and the Tide are 4-8 in conference play at this point. Alabama is looking for their first series win, but has not yet been swept this season. They have won a single game against No. 3 Florida, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 5 Arkansas and Mississippi State.
Auburn’s offensive performance continues to improve, but the pitching staff has not yet found their identity and is proving itself as a problem this year. In order for the Tigers to finish this season strong, the performance on the mound will need to improve.
Head coach Butch Thompson met with the media early Thursday afternoon before the team hit the road to Tuscaloosa.
Here are the highlights of what he said ahead of this series:
— Thompson on Auburn’s starting pitching this weekend: “We’ll go (Tommy) Vail– we’ll put Vail back in that first spot. The new starter for SEC play will be Drew Nelson, on Saturday… I’m excited about him, I think he’s going to start a lot of games here… We’ll stay TBA on game three, on Sunday.”
— “If we’ve got a chance to win a ballgame, we probably want (Will) Cannon back there (in relief)… We think we need as many pieces as we possibly can…” Thompson said Cannon is probably number one competitor for Auburn’s Sunday start if he is not needed to win a ballgame earlier on in the weekend.
— Joseph Gonzalez “hasn’t really been traveling with us, but he’s making the trip… He started throwing this week.” Thompson said he isn’t at the threshold of throwing hard enough to “feel pain” yet, but is up for making updates each week on Gonzalez’s performance.
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— Alabama has a “veteran lineup”… Talked about “those rich stats across the board.” Butch Thompson emphasized how multiple hitters in their lineup are hot right now and how they have a good alternation of lefties and righties. “It’s just a really complete lineup.”
— Former Auburn player Edouard Julien moved up to the majors yesterday. “I love telling Coach (Greg) Drye that you’ve got to order another number for the wall… We’re excited about Edouard. We thought he had the skillset to potentially be a big leaguer… I don’t think anybody was wondering ‘if,’ it was just more of a ‘when.'”
— Thompson talked about Auburn’s struggles with the pitching staff. “I’m disappointed for the guys because they give us good effort… I know how tough it is to be young in this league… You get in a point where you’re doing all these things, you’re moving it around and that just makes it more challenging… I think they’re trying. I think they’re hanging in there the best they can and I think our position players have been great and patient.”
— “A player knows he’s supposed to throw strikes, he’s got all of that… For us to be able to do what we want to do, we’ve got to be able to put our head in the mitt…” Butch Thompson talked about the amount of walks that have happened recently and the need to limit that.
— “One positive weekend can get you moving in the right direction, that’s what we focus on today.”
