Aggie Hitting Coach Paying Earley Returns
Thomas Dick, Athletics Communications
The runs just kept on coming.
It was a classic mid-April SEC rubber match for the Aggies. But it was much more than that. They showed signs of being a great team – claiming a road series at LSU and taking out Kentucky at Blue Bell Park. But they also spun their wheels in donnybrook series against Alabama and Auburn.
On this day, Texas A&M entered the fray with a 21-13 mark, including a 7-7 league ledger. The Maroon & White were trying to finish off another ranked team in a road series, this time against No. 12 Georgia.
The Aggies fell behind 9-6 after four innings, but then the runs started coming - with singles and walks and hit batsmen. Any way to score a run. Ol’ Sarge’s charges demoralized the Bulldogs with six runs in the sixth inning, added a run in the eighth and then clobbered UGA with 10 runs in the closing frame.
Texas A&M built on the victory, posting a 12-4 mark down the stretch in the SEC gauntlet. Not only did the game spark an incredible run to the SEC West title, but it was Exhibit A on what hitting coach Michael Earley brought to Aggieland in his first season.
“We found a formula to win,” Schlossnagle said. “We were able to hit. And we were able to grind it out on the mound with (Joseph) Menefee and (Jacob) Palisch winning us a lot of games pitching out of the bullpen on Friday and Sunday. We would normally be ultra-competitive in the first game of a series. The second game was hit or miss. But that third was when we could beat you up because our offense was that good. Palisch and Menefee could keep us in games, and we could beat you up at the plate with your pitching staff taxed the first two days.”
Earley’s influence could be seen in nearly every player that returned to the lineup from the 2021 campaign.
Austin Bost saw his slash improve from .303/.343/.513 to .360/.451/.572 en route to earning All-SEC recognition.
“He made hitting simple,” Bost said. “Hitting is the hardest thing to do in sports. We have done it for so long that he has broken it down to where you don’t have to think about a million different things in the box. He adjusts to you, and he doesn’t try to change you unless he feels you need it. Coach Earley has been huge. He is the best hitting coach in the country.”
Brett Minnich saw an even bigger boost as he became one of the Aggies’ top offensive weapons. He increased his slash from .223/.306/.330 to /306/.409/.453 with one year of Coach Earley’s mentoring. He smacked seven home runs, legged out 15 doubles and plated 51 runs. The native of Colleyville, Texas, emphasized Earley’s ability to adapt his techniques to his pupils.
“His strengths are helping guys with mindset,” Minnich said. “His ability to coach people in a way they need to be coached and recognizing that. People who don’t take harsh criticism, he’s not going to yell at them. People that need harsh criticism, he is going to give it to them. He recognizes that and he feeds into how they learn.”
Despite suffering an injury early in the season, Trevor Werner also saw a drastic increase in his production. The pedestrian numbers of 2021 (.182/.282/.212) ballooned into a 2022 campaign that saw him as another cog in a well-oiled offensive machine. He slashed .256/.357/.489 with eight doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 29 RBI.
“He made me a more mature hitter,” Werner said. “Whether that be in the cages, mechanically, or my approach in the game mid at-bat. He taught me how to prepare in the cages the right way and how to bring that into the game and apply it to be successful on the field.”
Others to reap the benefits of the Earley effect include Ryan Targac (.294/.430/.569, 9 doubles, 2 triples, 15 home runs and 58 RBI) and Jordan Thompson (.258/.400/.475, 8 doubles, 6 home runs and 31 RBI).
Earley also worked wonders on last year’s transfer class. Dylan Rock, who hit 18 home runs in four years at UTSA, posted career-best on-base percentage and slugging percentage numbers while walloping 19 dingers in his last collegiate ride. Hawaii-transfer Kole Kaler filled a huge gap at shortstop and got on base by any means necessary, drawing 53 walks and posting a .376 on-base percentage. Oregon State-transfer Troy Claunch had doubled his runs total from the four prior seasons and registered career highs for doubles (15) and RBI (49).
As much of an impact as he had on his new students, a prior relationship played a key role in A&M surging in 2022 – Earley and Jack Moss reuniting in Aggieland. Earley mentored Moss at Arizona State as a freshman in 2021 when he hit .299 with nine doubles, six home runs and 29 RBI. Earley played a big role in the Englewood, Colorado, native transferring to Texas A&M.
Moss was key in getting teammates to buy into what Earley, one of the top hitting coaches in the nation, was teaching.
“We left a program we both loved came here and were ‘all in’,” Earley said. “He was very instrumental in my coaching last year. He gained a lot of trust from the guys early on last year. That helped me get my message out. He already had me as a coach for a year and had done a lot of the stuff we would be doing. Him being here was probably a bigger help for me than I was for him.”
Moss saw huge gains in his offense, leading the SEC in hits (103) and ranking second in batting average (.380). This season, he enters the fray as a Preseason All-American.
In 2023, the Aggies welcome another former Sun Devil who has worked with Earley. Hunter Haas reunites with Moss and is expected to be a vital part of the A&M infield. For Haas, his numbers at the plate took a hit similar to how A&M’s batters improved with his arrival. In 2021, under the tutelage of Earley, Haas hit .304 with 15 doubles and two home runs. Last year with Earley in Aggieland, he hit .186 with three two-baggers.
“He (Earley) is as big of a mentor as anyone I have ever had,” Moss said. “Being around him every day, he has become a friend as well as a coach. He has seen me mature into a man, and not a lot of people can say that outside of my family. He is the best coach in the country, and I’ll stand by that.”
As someone who cherishes the relationships that are built by collegiate coaches, Earley has a mutual admiration for Moss and what he’s accomplished.
“He’s one of those players that I will always be friends with just because we have kind of did a lot of this together,” Earley said. “We’ve gotten to experience this together. Jack’s one of a kind. I’m not sure I’ll ever have a guy quite like Jack. If I do, I’ve hit the lottery. There is nothing fake about him. He’s just a good dude and a good person.”
The key to Earley’s success is his ability to treat players as individuals. He custom fits his mentoring to fit the needs of each of the Aggies. By personalizing his instruction, he builds relationships and trust with the players.
“His strength is his ability to connect with you on a deeper level,” Bost said. “He is not just your coach. You can trust him. Anything Coach Earley says I am all in for it.”
Offensively, the wheels were off the wagon in recent years, but in 2022 the Maroon Nine turned back into the juggernaut that fans in Aggieland craved. In his first year coaching the hitters, the Aggies ranked second in the SEC in batting average (.289), hits (637) and walks (351); third in on-base percentage (.398) and fourth in runs (474).
The numbers weren’t a fluke bolstered by a weak non-conference slate. In the 30-game SEC schedule, the Aggies led the conference in batting average (.290), runs (233), hits (311), doubles (59), triples (78), RBI (221), walks (172) and on-base percentage (.398).
“He is to be credited for a majority of it,” Schlossnagle said. “If you don’t have players with the ability to execute what you are trying to do from an offensive standpoint, it doesn’t matter what play you put on. For us to have the guys who have their swings and their approaches in the right spot, that allows the offense to run. It can’t work the other way.”
In all his years of hiring staffs, Schlossnagle has nearly always leaned on hiring coaches he had prior relationship. When he was working the phones to build out the staff for his first year in Aggieland, Earley was an intriguing suggestion.
“I keep a running list of potential assistant coaches when I run across somebody, I think would be an excellent coach,” Schlossnagle said. “He wasn’t really on that list. I got a phone call from Tracy Smith (current head coach at Michigan) who used to be the head coach at Arizona State. He has been a friend for a long time and someone I respect. He said I’d be foolish if I don’t talk to this guy.”
Schlossnagle did his research. It included talking to former TCU star Matt Carpenter, an old teammate of Nolan Arenado who Earley worked with as an offseason hitting coach. After a phone call with Arenado, who gave Earley a glowing recommendation, Schlossnagle knew he had his man.
“It was a tough choice because I like to hire people I have a relationship with,” Schlossnagle said. “But it was an easy decision because he was super impressive. I loved his mentality. I loved his background. I loved his toughness. And I thought he was going to be different than the other guys on my staff which I think is important. It’s good to have diversity in terms of age and mentality. Obviously, it worked out great. He has just been impressive way beyond whatever I thought it could be.”
Heading into coaching, Earley was no stranger to hitting. He was an All-Big Ten performer at Indiana. In 2010, he batted .352 with 13 home runs and was the only player in the conference to rack up double-digits in home runs and stolen bases. He was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 29th round of the 2010 MLB Draft and played six seasons of minor league ball, reaching Triple-A.
It was in college where he grew his love of the process of hitting.
“I was always trying to figure out why I, personally, couldn’t do certain things at the plate,” Earley said. “I had a couple really good coaches. I had a hitting coach, a guy I grew up with, that I really liked, and then a guy in professional baseball. I have wanted to be a college coach in general since my sophomore year of college. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve got lucky enough to be able to kind of live that out.”
Like in Aggieland, Earley made an immediate impact in his first season on staff at Arizona State. The Sun Devils improved in every offensive statistical category from 2017 to 2018. In 2019, ASU led the nation in home runs during the regular season, clubbing 92 dingers.
In the 2020 MLB Draft, four of Earley’s hitters were selected as Arizona State was the only school in the country to boast five players chosen in the shortened, five-round draft. Spencer Torkelson was the No. 1 overall pick of the draft by the Detroit Tigers becoming the first third baseman selected No. 1 overall since 1998. In addition to Torkelson, the picks included Alika Williams (37th overall – Tampa Bay Rays), Trevor Hauver (99th overall – New York Yankees) and Gage Workman (102nd overall – Detroit Tigers).
“I would not be where I am today without Coach Earley,” Torkelson said prior to his MLB debut in 2022. “He is the definition of winner. His hard work and dedication to the game of baseball is contagious.”
Much like the players he counsels, Earley is always learning about hitting and improving his craft.
“Every day I try to learn from other coaches,” Earley said. “I don’t know it all, trust me, if I knew it all we’d hit .500, but that’s not the case. You try to learn as much as you can. You want to be progressive, but don’t be too progressive too quickly. You don’t want to deviate. You always want to be consistent with the big picture, but have a slow process to ramp things up with the new things you are learning.”
Despite the resounding success in year one, Earley knows year two will offer a challenge equally as weighty. Many of the key components from 2022 return, including Bost, Minnich, Moss, Targac and Werner. But the Aggies will need them to approach or surpass last year’s output while finding players to replace the likes of Claunch, Kaler and Rock.
“I think every team is different, every guy is different,” Earley said. “Just because a guy had a good year last year doesn’t mean he will this year and vice versa. I think the difference this year is we have expectations that we didn’t have last year. We’re not surprising anyone this year. I think what we have to do is just stick to our core principles of how we play our offense and how we hit.”
If the 2023 Aggies take to Earley’s teaching like the 2022 squad, the runs should just keep on coming.
