Brian O'Connor breaks down fall ball set up, Justin Parker and team strengths

As the first few days of fall baseball have gone into the books, Mississippi State fans are counting down the days to first pitch.

Brian O’Connor had a lot of work to get done for State in the last few months and now the real work begins as the Bulldogs get set for a monster schedule in the spring. The coach and his players will compete for championships this season based on the type of work they put in over the next two months.

Last week, O’Connor had a chance to speak to the media to address the start of fall ball and the excitement around it. The first part of the interview was posted on Friday with O’Connor’s thoughts on his team leadership and chemistry. This part two discusses his thoughts on what fall baseball means to his team and the fans, his relationship with Justin Parker and the team’s strength.

Question: How much of the scrimmages and open practices about introducing the team to the fans but also the fans to the team?

BOC: “It’s both. We have a lot of young men that have never played a game in this stadium. The more fans that are in here, it’s good for them to prepare them for what’s going to happen this spring. It serves both purposes. The outreach to the fans so they can start to learn who the players are and their names and things like that and see how they play, but it’s equally important for our players to have them in the stadium.”

Q: What have you learned about the weight that the M over S carries with some recruits?

BOC: “It’s more than the stadium and the fans. The stadium and the fans are the best in America. We all know that, right? But it goes back to people and the pride that, not just the players that have worn this uniform, but the fans have in this baseball program. You feel it and sense it every day. When you talk to recruits out there, some of them you try to educate them about that and there’s some of them who have grown up knowing what this baseball program and this culture is about.

“It’s incredibly powerful, it really is. College baseball recruiting at this level is hard. There’s a lot of great programs out there and a lot of great fanbases. But, at its core, Mississippi State baseball is about all of the right things. It’s very much a tough brand of baseball. That’s what it’s been built on.

“I’ve loved being around coach (Ron Polk) a lot since I’ve been here and learning from him. When I think of Mississippi State baseball before I came here, it was always a brand of hard-nosed, tough baseball. That’s part of why I was so interested in Mississippi State because that’s what I believe in as a coach. I believe in playing the game the right way, playing tough, playing hard. No prima donnas, playing with each other and grinding it out in tough, hard-nosed baseball. That’s how we will play. That’s reflective of what the M over S means.”

Q: You’ve had a few months to work with Justin Parker now. How is that relationship going?

BOC: “The relationship with Justin Parker is going fantastic. Let me just talk about this guy a little bit. The development that he does with our pitchers here at Mississippi State is absolutely elite. This guy is really, really talented. And when I speak about somebody being really, really talented, it’s partly what they know and can impart on a young man, but most importantly, it’s their ability to connect with young people. He is elite at being able to connect and be on the same page with these young men that pitch here and from a recruiting standpoint.

“He does a tremendous job – I’ve seen it in just over three weeks – in preparing them to compete in this arena. At the highest level of baseball. So the relationship is going great. He’s a tireless recruiter. A coach isn’t always what they know and their knowledge. That’s part of it. You can have all the knowledge in the world but if you can’t make connections with young men…

“That’s what he’s really special at and I think that’s what separates him from other people that hold his job at other institutions. And I’m just thankful, grateful that he made the decision to stay here because I think it’s a real difference maker for us.”

Q: What’s the strength of this team and is there an area that needs to be refined?

BOC: “It’s hard for me to give you an answer to that because we’ve been doing these short 45 minute workout like four days a week. So it’s been more instilling how do we go about base running and little intricacies of the game? So really haven’t had a chance to see them compete too much.

“Certainly, when you don’t return a shortstop that’s played an inning here at Mississippi State, that’s something that needs to be sewed up. We don’t return any catching that’s caught here at Mississippi State other than (Jackson) Owen but he only had a couple of innings. I would say the middle of the field.

“I’ve had a chance to sit in on a number of the bullpens in preparation for us to start fall baseball. There’s no question on the mound that we have skill. We just do not have a lot of experience, a lot of innings of guys that have done it in this arena. So that’s what we need to utilize this fall for us to prepare them for that.

“Do we have a lot of guys with good arms and good physical bodies and things like that? Sure we do. But there’s a lot more that goes into winning a game, knowing how to manage an inning and manage a game, that only comes from experience. The pitching will shake out and I believe that Justin Parker will do a great job of molding them and getting them ready. And then we’ve got to ultimately figure out who’s going to be behind the plate, who’s going to be at shortstop and other positions as well.

“One of the great things about a coaching change for the players is all jobs are open. Nobody’s guaranteed a starting job. You go out there and win it and compete against each other. That’s ultimately gong to draw the most out of them and get us the most prepared this season.”

Q: What have you seen from freshmen like Jack Bauer, Peter Mershon, Parker Rhodes and Jacob Parker so far?

BOC: “Those young 18-year-olds to 19-year-old freshmen immediately the first 10 days is a little bit of a shock to them, candidly. And they probably will tell you the same thing because of the pace in which we asked them to work.

“After the first couple of weeks happen, it starts to slow down a little bit for them so they’re all doing great. We’ve seen some things like Parker Rhodes has a really great arm. The guy can pitch, just needs to get experience. Jack Bauer’s got a great arm. The more times we can get them out there and get at bats for those young freshmen, I see a lot of promise for them because there’s a lot of skill.

“Their eyes will be opened because now they’re competing and winning matters.”

O’Connor details format for fall baseball scrimmages…

BOC: “We will scrimmage 15 times this fall. It will be five, three-game series and I will switch the teams every three game series. So to get them used to play in a three-game series, even though they’re not three days in a row, the players will get points if their team wins a game. Even though they’re switching teams every three games, the points will accumulate and we will have an end of the semester dinner where the top 50% of the players point geters get steaks and the bottom get hot dogs.

“We will also do some really unique things. I identify two captains from each team – one position player and one pitcher – every three-game series. They will actually get to make some decisions in the game. They’ll then start to understand maybe it’s not so easy sitting in this seat (as a coach).

“For example, in this series, the captains get to choose two innings when their team is up offensively in each game that when the inning is over and an inning that they did not score a run, the captain gets to tell the defensive team and pitcher to stay out. Twice, they get to have bases loaded with two outs. They only have to face one batter. The guy either strikes out or he puts the ball in play and whatever happens, the inning is over after one batter. Other than if they walk them or hit them and they’ll have to face another batter. So either they have to record an out, or they get a base hit or a home run or whatever, and the result of that is runs on the board.

“I do it to put pressure on them twice a game of pitching and hitting with the bases loaded and two outs. The reality is to win college baseball games, you’ve got to get clutch hits, but you also have to be able to manage an inning and get that coveted third out. So we create some situations like that that will happen and those situations will change each three-game series. It adds something extra and exciting for the players that’s a little different.”

Q: There are a handful of teams out there that won’t put rosters out in the fall. What makes you comfortable doing that?

BOC: “I can’t speak to why those coaches do that. I’m not judging them, I don’t know why. I’ve always produced it right away when we start fall baseball and I produce it because I want the fans that are sitting in the stands to be able to start to learn and get to know who the players are. So I’ve got nothing to hide.

“Maybe at some point people did it because they had 55 player son the roster in the fall. I don’t know, but this is the way I’ve always done it and I will continue to do it.”