Coach's Corner: Mike Gambino

This is the first in a series of sit-down conversations with Boston College head coaches.

The Heights will also be producing its first ever Spring Sports Preview on Mar. 15. The issue will be packed with a full outlook on the baseball, softball, and lacrosse teams.

The Heights: How was the offseason?

Gambino: It was good, it was really good. The fall went really well. Our upperclassmen did a really, really good job of helping bring these freshmen along and kind of shorten that learning curve. A lot of our boys did a really good job this summer, came back ready to play. So the fall went well. That time from when our fall season ends to really when they come back, it's kind of the offseason. But with the way college baseball is now, your preseason, like what would be considered in big-league baseball your Spring Training-our Spring Training is so short we almost have to be ready to go when we start. I think for the most part our guys came back ready. There are five weeks when they're home, away from school, with no classes, that we look at as a chance to beat other people. A lot of people might take some time off over the holidays, but we look at it as a time to kind of make some strides and beat people and pass people. I think our boys came back ready to go.

The Heights: How have practices been going so far?

Gambino: They're going well. We're getting into our scrimmaging right now. The guys are really on their first two times through facing live hitters, and hitters facing live arms. With that bubble, there's so much we can do. We can really do a live scrimmage, minus the outfielders. It's been going really well so far—really good, focused work.

The Heights: Is it tough practicing in the bubble?

Gambino: No, I think it's great. Other than fly balls for outfielders—there's nothing that we can't simulate in there. We can actually end up accomplishing a lot, because we can have two diamonds and five cages all going at once. So there's a lot of times when, in two hours, you can get so much accomplished because you can have so many things going on at once. That's such a huge advantage, that bubble.

The Heights: Do you have a game plan for when you move outside?

Gambino: Depends on the weather, and it depends on how that side takes, in terms of when we're going to get out there. Really, our first time on a baseball field is when we get down to Myrtle Beach in a couple weeks. We're gonna head over to the turf field this weekend just to get some fly balls, have some guys get some balls in the air and see some balls out of the sky. And we're probably gonna do that one or two other times before we head down [to Myrtle Beach]. We just kind of have to see how these next couple of weeks go with the weather, and see when that side's going to be ready.

The Heights: How ready are you guys, with two weeks left until first pitch?

Gambino: We're not ready yet, but we don't have to be ready yet. We'll be ready in two weeks. I think we're close. We did some fundamental stuff, some bunt-defense stuff [Wednesday], and we're still probably about a week away from that. Our pitchers are building their arms up. Our starters are up to 75 [pitches] right now, so they're still another two outings away from being ready. I'd say we're not ready now, but we don't need to be ready now. We need to be ready in two weeks. I think we're right on pace to be ready to go day one against Virginia.

The Heights: How tough is it to start pretty much for a month on the road?

Gambino: It's tough. But we kind of take pride in that. We know that we have to deal with stuff in our program that nobody else, definitely in our league and not many places in the country, have to deal with. We kind of take pride in that. We know that our first five weeks are probably the hardest first five weeks in the country. But the way we look at it is that that prepares us for the postseason, when you're flying all over the country, playing in front of hostile crowds, sleeping in hotels—all these things that seem kind of cool for one weekend, but when you do it for five, it's a grind. Well, that's what we're going to do when we go to the ACC tournament. It's a week away, a week in a hotel, playing in front of hostile crowds. Going to a regional, we're going to be flying all over the country, going some place with crazy schedules. So it's really, really difficult, and it's great preparation for when we get into the postseason to be able to make a run deep into it.

The Heights: How close are you to finalizing the pitching rotation? Any idea of who the weekend starters are going to be yet?

Gambino: We have a little bit of an idea. I know Eric Stevens is gonna be one of them. That kid's going to be really, really good. He has a really good fastball. He's got a running sink. Remember Derek Lowe? It's not quite Derek Lowe, but it's getting there. And he might be that type of kid. It's gonna be really hard to get the baseball in the air off of him. It's just ground ball after ground ball after ground ball. He's such a competitive kid. He can pound the strike zone. And then I'd probably tend towards Hunter Gordon in one of those other starting roles on the weekend. The third one is up in the air. Kyle Prohovich, Matt Alvarez, and Nate Bayuk are all kind of in the mix. Pro would be really, really good. He'd be really, really good in any role. I trust him so much that I love the idea of having him starting, but I love the idea of having him at the back end of a game, knowing I have him coming in to get three, six, or nine outs, whatever it is, in a tight ballgame. ‘Yuk, we're kind of waiting to see how his arm is. He had a little bit of elbow problems over the summer. How his arm is able to recover will somewhat decide what his role is going to be. Alvarez has the best pure stuff on the team. He's got big-league stuff. It's a matter of him being more consistent and commanding the zone better, and he knows that. He's turned himself into a really good worker. So I think all those guys are probably in the mix for that other spot.

The Heights: The pitching staff wasn't too healthy last year. Overall, is the staff pretty healthy this year?

Gambino: Yeah, there were a bunch of guys injured last year. We were really, really thin. [This year] we've got some depth, it's young depth. We're getting close to being healthy. We're dealing with Taylor Lasko—he threw off the mound the first time [Wednesday]. He's, I think, three weeks away from pitching in a game. Eric Stone, a freshman, is throwing off a mound hopefully at the end of next week. So he's about a month away. Tyler Hinchliffe had mono over the break. So it's not an arm issue, but he's getting close to being healthy. He'll be ready day one. Bayuk, he'll be ready to go, it's just a matter of how he's going to respond. Brazis is healthy, ready to go. Andrew Chin is out for the year–he's not going to pitch for us. He had Tommy John last April, so he's not going to factor in at all for us. We're going to redshirt him and get him ready for next year. So other than those guys, we're healthy. We're healthy and ready to go. Jay Jeannotte was one of the guys who had arm problems last year, and he's throwing right now, he's healthy. So I think we're pretty healthy going in. I like our depth, we're just young. So there's going to be some young guys that we're going to have to ask to have some pretty big roles.

The Heights: The ACC is tough every year, but how is it looking this year?

Gambino: It's going to be good this year. It's arguably the best baseball conference in the country. It's really good. Virginia's kind of been the juggernaut the past couple of years. Some people are saying they're down—but they're not down. They're still really good. Georgia Tech's going to be really good. Miami just got a catcher that got drafted in the second round who transferred in that they just ruled eligible last week, which really helped out their lineup. They're going to be good. Clemson's going to be good. [North] Carolina was young and talented last year. They're going to be really good [this year]. And some of these teams that were a little bit down last year—Virginia Tech was 12th in the country the year before. They were down last year a little bit. They're going to be good this year. Maryland's getting better, Wake Forest is getting better. So this league is really, really deep this year. For a league that's always good and deep, it's even deeper this year. That's what makes it fun.