TRANSCRIPTION 🔗
00:00:27
Speaker 1: With the first pick, Welcome back, folks. We've got another episode of On the Clock brought to you by the College Baseball Show and Just Baseball Media. Joined today by Trent Grinlinger from Tennessee Volunteers. How we doing, Trent?
00:00:41
Speaker 2: I'm doing good. Thank you for having me on the show.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, excited to talk baseball with you, man. It's getting to be that fun time in the fall where we get going here and, you know, crushed your freshman year, right? Doing 345, 414, 572, eight home runs and 29 RBIs, allowing you to be SEC freshman all-team there. What's it like to like step into a role immediately with the Tennessee Volunteers last year?
00:01:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously, you know, it was a lot of fun.
00:01:05
Speaker 3: We had a great team and just good vibes all around. But, you know, it took me a minute to get in there and kind of, you know, plant my flag. Like, I want to, you know, I'm here to play and I'm here to stay. But, you know, just the whole process was fun. You know, starting off, obviously, the first few games, first SEC games are exciting, like, you know, getting used to it all. And obviously, you know, my first time playing college baseball, so it's all new to me. But just kind of taking that like slow, slow trip to it all. I'm just getting used to it. You know, first few months of the season, kind of not really playing, you know, just doing my best to help the team win in any way. And then once getting on there, same kind of thing, just trying to help the team win.
00:01:41
Speaker 1: Yeah. You know why Tennessee being a West coast guy coming from Huntington beach, California, I'm a West coast guy. I'm up here in the Pacific Northwest band, but like love Tennessee baseball. Was it just a decision? You're like, Hey, this is the best fit for me. Or I've always wanted to go to Tennessee.
00:01:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I always kind of wanted to play. Obviously, Southeastern Conference, you hear all about it.
00:01:58
Speaker 2: It's some of the best baseball there is.
00:02:00
Speaker 3: I felt like it would get me the most prepared for what my dream is to be in the MLB. And then I took my visit here, and I fell in love immediately. Obviously, the coaching staff is amazing. Elander is a great coach, has a great background with catchers and just hitters as well.
00:02:15
Speaker 2: But also, watching them play.
00:02:17
Speaker 3: Growing up, obviously, everybody loves to watch the Tennessee Vols.
00:02:20
Speaker 2: So it was just a great fit.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: Next stepping into that role, you know, trying to be the next great Tennessee catcher here. Our, our intern Caden was at the conference there with coach Elander and asked about, you know, guys move around this fall. And he was very jokingly, but said, Trent's not going anywhere with catcher moving around. How's it been to be like that stability, be like, I'm going to be the catcher for this team. And then also senior
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other, you know, teammates and friends getting to move around and do a bunch of different stuff in the fall here.
00:02:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been awesome. I'm catching, you know, is what I love to do, but I'm also here to help the team win.
00:02:50
Speaker 3: So, you know, if I need to move around a little bit, I will, but, it is awesome to see everybody kind of moving around. We're having a lot of fun doing it. So it's cool to see guys not being selfish. You know, they, everybody wants to play, you know, they're, they're very, their favorite position, but it's cool to see guys wanting to move around and, you know, what's best for the team. So.
00:03:07
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I mean, you got to have that teamwork being like, Hey, do whatever it takes to win.
00:03:11
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:03:12
Speaker 1: Speaking of what does success look for? Like for the volunteers here in 2027, man.
00:03:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we bring a great group of guys coming back, our great core from last year. And then you add in one of the top transfer classes and one of the top freshman classes. I mean, we're gelling like crazy right now. We're all having a lot of fun. You know, practices are starting to kick up. Scrimmages are starting. So it's good to see everybody, you know, compete in because, I mean, that's what we're here to do, compete and win. So it's cool to see all the guys competing together.
00:03:38
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Obviously, being the catcher, you get to work with all the pitchers, man. So what's been like the surprise of the fall so far? You're like not a lot of practice in yet, but you've been seeing some guys. Tell me a little bit about the arms.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: You got, man. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's a loaded class. Some of the freshmen we have are unbelievably talented. I mean, compared to just some of the guys last year and I mean, some of the transfers as well, it's an unbelievable group of arms and Austin, our new pitching coach, he's an awesome guy. He's been doing a great job with the pitchers and all the pitchers, you know, they're, they're super friendly.
00:04:05
Speaker 2: Everybody gets along well, but yeah, I mean, it's an unbelievable group of arms.
00:04:09
Speaker 3: I mean, just, based off these first few scrimmages, it's like, I mean, every time I see my name next to one of these guys, it's like, all right, this is going to be tough at bat.
00:04:15
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's been good. It's been fun.
00:04:18
Speaker 1: Yeah. All the reports and everything I've seen so far. I'm like, man, this is an arm class.
00:04:21
Speaker 2: I love what you guys have there.
00:04:22
Speaker 3: Yeah. We just have guys rolling out that are throwing 98. I'm like, where did that come from? Just four pitches for strikes. So yeah, it's been, it's been fun for sure.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's going to be very, very exciting there. Tell me a little bit about what it's like to play at Lindsay Nelson in front of that crowd on like
a Friday night, man, in conference. Like that's gotta be just, exciting.
00:04:41
Speaker 3: Yeah there's there's nothing like it um they pack the house they bring all the energy um i mean it's awesome when they show up and show out but yeah i mean under the lights friday night sec play that you really can't compare it to anything it's awesome you know we score run hit a home run you know rocky stop starts playing all the fans start going crazy it's it's an unreal feeling.
00:05:00
Speaker 1: Yeah that crowd has gotten bigger every single year it seems like they're 100 bought into baseball and i love the transformation that we've seen over my lifetime watching college baseball And then for you guys, I mean, it's just got to be just something else to see all these fans coming out.
00:05:13
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, it's amazing.
00:05:15
Speaker 1: So you mentioned, you know, Coach Elander, really good with catchers, knows what he's doing, knows how to get those guys to the next level. Talk to me just a little bit about your development with Elander and how that relationship has kind of built over the last year.
00:05:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, he always tells us it's our show in the box. That's my biggest thing.
00:05:30
Speaker 2: I've gotten from him. Just, you know, when I'm up there, it's about me. It's about what the team needs.
00:05:34
Speaker 3: So, But just like going, coming in as a freshman and we were, he didn't really tweak anything with me. I mean, he's kind of just lets us be who we are. And then if we have questions to go up to him. So it's kind of like that, that freedom element that I really liked about it. But then he also brings in Chuck Duraliman, who was obviously had a lot of success at Florida.
00:05:49
Speaker 2: So you bring those two together.
00:05:50
Speaker 3: And I mean, the, just the hitting drills we do, we, I think we take more swings than anybody in the country. And I mean, just the hitting prep, the prep is a huge thing for me. So like, I remember last year we were facing a Volantis from Texas and, He's got that high release, and we set up spin balls on the field on some chairs to emulate that release site.
00:06:07
Speaker 2: It almost made the pitch exactly identical.
00:06:11
Speaker 3: Just the preparation they have and they give to you before you're at bat, it just gives you a lot of confidence going in there.
00:06:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's got to be awesome just to have guys with that much experience and knowledge of what it takes to be successful at this level. speaking of you know preparation all that stuff goes into it do you have anybody like you emulate in your game like anybody from the mlb levels or anybody you like grew up going hey man i want to be that or that's kind of the style i want to.
00:06:32
Speaker 3: Have yeah just as a righty hitter i've always loved watching mike trout you know i loved watching him play growing up but um i mean i love watching him hit and i love watching junior cameron arrow hit um so those two guys you know i try to emulate a little bit um obviously they have some different setups and stuff but you know, trout kind of hits up tall like me. And then junior Cameron arrows got like that looser swing and that, that looser, just like easy power. So try to emulate a little bit of both of their parts of the game, but I just love watching those two guys.
00:06:59
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:07:00
Speaker 1: Those are two phenomenal hitters. So if you're going to take some right-handed swings, like that's pretty good. Oh yeah. I, I was laughing. I was like, you know, this, maybe I'm a little bit older and I like Manny Ramirez felt like a little bit of right-hand swing.
00:07:11
Speaker 2: That you have.
00:07:11
Speaker 1: I was like, that feels like a smooth right-handed swing, tall standup. So I love that, man. Yeah.
00:07:17
Speaker 3: Trent.
00:07:18
Speaker 1: Baseball's big. We're all baseball guys. We want to do this, but what do you do outside of baseball, man?
00:07:24
Speaker 2: Yeah.
00:07:24
Speaker 3: So getting into golf recently, a bunch of my roommates go. So we've been doing that a little bit. And I mean, that's, that's a ton of fun. I'm not very good, but I kind of just go out there for fun.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: And I mean, it's, it's good.
00:07:35
Speaker 3: Like on an off day, you know, on a Saturday, kind of get up early on, get up early and just, you know, go golf for a few hours and then kind of have the rest of the day to chill. But I mean, huge into golf and then back home, I love the beach and stuff. So when I go back home, for break and stuff like that. I'll go to the beach and hang out with friends. But I mean, out here, it's kind of just golf, watching football, go to the football games and just, just hang out with my friends.
00:07:55
Speaker 1: More frustrating striking out at her double bogey.
00:07:59
Speaker 3: At this point, striking out, I'm not good at golf to where I really care about it right now.
00:08:04
Speaker 1: Fair enough. Fair enough. I live up here in the Northwest, but I live up in the mountains here in Bend, Oregon. And so I have golf. I have ridiculous golf courses. I've been learning to golf. So now I'm down to a single digit handicap. So, I'm like you. I'm taking on the game here a little bit more.
00:08:17
Speaker 2: There you go.
00:08:18
Speaker 1: Loving it, man. You know, you guys have a little bit of free time in college, right? It's not a ton of free time there. What do you guys do, you know, when you guys have some time with your teammates? Do you guys get to go enjoy yourself? Do you get to relax? Like, obviously golf, but is there anything else you guys go out and do that's like a Tennessee thing?
00:08:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we have this pool a bunch of the guys live in.
00:08:37
Speaker 3: I mean, it's pretty close off campus. But, I mean, on Fridays or on the weekends, we all get together and, you know, go hang out at the pool. just kind of float
around it's a lazy river so we kind of just float around you know talk it up and just and just bond a little bit together.
00:08:51
Speaker 1: Love that love that what do we see is the biggest improvement this year from last year's team which was very good uh didn't reach the ultimate goal that you guys are hoping for every year to get to omaha what does this team do to get there to get to.
00:09:03
Speaker 3: Omaha yeah i think we just have a lot of experience you know last year you could say that we were a younger team this year i mean we're a pretty older team we have a lot of guys that you know, our experience. We have a lot of our captains like Reese stone grimmer who, you know, made it to Omaha one in Omaha and they're back for their fourth and fifth year.
00:09:17
Speaker 2: So you mix those together.
00:09:19
Speaker 3: And then obviously, like I've mentioned, you know, the transfer class and freshman class and just the way the coaches have bonded us together and, you know, our goals to win it all.
00:09:26
Speaker 2: So just having that be from a day one, but yeah, I mean, I think, I think we have a chance to do it all.
00:09:33
Speaker 1: Love that. Love that. All right. Some fun ones here. Who's the most fun in the locker room. Who's the guy that you're like, yeah, that guy's having a blast.
00:09:41
Speaker 2: I think right now it's Mario. Mario Shrivella. He's a transfer. So, you know, his English is a little broken.
00:09:48
Speaker 3: But I mean, he always has he's always bringing a smile.
00:09:50
Speaker 2: He's always making me laugh. So he's fun to be around for sure.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: Love that. Who's the grinder? Who's the guy that's like there every morning before you get there? And who's the guy who's staying late every night?
00:10:00
Speaker 3: Yeah i'm definitely gonna say stone lawless senior catcher um i mean he's one of the hardest workers i know um you know he's taught me a lot he's been my mentor so um i'd say stone.
00:10:10
Speaker 1: For sure love that love that speaking of mentoring now you got all these freshman arms we talked about that Is there anything that you're kind of like, you know, putting in their ear early here to kind of give them an idea of like, this is what SEC baseball is about. This is what it's going to be when we get here to the spring.
00:10:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, the biggest thing is, you know, for the freshmen, but also some of the transfers that haven't played in this league that throw hard. You know, a lot of these guys come from high school where they can kind of just groove in 95 and it's not going to get hit. But, you know, in this league, you know, you throw 95 down the middle, it's going to get hit and it's going to get hit far. So. um aka Austin and I our pitching coach has been doing a great job of like every bullpen we know we communicate with the guys right after even when I'm after I'm done hitting off them or catching them in the scrimmages I'm talking to the hitter talking to the pitchers and just kind of letting them know what I see and what I feel could help them out and you know it's also they're giving us uh you know feedback as well so when we're catching the bullpens they're like you know if you could stick this pitch a little bit better or stuff like that so it's just a good relationship we give communication back and forth and you know No one's getting angry at each other. We all know we're trying to make each other better. So it's just a really good dynamic we have.
00:11:09
Speaker 2: Going right now.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, got to love the positive feedback and being able to tell guys, hey, this is where you got to be to be at that next level. And the guys that take that in and say, I want to be better. I'm okay with taking this criticism. That makes you just a better team. So I love hearing that early, man. What's something that you worked on this offseason to get yourself ready for this season to say, hey, I want to be that next level. I want to be that next guy. I want to compete for an SEC title. I want to be an SEC player of the year kind of candidate.
00:11:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely my catching, my defense. You know, last year DH didn't catch it really at all.
00:11:38
Speaker 2: I caught a few midweeks. But this summer, you know, going out and trying to prove that I could catch.
00:11:42
Speaker 3: And obviously this fall as well, just getting in the best shape I can, you know, to catch the whole season and be prepared for what's after that. So definitely my catching, but also, you know, making some minor tweaks here and there, hitting with an approach and stuff like that.
00:11:55
Speaker 1: Love that.
00:11:56
Speaker 2: Love that.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: What do you want to tell the Tennessee Volunteer fans as we head into the 2027 season? I know we're early fall, but they've been showing up in droves already.
00:12:04
Speaker 2: Yeah. Let them know that we have a great team. I'm here. I want to compete.
00:12:08
Speaker 3: I want to win a national championship. So, you know, I'm going to give my all for Tennessee and I think this is the team to do it. So I love those flights to Omaha.
00:12:15
Speaker 2: There we go.
00:12:15
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward. I mean, I got, I got one Tennessee hat.
00:12:18
Speaker 2: I need more.
00:12:19
Speaker 1: I need the orange.
00:12:20
Speaker 2: I need the white one.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: But we're starting to build it up on the hat wall here. So appreciate you coming on Trent and talking baseball anytime. Hopefully we can catch up again here in the spring. So look forward to seeing you play, man.
00:12:30
Speaker 2: For sure. Thank you for having me on here.
00:12:32
Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for coming on, buddy.