University of Georgia Athletics
Inside Georgia Baseball
October 02, 2007 | Baseball
With fall season at the midpoint, let’s take a look at how Georgia’s pitching staff is shaping up for the 2008 season according to Bulldog pitching coach Brady Wiederhold.
Q: Now in your second season at Georgia, how different is fall practice this year now that you know most of the pitching staff because just about everybody is back?
A: That’s one of the biggest things that have made it a lot easier in terms of communication. I know them, they know me, and they understand the terminology, the system. We’re all on the same page, and for the new guys, they can get some guidance from some of the veterans because they know what we’re trying to accomplish. The process of getting everybody ready to compete for the spring doesn’t really change. It is easier to pinpoint problems and correct them because we’ve been around each other. After the fall, we’ll evaluate everybody and decide on roles.
Q: The returning Bulldogs accounted for 97 percent of the innings pitched last year. How important is having all that experience?
A: It’s a luxury having so many guys back that have logged innings in the rugged SEC. It’s always good to have experience. Now, they have to show improvement too because we want to get better as a staff. We had several freshmen last year who pitched in some of those SEC battles and that should benefit them this season. Some of the younger guys are pushing the older guys but again, we’ll wait until after the fall to make our final decision. Every fall, guys are going to have some good days and some bad days, and we’ve still got a ways to go, but I like what I see up to this point.
Q: With a uniform starting date in college baseball this year (Feb. 22), teams will be playing as many as five games a week. How do you plan to set up Georgia’s staff to handle that?
A: First of all, you have to have depth on your staff, and we’ll look at having a five-man rotation. I think we have the depth to handle that and be competitive in our midweek games and see how that carries over in to the SEC weekends. Our midweek schedule features some very tough opponents, and it’s important to have good pitching for those games too. We’ll start out with some guys targeted for the weekend and others for midweek and see how they perform and make changes based on their degree of success.
Q: Nick Montgomery (1-1, 0.90 ERA, 20 IP) was one of the team’s top relievers last season before a blood cot in his shoulder ended his season. How is he doing?
A: Nick is doing really well, he’s healthy, he’s in shape and his velocity is up. He feels good, and he looks better each time out. He was very valuable to us last year as middle man and in a setup role. He’s overcome a lot in his career, and we’re looking forward to a big senior year from him.
Q: There are not a lot of teams that have an All-American pitcher return after getting drafted in the second round. How nice is it to have Joshua Fields back?
A: First of all, Joshua is having a good time playing baseball. He’s pitching, he’s hitting, and he’s playing a little outfield. We feel like his hitting will help his pitching because he’s a baseball player. He had a lot of things going on last season, and he’s just more relaxed now. He started pitching better towards the end of last season. His mechanics and tempo were better and that has carried over this fall. His fastball looks good and he’s developed a breaking ball and not throwing a slider as much. After the draft, he didn’t go pitch anywhere but he was in town, staying in shape and throwing bullpens and working hard. He’s had some quality outings this fall. We’re glad he’s back and looking forward to him closing out a lot of games for us.
Q: Now in your second season at Georgia, how different is fall practice this year now that you know most of the pitching staff because just about everybody is back?
A: That’s one of the biggest things that have made it a lot easier in terms of communication. I know them, they know me, and they understand the terminology, the system. We’re all on the same page, and for the new guys, they can get some guidance from some of the veterans because they know what we’re trying to accomplish. The process of getting everybody ready to compete for the spring doesn’t really change. It is easier to pinpoint problems and correct them because we’ve been around each other. After the fall, we’ll evaluate everybody and decide on roles.
Q: The returning Bulldogs accounted for 97 percent of the innings pitched last year. How important is having all that experience?
A: It’s a luxury having so many guys back that have logged innings in the rugged SEC. It’s always good to have experience. Now, they have to show improvement too because we want to get better as a staff. We had several freshmen last year who pitched in some of those SEC battles and that should benefit them this season. Some of the younger guys are pushing the older guys but again, we’ll wait until after the fall to make our final decision. Every fall, guys are going to have some good days and some bad days, and we’ve still got a ways to go, but I like what I see up to this point.
Q: With a uniform starting date in college baseball this year (Feb. 22), teams will be playing as many as five games a week. How do you plan to set up Georgia’s staff to handle that?
A: First of all, you have to have depth on your staff, and we’ll look at having a five-man rotation. I think we have the depth to handle that and be competitive in our midweek games and see how that carries over in to the SEC weekends. Our midweek schedule features some very tough opponents, and it’s important to have good pitching for those games too. We’ll start out with some guys targeted for the weekend and others for midweek and see how they perform and make changes based on their degree of success.
Q: Nick Montgomery (1-1, 0.90 ERA, 20 IP) was one of the team’s top relievers last season before a blood cot in his shoulder ended his season. How is he doing?
A: Nick is doing really well, he’s healthy, he’s in shape and his velocity is up. He feels good, and he looks better each time out. He was very valuable to us last year as middle man and in a setup role. He’s overcome a lot in his career, and we’re looking forward to a big senior year from him.
Q: There are not a lot of teams that have an All-American pitcher return after getting drafted in the second round. How nice is it to have Joshua Fields back?
A: First of all, Joshua is having a good time playing baseball. He’s pitching, he’s hitting, and he’s playing a little outfield. We feel like his hitting will help his pitching because he’s a baseball player. He had a lot of things going on last season, and he’s just more relaxed now. He started pitching better towards the end of last season. His mechanics and tempo were better and that has carried over this fall. His fastball looks good and he’s developed a breaking ball and not throwing a slider as much. After the draft, he didn’t go pitch anywhere but he was in town, staying in shape and throwing bullpens and working hard. He’s had some quality outings this fall. We’re glad he’s back and looking forward to him closing out a lot of games for us.
Georgia Baseball - NCAA Regional vs Oklahoma State - Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, June 01
Georgia Baseball - NCAA Regional vs Duke - Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, May 31
Georgia Baseball - NCAA Regional vs Binghamton - TV Highlights
Friday, May 30
Georgia Baseball - NCAA Regional vs Binghamton - Postgame Press Conference
Friday, May 30