Nick Mingione (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky had an amazing 2024 baseball season that ended with the Cats playing in their first College World Series. Part of what made Kentucky so good was its aggressive base running and coach Nick Mingione does not plan to change that philosophy this season.
“Guys we have brought in (new this year in the transfer portal) have over 100 stolen bases,” Mingione said. “We time our guys on stolen bases. It is a mathematical equation. We have different ways to steal bases and are doing things to try and create more (ways). We want to have at least five guys with double digit stolen bases.”
Mingione knows his aggressive coaching can lead to second guessing at times but that does not worry him.
“Easy coaching is just sitting back and doing nothing. That’s easy. I am not interested in doing that,” the Kentucky coach said. “I am interested in putting pressure on them (opponents).
“Our guys will make mistakes . As long as they are being aggressive, I am okay with it. We want them to play with brains and guts. We are dealing with 18 to 24 year olds and we want to create pressure. We are going to keep adding things to give our opponents something to think about.”
Mingione is not ignoring defense.
“Defense is crucial to us. Two years ago we led the nation in defense,” he said. “When we started in the fall we were not close to that standard but we are getting better and will continue to get better.”
