Shockwaves

Tuesday’s pitchers meeting represented a chance for Wichita State pitching coach Brent Kemnitz to revamp and revitalize his approach. New pitchers packed the team room in Eck Stadium for the first meeting of the fall with Kemnitz. It was the closest thing to a fresh start in Kemnitz’s 31 seasons at WSU. If anything needed an overhaul, here was the opportunity.

Nonsense. Why change a thing?

Kemnitz took roll. He took stock of arms (”Sweet” means ready to go. “Sore” is less useful. “Scalpel” is worse). After a few basics (scrimmages start Thursday; go to class), he got right to the history lesson.

“Wichita State has a reputation over the last 30 years of being the best pitching school in America,” he said. “During those 30 years, we’ve had 68 guys sign pro. During that time, we’ve had 13 guys that have pitched in the big leagues. We’ve had nine first-round drafts. We’ve had 18 All-Americans; we’ve had 13 freshman All-Americas.”

Kemnitz doesn’t need to build his resume in pitching meetings. He does need to quickly assemble a competitive staff out of a bunch of unknowns. His recitation of honors is for two purposes – to let the new guys know what the standard is at WSU and to let them know they can get there as freshmen. If they listen and follow instructions.

Here is the scary stat for Shocker fans:

“On this year’s team… we have four guys that have thrown over 20 innings at the Division I level,” Kemnitz said. “Tim Kelley threw 52 innings last year. (Tyler) Fleming threw 45. He’s out for the year (shoulder surgery). Eliminate him. Logan Hoch threw 45. We’re holding our breath (shoulder pain). We hope he’s OK. The other guy is Max Hutson (elbow surgery). We hope Max is OK. He didn’t throw last year, but he had some experience before that. That’s all we have with guys over 20 innings.”

Kemnitz believes that what worked for 30 years will work again. He passed around the Shocker pitching  equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls – a thick stack of notes on pitching from the early days, scrawled on yellow legal paper and folded and creased.

“This is what you guys are going to learn from in the next six weeks,” he said. “This is my brain. You guys want to pass it around and look at it. I didn’t tape it up  today, so be fragile with it.”

Then comes the punch line.

“Why is that what you learn from?” Kemnitz asked. “Anybody have a guess? It’s symbolism. The symbolism is – ____ doesn’t change. Thirty years, and my philosophy is no different.”

By the time fall ball wraps up in October, Kemnitz guarantees his pitchers they will:

• Find a delivery that works. Under control. Balanced. Out in front. “I’m a keep-it-simple guy,” he said.
• Throw three pitches for a strike. “If you can spot up and throw three pitches for a strike on any count, you will be successful,” he said.
• Eliminate the running game.
• Learn the little things such as bunt defense and fielding.

“The purpose of the fall is for guys to grow up,” Kemnitz said. “There is a purpose for every guy in this room. I had to get (after) a couple sophomores (Monday) about the way they went about their business. There’s nobody locked up in safes right now that made All-American where we’re sitting around feeling all toasty like we’re the deal. Last year, we put Capra, Musgrave and Shafer in safes. They were sitting down in the Bank of America in a safe all winter because we didn’t want them to get hurt.”

There are no All-Americans around Eck Stadium this fall. That doesn’t mean Kemnitz is down on his talent. He told the group he believes it is more talented (at least 15 with pro potential and more than two who will pitch in the majors) than average at WSU. To get the most out of that talent – and to win games next spring – they must pay attention.

“The theme of what I’m telling you guys today is ‘Let me be your experience,’” Kemnitz said. “You have got to trust me. We have got to speed up brains. But when I say speed up brains, we have got to do the same things we’ve done for 30 years. If we don’t get enough guys buying in, it will be a step down from what people are used to seeing. The brain is going to be the difference.”