Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Saluki Baseball Conversation | Michael Baird
09/21/2017 | 11:11:00 | Baseball
Over the last two years, the Salukis have won nearly 70 percent of their games started by Michael Baird. He was named All-MVC after a league-leading 1.76 ERA in 2016. Now a senior, he has a chance to break into the SIU record books during the season. We sat down with the senior righty to talk about the upcoming 2018 season, the MLB Draft, his advice for young pitchers and more.Â
What have you been up to all summer?
The first thing I did was step away from baseball. I spent all year intensely focused on one thing, so the first thing I did was take two weeks of just breathing. I still got after it with the weights, but I needed to step away from the game a little bit. You need that sometimes. Other than that, the summer was about getting my arm in the best shape possible. I tried to get the best body fat percentage of my life. Every aspect—sprints, weight lifting, arm strength, eating right—that was my summer. I came back a week-and-a-half early to get settled in, and now we're back at it.Â
You spent the last half of the 2017 season battling an injury. Are you recovered from that?
Absolutely. I'm 100 percent. They called it a minor strain in my armpit, where my bicep tendon connected. When I threw in the conference tournament, I felt pretty dang good. I haven't felt anything since. I still have some PT stuff I'm doing, but it's feeling great right now. I'm excited.
Were you disappointed with not being drafted?
Not really disappointed. I don't know how to describe it. I texted congratulations to one of my buddies, David Peterson, who was drafted in the first round by the Mets. He text back, "I can't wait for your name to be called." People were saying there's a 99 percent chance I would be drafted. I was trying to keep a level head over it, but friends and family were texting me about it. I guess it was a little bit of a let down, but I'm a big believer that the Lord needs me where He needs me. I guess there's a reason He had me come back to SIU, and maybe it's to help out the younger guys, and maybe it's to win a conference championship. Obviously, I try to work hard. There's always next year. But I'm focused on being the best I can for this season, and that's it.Â
After starting on the weekend for two years, you'll presumably start on Friday nights this year. Are you excited about that possibility?
It will be different. The last two years, I have loved throwing after Chad (Whitmer, who was drafted in the 10th round by the New York Yankees). Chad and I are very similar pitchers. He went in front of me and set it up. I watched how he attacked them. If it worked well, then I would do the exact same thing. If he maybe got roughed up a little bit, I talked with him and Coach Fin about what we could adjust. But going into this season, there's probably no better feeling that throwing on Friday nights under the lights. I haven't done that since I was a freshman coming out of the bullpen. To maybe have that opportunity as the Friday guy this year, it's a big role but that's what I've been working towards. Since I committed to SIU, I've wanted to be the Friday guy at some point. It's exciting.
What are your impressions of this year's team?
We lost a bunch of guys. We lost four guys to the MLB Draft. Now everyone thinks that since we lost some big names that we won't be a great team. But after seeing some of these new guys, I'm excited. We're young, and I remember my freshman year when we had 27 underclassmen. I know how experience can really help out. But looking at our team, I think we're going to shock people. Obviously, you have to wait until the season starts. Anything can happen, but we definitely have a shot to be as good as last year, and hopefully even better.Â
How would you evaluate the young pitchers?
There's a lot of talent. A lot of it will come down to the sophomore class. I remember when I was a freshman--Ryan (Netemeyer), Coach Fin and I always joke about how horrible we were for the first half of the year. It took us a while to slow the game down, but look at us now. We have big roles on this team. Those younger guys are beyond talented. Now they have a grasp of the speed of the game, and they work their butts off. If they make a jump, it's going to be a fun season.
How did upperclassmen help you as a freshman? And how can you take that into helping the freshman and sophomores now?
Everybody helped me—Anthony Shimkus, Connor McFadden, Kyle Pruemer, and Aaron Hauge, to name a few. Aaron was our Friday guy, and it meant a lot that when I asked questions, he was open and adaptive to giving me advice. The fact that he took time out of his day to help me, I took a lot from that. Now I'm supposed to be the Friday guy. If guys ask questions, I can tell them drills I've done to help with that problem. I try to guide them a little bit, but I also have a lot of room to grow.Â
What are the goals for your senior year?Â
This is my last guaranteed year of baseball. My only goals are to win some games and have some fun. With the draft, I'm not even stressed about it because now we know how it can not happen. I'm not going to worry about that at all. I'll get my degree. I've had the chance to be a D-I baseball player and get my degree. At the end of the day, I'll have my degree and the memories from my four years here. If that's the worse case scenario, I'm pretty blessed.
Â
What have you been up to all summer?
The first thing I did was step away from baseball. I spent all year intensely focused on one thing, so the first thing I did was take two weeks of just breathing. I still got after it with the weights, but I needed to step away from the game a little bit. You need that sometimes. Other than that, the summer was about getting my arm in the best shape possible. I tried to get the best body fat percentage of my life. Every aspect—sprints, weight lifting, arm strength, eating right—that was my summer. I came back a week-and-a-half early to get settled in, and now we're back at it.Â
You spent the last half of the 2017 season battling an injury. Are you recovered from that?
Absolutely. I'm 100 percent. They called it a minor strain in my armpit, where my bicep tendon connected. When I threw in the conference tournament, I felt pretty dang good. I haven't felt anything since. I still have some PT stuff I'm doing, but it's feeling great right now. I'm excited.
Were you disappointed with not being drafted?
Not really disappointed. I don't know how to describe it. I texted congratulations to one of my buddies, David Peterson, who was drafted in the first round by the Mets. He text back, "I can't wait for your name to be called." People were saying there's a 99 percent chance I would be drafted. I was trying to keep a level head over it, but friends and family were texting me about it. I guess it was a little bit of a let down, but I'm a big believer that the Lord needs me where He needs me. I guess there's a reason He had me come back to SIU, and maybe it's to help out the younger guys, and maybe it's to win a conference championship. Obviously, I try to work hard. There's always next year. But I'm focused on being the best I can for this season, and that's it.Â
After starting on the weekend for two years, you'll presumably start on Friday nights this year. Are you excited about that possibility?
It will be different. The last two years, I have loved throwing after Chad (Whitmer, who was drafted in the 10th round by the New York Yankees). Chad and I are very similar pitchers. He went in front of me and set it up. I watched how he attacked them. If it worked well, then I would do the exact same thing. If he maybe got roughed up a little bit, I talked with him and Coach Fin about what we could adjust. But going into this season, there's probably no better feeling that throwing on Friday nights under the lights. I haven't done that since I was a freshman coming out of the bullpen. To maybe have that opportunity as the Friday guy this year, it's a big role but that's what I've been working towards. Since I committed to SIU, I've wanted to be the Friday guy at some point. It's exciting.
What are your impressions of this year's team?
We lost a bunch of guys. We lost four guys to the MLB Draft. Now everyone thinks that since we lost some big names that we won't be a great team. But after seeing some of these new guys, I'm excited. We're young, and I remember my freshman year when we had 27 underclassmen. I know how experience can really help out. But looking at our team, I think we're going to shock people. Obviously, you have to wait until the season starts. Anything can happen, but we definitely have a shot to be as good as last year, and hopefully even better.Â
How would you evaluate the young pitchers?
There's a lot of talent. A lot of it will come down to the sophomore class. I remember when I was a freshman--Ryan (Netemeyer), Coach Fin and I always joke about how horrible we were for the first half of the year. It took us a while to slow the game down, but look at us now. We have big roles on this team. Those younger guys are beyond talented. Now they have a grasp of the speed of the game, and they work their butts off. If they make a jump, it's going to be a fun season.
How did upperclassmen help you as a freshman? And how can you take that into helping the freshman and sophomores now?
Everybody helped me—Anthony Shimkus, Connor McFadden, Kyle Pruemer, and Aaron Hauge, to name a few. Aaron was our Friday guy, and it meant a lot that when I asked questions, he was open and adaptive to giving me advice. The fact that he took time out of his day to help me, I took a lot from that. Now I'm supposed to be the Friday guy. If guys ask questions, I can tell them drills I've done to help with that problem. I try to guide them a little bit, but I also have a lot of room to grow.Â
What are the goals for your senior year?Â
This is my last guaranteed year of baseball. My only goals are to win some games and have some fun. With the draft, I'm not even stressed about it because now we know how it can not happen. I'm not going to worry about that at all. I'll get my degree. I've had the chance to be a D-I baseball player and get my degree. At the end of the day, I'll have my degree and the memories from my four years here. If that's the worse case scenario, I'm pretty blessed.
Â
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