Mike Steele resigns, Mike Pelfrey hired

[shockfan89_]

I don't care who called it, as long as 5 months from now the WSU Baseball Coaches are Kevin Hooper and Mike Pelfrey!!! This can only be good news for WSU Baseball fans. Pelfrey and fHCGS are good friends and live VERY close to each other. They will probably be communicating daily, if not more often.

[tru2thaduce]

I’m not too sure Pelf will be an asset on the recruiting trail.Kids are drawn to personality and charisma these days and he has the personality on a door knob.

[1972Shocker]

I hope Butler doesn't think this hire will save his job because it won't. He's completely DONE. I wonder how this hire is structured and will set things up for the next HC.

I'm pretty sure HCTB knows exactly what Mile Steele's resignation and the Pelfrey hiring is all about. A transition plan would appear to be in place. Unlikely that HCTB took the lead role in hiring Pelfrey if he was given any choice or input at all. Most likely HCTB knows his time at WSU is coming to an end.

I had forgotten that Pelfrey was on the pitching staff at Newman. A fortunate set of circumstances in this situation.

The question is the rest of the plan. Is HCTB's successor already identified?

[1972Shocker]

Niicccce, as a grad asst or student asst I presume.

Unless he finished his degree work in the 1st semester this year that would seem to be the case:

Veteran major leaguer Mike Pelfrey hits the books

Pelfrey, a 12-year veteran of the MLB, is now a senior at Wichita State. He’s finishing up the bachelor’s degree in sport management that he started more than a decade ago.

“I’m the oldest kid in my classes,” he said.

He wants to finish his degree so he can focus on his second career, coaching Division I college baseball. Most programs require their coaches to have a degree.

[1972Shocker]

I’m not too sure Pelf will be an asset on the recruiting trail.Kids are drawn to personality and charisma these days and he has the personality on a door knob.

Maybe but sometimes the down-to-earth, genuine guys make as good or better of an impression than the snake oil salesmen.

Wichita State expected to name Mike Pelfrey as next pitching coach

Wichita State is expected to name Mike Pelfrey as the team’s new pitching coach, WSU officials confirmed to The Sunflower late Sunday evening.

“He’s such a down-to-earth, personable guy who genuinely cares for people,” Brent Kemnitz, WSU’s pitching coach of 38 years, said of Pelfrey. “It’s so refreshing to be around him.”

[WuDrWu]

It would appear that the administration has cleared the way for Mike to be the pitching coach and not have to juggle staff around. He'll graduate this May and that seems good enough for our AD. Anyone that's talked to Mike for more than a sentence would realize he's more intelligent than most college grads anyway.

Regardless of what the future holds, this is a great hire, not only for this team, but this program.

[1972Shocker]

WSU baseball to hire Mike Pelfrey as next pitching coach: “It’s a dream of mine”

BY TAYLOR ELDRIDGE
JANUARY 07, 2019 11:04 AM

“When I left here, I thought Wichita State was the best place in college baseball,” Pelfrey told The Eagle. “Part of me coming back wanting to coach at Wichita State is because I want these guys to think the exact same thing when they leave.

“It’s been a dream of mine to return to WSU and have the opportunity to give back to the program that has given me so much.”

[1972Shocker]

Former WSU Standout Mike Pelfrey Named Pitching Coach


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[SB Shock]

I’m not too sure Pelf will be an asset on the recruiting trail.Kids are drawn to personality and charisma these days and he has the personality on a door knob.

Idk, I heard him on the radio and he seemed to have a personality. He also seemed to have a presence in the MLB clubhouse.

[shockerfanmas]

They could hire Greg Maddux or John Smoltz or any other MLB hall of fame pitcher as the pitching coach. As long as Todd Butler is the head coach, Shocker baseball is going nowhere but down.

That being said I'm super happy for Mike Pelfrey

[Wuzee]

Except for the last three seasons, of course, when they improved from 183 to 145 to 54 in Warren Nolan. Butler may not be the guy to get us back to where we were, but your statement is just childish.

[ShockerFever]

That was some sweet cherry picking right there.

The truth hurts.

[shockerfanmas]

Fever, I honestly can't tell. Are you agreeing with me or is that a knock on me, or both? Lol

[Wuzee]

Limited experience, as he was at Newman less than one calendar year, but his pedigree won't hurt in recruiting. Probably about as good as we could do this close to the season.

[Shockerman]

I remember watching him warm up for the first time time in the bullpen his freshman year. We could hear the sharp "snap" sound the Catcher's mitt made when he threw as compared to the others in the pen with him at the time. It definitely created a buzz with the small crowd watching him throw. He was in a different league the day he stepped on campus. He will have to find those kinds of recruits if he wants to be able to coach kids to the Majors. Hopefully this means that Hoop or MS is right around the corner too.

[WuDrWu]

Great hire, period. Good luck Mike!

[XManCometh]

The Pelfrey hiring completely floored me. I thought there was no way he would leave Newman this year. He must REALLY want to get his coaching career started because there's no other reason for him to jump onto this sinking ship.

That being said, I'm excited for Mike and it's a great signing for this program.. I've been watching him play since high school and he's a wonderful human being. Even when the rest of the staff gets fired in May, he might be able to stick around with whoever the next coach is if he does well.

[OregonShocker]

Makes me wonder if he was informed of a future strategy re: coaching that lured him over.

[1972Shocker]

Limited experience, as he was at Newman less than one calendar year, but his pedigree won't hurt in recruiting. Probably about as good as we could do this close to the season.

Hopefully, he lasts as long and does as well as the last Shocker pitching coach who had very limited experience when hired. And that guy is still around to use as a sounding board.