An Interview with Quad Cities 2B Austin "Catfish" Elkins

I caught up with Austin Elkins when I was in Quad Cities at the end of April. Elkins is described by Hitting Coach Joel Chimelis as "a solid player, makes all the plays, has a good idea at the plate." Chimelis goes on to note that Elkins is "very aggressive towards the ball, maybe to a fault" so that's something that they're working on. Elkins is aggressive out there. The night before I spoke with him, I saw him reach base on a fielding error, advance on a bad pick-off attempt, steal third and score on a ground out. In that case, his aggressiveness paid off as he created a run out of thin air. Elkins, the Astros 19th round pick from 2012, is a high energy player who plays the game with enthusiastic abandon.

Austin Elkins - April 2013

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Here is what Elkins had to say when I talked to him (edited for brevity and clarity).

On his nickname Catfish: "The nickname … When I was about four years old, I went fishing with my best friend. I caught a little bitty perch and so when I got home my [grandfather] asked me if I caught any fish today and I told him I caught a catfish this big because that’s the only fish I knew at the time, that I caught it on my little Mickey Mouse fishing pole. The story kept getting bigger and bigger so he started calling me Catfish, and then my family started calling me Catfish, and then when I got to summer ball in high school I guess the players started hearing my parents and family calling me Catfish so they started calling me Catfish, and then it just stuck. And last year with Tri-City I think that really got it going. Now everybody’s calling me Catfish. [Do you like it?] Yeah I do. My [grandfather] passed away just over a year ago, and I guess it’s kind of a way for his legacy to live on for people to call me Catfish. So I like it a lot. The girl that I’m talking to, it would be kind of weird if she called me Catfish. I let her just stick to Austin, but for teammates and around baseball, I like it a lot."

On starting the season late: "Yeah, I got injured. I strained my oblique in Spring Training and they just wanted to get me a couple at-bats and going into Extended Spring Training, they had said probably around two weeks. I think it ended up being 12 or 13 days. I got up here as soon as I was ready and so far so good."

On being a switch-hitter: "Usually I’m more comfortable from the left side just because I think I see more righthanders than left-handers. Last year, I think my average was pretty similar but I struck out a lot more right-handed, and I think that was due to not seeing [the ball] as well and dealing with some injuries that hindered my right-handed swing, but as of right now if we were to go out and play today, I think I’d rather hit right-handed. But it’s just hit or miss each day. If I’m hitting lefty I’d probably rather be hitting right-handed and vice versa. Both swings, they feel pretty good. I think my swing's more pure from the left side but right-handed I feel like I can get it done too."

What Astros pitcher would he least like to face?: "Man, that’s a tough one. Any guy like Vince Velasquez is tough, but I feel like sometimes their strengths fit into my approach. And you might expect me to say Lance McCullers or those guys, but they’re mainly fastball/slider guys and I feel like that’s what I hit well. The changeup is what is my weakness so a guy like Brian Holmes or [Joe] Bircher who have a good changeup, those are the guys who are actually tougher but [that] you might not expect me to say right away, but probably Brian Holmes."

Who on the team makes you laugh?: "[Jesse] Wierzbicki. I can be across the room and he’s saying the most outrageous, outlandish things and he’s just got a distinct voice, but with this team basically everybody. We’ve got a great group of guys. It’s great to be around. We’ve got a good locker room mentality. Even when we lose, we're right back at it 10 minutes after the game having a good time. And I think that’s good for the course of the year to be able to bounce back from tough losses and have a good time. Bert Pena … he’s a good guy. He’s a loudmouth. He can talk with the best of them. He speaks such fast Spanish I can't understand a word he says. He’s great."

Will he ever be able to achieve the 'stache status of Michael Dimock?: "Man, I hope so. You would be surprised. This is a month. This is a whole month and it’s still … it’s better than Rio [Ruiz] and as of now it’s better than [Carlos] Correa or some of the younger guys so I’ve got them beat as of now, but I also have more time put in. Again this is just dedication. I’m going to stick with it. It might not look good now, but when I "Just for Men" it and get it a little darker, I think it’ll come around. [Are you going to dye it to make it darker?] I think so. I’m going to have to."

What would he do if he couldn't play baseball: "My dream has always been to flip houses. But if I couldn’t play baseball, that would be tough. I’d love to flip houses. I’d love to do something like that. But I don’t know, that would be tough. That’s what I want to do when I’m done, hopefully when I’m 40. I could go do that after I spent some time in the big leagues but that’s a long ways away. Hopefully I get better each day and get up there [to the bigs] someday."

Something most people don't know about him: "I love hanging out with young kids, like my cousins. I enjoy spending time with them. And I feel like that’s more of my mentality and almost my maturity level so I have a lot of fun with 14-, 15-year-olds, 16-year-olds and I can really enjoy them. I feel like I connect well with them. This kind of goes back to your [last] question on what I might do if I didn’t play baseball, maybe something in youth ministry. That would be a lot of fun."

What was his major?: "Sports management … I’m graduating this December. I went the accounting route at the beginning and then I switched a couple times. Sports management is what I ended up with. I got to my second accounting class and I found out that wasn’t for me. My teacher was great too. She was a phenomenal teacher. I just couldn’t handle it. It was too much."

What does he do for fun?: "Right now, I’m living at my host family’s house. They have a pool table and a ping-pong table and they have a 14-year-old son, and I love to play ping-pong and pool with him and whoop up on him, kind of be his bigger brother. I love listening to music and just relaxing. I’m starting to read a little bit which is not really me so I wouldn’t write that down because in about two weeks, it probably won’t be true. Talking to my friends, checking up on them, see how they’re doing ... I love keeping up with my old buddies from college and seeing how they’re doing."

What does he need to work on?: "In life, I think I need to invest more in teammates, not just in the baseball sense but in life stuff, get down with them. Everybody has garbage in their life. [I need to work on being around] for that side of their lives too and not just the baseball side. As far as baseball, I’ve been working with Ralph [Dickenson], our Hitting Coordinator, and I’ve really been working on my swing, as far as just slowing down my movements in the box just so that I can see pitches better, recognize better."

On his best qualities as a ballplayer: "My roommate in spring training, Dan Gulbransen, he says that I can kind of do it all. I don’t have anything that spectacular, but I can run a little bit, I can hit a few home runs, I can hit for a little average, I can field a little bit, I have a better arm than people would guess, but I think my best quality is I’m pretty consistent. I can get things done that a lot of people don’t get done just because their mindsets not in that. I pride myself on being a good situational hitter and doing things for the team like that. I don’t have anything that really stands out. I don’t have the pop of a Carlos Correa or the arm strength of a Carlos Correa, but I think I can bring some things to the table that might not stand out, but can get jobs done. I hope that’s one of my good qualities as I move on. I can play different positions. So far I’ve only had to really play second base and a little bit of shortstop, but I’ve played outfield in college so I’m used to the outfield. I can basically do a little bit of everything so I think that’s probably my best quality."

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

Elkins does bring a little bit of everything to the baseball field, and not just in terms of baseball skills. His energy and enthusiasm are infectious. He has a lot of fun out there. I think he is simply channeling his inner 14-year old. He hasn't forgotten that baseball is a game, after all, and it should be played with youthful abandon.