Baseball fans eager for this weekend’s home series at the CU Sports Complex were likely perplexed to awake this morning to a slushy sheet of snow around the Omaha metro area. The weather will throw a wrench into Ed Servais’ plans to stay on schedule and get his 16-5 Bluejays baseball team games against North Dakota and North Dakota State.
We caught up with Servais while he busy playing amateur weatherman ahead of what could be a wash of a weekend, baseball-wise.
White & Blue Review: Judging by the first month of the season, it seems the coaching staff is frustrated with the quality of starting pitching behind Jonas Dufak and Ty Blach. What options do you have to shore up the starting rotation?
Ed Servais We will stick with the guys in our current rotation and see if we can’t fix the issues. That will be out best option right now. I am very reluctant to mess with our bullpen right now, because I really like our set-up. Chase Webb would most likely be the first one we would look at moving up [into the rotation], but I really want to see if we can fix our starting rotation and move forward with it.
WBR: Your team’s currently in the top 50 nationally in ERA and hits allowed per nine innings. Aside from the backside of the rotation, assess your pitching staff about 20 games into the season.
ES: Jonas and Ty are as good of a one-two punch that we have had here in a while. I am extremely pleased with their progress, as they both have the ability to take us deep into games. Also, the confidence they bring to the mound really rubs off on the guys in the field. The bullpen has been great this year, and I am really happy with the progress they have made and the support they are able to provide.
WBR: Weather permitting, you’ll fit some games in this weekend against North Dakota and North Dakota State. What are you looking for from your team this weekend?
ES: I think I am mostly looking for more consistency. I think we are struggling a bit with our identity. We really need to figure out who we are and how we want to play, and stick with it. We also need to be more consistent on defense. We have had one or two breakdowns on defense, which we expect from time to time, but we need to learn from them and make adjustments.
WBR: I know it is a bit down the road, but have you noticed the team getting excited about playing in the new stadium?
ES: Well, as you know, we as a coaching staff like to take things one game at a time and not think past our next opponent. The guys on the team know this about me, as well, and have done a pretty good job of hiding their excitement from me. Off the field, though, when I am not around, I think they get pretty excited for the new park. It is tough when you can see the lights from our practice field and on-campus facility. It will be nice, and I know the guys are excited, but we will wait until we play there to discuss it much further.