University of Minnesota Athletics
A Fresh Start: Senior Matt Loberg
4/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota senior Matt Loberg was faced with the prospect of having to make some adjustments this year after coming off a junior season in which he was 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA. Loberg’s first two season were full of success at Minnesota. As a freshman in 2002, Loberg was 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA, and even better in Big Ten play at 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA. He followed that up with a 2003 season that saw him go 4-0 with a 3.19 ERA in seven Big Ten starts. That year he earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors.
Loberg looked to be continuing his success when he started 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in non- conference play last year. However, after a few rough Big Ten starts the frustration of his struggles on the mound in conference play began to set in. After losing his spot in the Big Ten weekend rotation, and pitching in relief at the end of the year Loberg made some adjustments. The early results are very favorable, as he has started the 2005 season 3-2 with a 2.43 ERA.
“Last year I was not as connected with the team as I should have been,” said Loberg. “I took myself out of things mentally, because I was feeling sorry for myself. This offseason I sat down with our team psychologist Rick Aberman, and made a plan to develop a better mindset for this season. We talked about me being more positive and proactive in everything I do. That helped me a lot mentally heading into the season.”
Loberg’s adjustment also included some physical aspects of his game. Over the offseason he recommitted himself to his conditioning, as he lost 30 pounds to get in shape for a successful senior season. He also altered the grip on his change-up to widen the gap in velocity from his fastball and his offspeed pitches.
“We revisited his change-up heading into this season,” said Minnesota Pitching Coach Todd Oakes. “Matt (Loberg) changed from a circle change grip in which he was throwing his change-up about 80 to 82 miles per hour, to a split-fingered grip that had him throwing 74-to-78 mph. He has done a good job with the split-fingered change-up and his slider has gotten better this year. This has made him and effective three-pitch pitcher this year.”
Throughout his career, Loberg has always been a pitcher that throws a lot of strikes to hitters, and tried to get the ball in play to get outs. The fine line of throwing a lot of strikes is that hitters will always know the ball is going to be around the plate, and can sometimes have an easier time of guessing where the next pitch will be. Loberg has worked with Oakes to try to throw more “pitcher’s strikes” then “hitter’s strikes”.
“I throw a lot of strikes and get ahead of a lot of counts,” said Loberg. “However, location is something I stressed going into this season. It does not help if I am up 1-2 in the count and I throw a fastball right where the hitter is sitting on it. I want to throw strikes and get the hitters to put the ball in play to our fielders. We have good defense and I am confident they will make the plays behind me.”
“Matt is a strike-thrower,” said Oakes. “We have talked about throwing too many strikes and the difference between strikes that he wants to throw and strikes that the hitters want him to throw. The big difference when he is successful is where he is locating his strikes and he has done a good job of that this year.”
Loberg has gone into his senior season with the attitude of doing his best and having no regrets. He admits in the past that if a cheap hit or an error happened behind him it might have led to a bigger inning for the opposition. However, he has matured to the point where he just tries to worry about what he can control.
“I have learned that sometimes things will not always go my way,” said Loberg. “There might be an error or a cheap hit might drop on a good pitch. All I can really control is my pitches, and it does not help me to try to force a pitch in there after something has happened. I just need to stay within myself and continue to pitch with the same demeanor no matter what happens. We have a great lineup and a good defense and I am confident in what my teammates can do on the days I am pitching. It is up to me to set the tone and pitch a good game.”
Loberg and the coaching staff also recognize the fact that there were some good models on last year’s team, in terms of players who authored good turnarounds to their season with positive attitudes. One of the main players that Loberg points to is Jay Gagner, who started last year out of the rotation and worked his way back up to a successful season as a weekend starter.
“Jay was a good example last year,” said Loberg. “He struggled at the beginning of the year and bounced back to finish his senior season strong. His performance was really inspiring and great to see as a teammate. As a senior this year, I put it on myself to try to pitch my best every time I go out and have no regrets.”
As Minnesota heads into its first Big Ten conference series with No. 19 Michigan, Loberg has emerged as the Golden Gophers’ Friday starter early in the season after a strong start. “I think Matt has done a great job of picking himself up from a tough season and is doing all the things he needs to be successful this season,” said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. “He has come out of the blocks strong this season and pitched well for us early on the season. To this point in the season he has clearly earned the right to be our Friday starter.”
Anderson also talks about Loberg’s pitching style lends itself to the team playing better as a whole.
“I like the pace of the game when Matt pitches well,” said Anderson. “He gets the ball and keeps the game going. On defense it helps everyone else on the team be as alert as possible. When he is going well it energizes our team, and the energy becomes infectious and can carry into the dugout when we are on offense as well.”
Loberg also carries an interesting link to Minnesota baseball that helps him appreciate the experience of playing for the Golden Gopher program. Loberg’s father, Tim Loberg, played on the last Minnesota team to make the College World Series in 1977. That season Tim Loberg was fourth on the team with a .345 batting average and scored 27 runs. Matt is very appreciative of the positive influence and knowledge that his father brings to his life and on and off the field.
“We joke around a lot and talk about his playing days as a Golden Gophers,” said Matt Loberg. “I always dream about the opportunity of having the chance to play in the College World Series like my dad did, I think it would be great. He has been a big inspiration to me. He is my best friend and probably my biggest fan. He is always encouraging me and giving me advice. Probably the best advice he has given me is to stay within myself and just take things day to day no matter how things are going. That helped me last year when I was struggling, and it helps me keep things in perspective this year no matter what happens.”
Anderson talks about the marked improvement across the board for Loberg, and how it has helped him this year.
“Matt really got after it this summer,” said Anderson. “He recommitted himself and authored a new player and person in terms of his commitment to getting better. It is hard when you struggle in this game, but Matt has done a good job at searching for a better way to do things and the results speak volumes about the work he has put into it.” Baseball players will often lament that the sport is a very humbling one. At times it will seem like things are going so well that the game is easy, and other times it will seem like an uphill struggle that will never end. One of the keys to long-term success in baseball is the adjustments that a player makes throughout his career to stay one step ahead of the competition.
Minnesota senior Matt Loberg was faced with the prospect of having to make some adjustments this year after coming off a junior season in which he was 2-3 with a 6.00 ERA. Loberg’s first two season were full of success at Minnesota. As a freshman in 2002, Loberg was 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA, and even better in Big Ten play at 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA. He followed that up with a 2003 season that saw him go 4-0 with a 3.19 ERA in seven Big Ten starts. That year he earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors.
Loberg looked to be continuing his success when he started 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in non- conference play last year. However, after a few rough Big Ten starts the frustration of his struggles on the mound in conference play began to set in. After losing his spot in the Big Ten weekend rotation, and pitching in relief at the end of the year Loberg made some adjustments. The early results are very favorable, as he has started the 2005 season 3-2 with a 2.43 ERA.
“Last year I was not as connected with the team as I should have been,” said Loberg. “I took myself out of things mentally, because I was feeling sorry for myself. This offseason I sat down with our team psychologist Rick Aberman, and made a plan to develop a better mindset for this season. We talked about me being more positive and proactive in everything I do. That helped me a lot mentally heading into the season.”
Loberg’s adjustment also included some physical aspects of his game. Over the offseason he recommitted himself to his conditioning, as he lost 30 pounds to get in shape for a successful senior season. He also altered the grip on his change-up to widen the gap in velocity from his fastball and his offspeed pitches.
“We revisited his change-up heading into this season,” said Minnesota Pitching Coach Todd Oakes. “Matt (Loberg) changed from a circle change grip in which he was throwing his change-up about 80 to 82 miles per hour, to a split-fingered grip that had him throwing 74-to-78 mph. He has done a good job with the split-fingered change-up and his slider has gotten better this year. This has made him and effective three-pitch pitcher this year.”
Throughout his career, Loberg has always been a pitcher that throws a lot of strikes to hitters, and tried to get the ball in play to get outs. The fine line of throwing a lot of strikes is that hitters will always know the ball is going to be around the plate, and can sometimes have an easier time of guessing where the next pitch will be. Loberg has worked with Oakes to try to throw more “pitcher’s strikes” then “hitter’s strikes”.
“I throw a lot of strikes and get ahead of a lot of counts,” said Loberg. “However, location is something I stressed going into this season. It does not help if I am up 1-2 in the count and I throw a fastball right where the hitter is sitting on it. I want to throw strikes and get the hitters to put the ball in play to our fielders. We have good defense and I am confident they will make the plays behind me.”
“Matt is a strike-thrower,” said Oakes. “We have talked about throwing too many strikes and the difference between strikes that he wants to throw and strikes that the hitters want him to throw. The big difference when he is successful is where he is locating his strikes and he has done a good job of that this year.”
Loberg has gone into his senior season with the attitude of doing his best and having no regrets. He admits in the past that if a cheap hit or an error happened behind him it might have led to a bigger inning for the opposition. However, he has matured to the point where he just tries to worry about what he can control.
“I have learned that sometimes things will not always go my way,” said Loberg. “There might be an error or a cheap hit might drop on a good pitch. All I can really control is my pitches, and it does not help me to try to force a pitch in there after something has happened. I just need to stay within myself and continue to pitch with the same demeanor no matter what happens. We have a great lineup and a good defense and I am confident in what my teammates can do on the days I am pitching. It is up to me to set the tone and pitch a good game.”
Loberg and the coaching staff also recognize the fact that there were some good models on last year’s team, in terms of players who authored good turnarounds to their season with positive attitudes. One of the main players that Loberg points to is Jay Gagner, who started last year out of the rotation and worked his way back up to a successful season as a weekend starter.
“Jay was a good example last year,” said Loberg. “He struggled at the beginning of the year and bounced back to finish his senior season strong. His performance was really inspiring and great to see as a teammate. As a senior this year, I put it on myself to try to pitch my best every time I go out and have no regrets.”
As Minnesota heads into its first Big Ten conference series with No. 19 Michigan, Loberg has emerged as the Golden Gophers’ Friday starter early in the season after a strong start. “I think Matt has done a great job of picking himself up from a tough season and is doing all the things he needs to be successful this season,” said Minnesota Head Coach John Anderson. “He has come out of the blocks strong this season and pitched well for us early on the season. To this point in the season he has clearly earned the right to be our Friday starter.”
Anderson also talks about Loberg’s pitching style lends itself to the team playing better as a whole.
“I like the pace of the game when Matt pitches well,” said Anderson. “He gets the ball and keeps the game going. On defense it helps everyone else on the team be as alert as possible. When he is going well it energizes our team, and the energy becomes infectious and can carry into the dugout when we are on offense as well.”
Loberg also carries an interesting link to Minnesota baseball that helps him appreciate the experience of playing for the Golden Gopher program. Loberg’s father, Tim Loberg, played on the last Minnesota team to make the College World Series in 1977. That season Tim Loberg was fourth on the team with a .345 batting average and scored 27 runs. Matt is very appreciative of the positive influence and knowledge that his father brings to his life and on and off the field.
“We joke around a lot and talk about his playing days as a Golden Gophers,” said Matt Loberg. “I always dream about the opportunity of having the chance to play in the College World Series like my dad did, I think it would be great. He has been a big inspiration to me. He is my best friend and probably my biggest fan. He is always encouraging me and giving me advice. Probably the best advice he has given me is to stay within myself and just take things day to day no matter how things are going. That helped me last year when I was struggling, and it helps me keep things in perspective this year no matter what happens.”
Anderson talks about the marked improvement across the board for Loberg, and how it has helped him this year.
“Matt really got after it this summer,” said Anderson. “He recommitted himself and authored a new player and person in terms of his commitment to getting better. It is hard when you struggle in this game, but Matt has done a good job at searching for a better way to do things and the results speak volumes about the work he has put into it.”
