Garrett Michel's 2025 preseason media availability

BLACKSBURG – Limited to nine games during the 2024 season due to a wrist injury, Virginia Tech junior infielder Garrett Michel – a 2023 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American - has gained deeper admiration and perspective on the game of baseball during his return to the diamond.

On Wednesday, Michel spoke to members of the media, addressing his return to baseball from injury, his embracing of leadership around the Hokies' clubhouse and what stands out to him about the 2025 team.

Read through Michel's Feb. 12 media availabiltiy below or click here for the complete transcription.

On being one of four starting position players returning in 2025 and what a bigger role can entail ...

“Yeah, I just hope to be a leader on the field and just kind of, I guess lead by example. We’re going to have a lot of younger guys in there and just hopefully make everybody feel comfortable on the field and playing at their best, playing loose. I think when we do that, we’ll have the results to show for it.”

On the mental burden of watching the 2024 season without being on the field ...

“Yeah I mean, it stunk not being able to play. You work all fall and all of January in preparation for the season. I mean nine games in, the weekend right before ACC play, it kind of felt like it was stripped from me, in a way. But like, you can’t exit the situation that you’re in. So, I tried to make the most of it, [I] rehabbed. [I tried to be] like an impact off the field, in the dugout, in the locker room and stuff like that, to have our guys still go out there and perform to the best of their ability.”

On his biggest goal for the 2025 season ...

“I would say back to like the leadership thing, like after losing last year, it kind of just makes me enjoy the game a lot more. Like, it was stripped from me. So like, I grew a deeper, deeper love for the game and I just hope to be the biggest leader on the team. Just leading by example with the way I play the game and I think when I do that, the results will kind of take care of themselves.”

On what sticks out about the composition of Virginia Tech’s 2025 team ...

“I think, we have more new guys than we do returners. And like, people might look at that in a bad way, but I mean, I love it. Like, because we got guys that are experienced with college and we have some very talented freshmen that are going to come in right away and impact this team. A lot of guys like aren’t really known to the public eye like, to be honest, I like it that way. We need guys to be able to sneak up on people and perform at the highest level. We got some really good pitching, some really good offense that came in through the portal and they’re going to help us out big time. I don’t think people realize that yet.”

On what part of his game has improved the most heading into the 2025 season ...

“I think [I improved] both mentally and physically. Like mentally, just kind of enjoying being able to be out there and I feel like my freshman year and a little bit last year, the failures that I had kind of would carry a little bit longer than they should have. Like, on the field, whether it was carrying at-bats to defense or stuff like that. I think I’ve gotten a lot better at that, just kind of leaving it at the plate, leaving it [on] defense and just being able to try and help my team in any way, shape or form. But I mean, I’m always working, like offensively [or] defensively. I mean, I felt like I got a little bit quicker just because during the period where I broke my wrist, that’s all I could do is run. Like, I wasn’t able to lift and do all the things that I truly wanted to do and running was kind of like the only thing I was able to [do]. Seth Diters, our lift coach last year, was able to just kind of spend one-on-one time with me and that kind of just grew my speed. I feel like maybe I can steal a couple bags and be the element of surprise to some people.”

On what makes him think Virginia Tech will shock a lot of people in 2025 ...

“I think, just like the different kind of players we got this year. Like I said, we have a ton of people from the portal that not many people know about. Whether it’s like David Lewis, from North Greenville, or just people like Brendan Yagesh and [players] like that. Treyson Hughes, Jackson Cherry, like people don’t I guess put enough appreciation to what we got through the portal and even like the freshman class and I think people have us low in the rankings and I mean, granted the last two years we haven’t had like a ton of success, so we haven’t really earned that ranking. But to be honest, I like being ranked lower. Like, the rankings don’t matter. If you look back at any of the preseason rankings the past 10 years, none of them are accurate because it’s all guesses. We’re going to go out there. We’re going to play our best baseball and let the results kind of take care of themselves.”

On how important it was to play in the 2024 Cape Cod Baseball League during his return from injury ...

“Yeah, I mean it was huge. I wanted to play in the Cape. Like, it was kind of a conversation whether I should have started somewhere else and then kind of moved up once I got comfortable, but like, I truly wanted to be at the Cape. Like, it’s the best of the best. I wanted to put myself in that environment, even though I knew it was going to be tough. Like, I struggled right away. Like, the first 50 at-bats were a grind because I hadn’t seen live pitching, I’m up there facing 96-97 [miles per hour], stuff like that. So, it was tough, but I felt like I grew a lot as a person and as a player, because like I had to handle the failure. There was a lot more failure probably than I am used to. But I mean, I think it helped me a lot more mentally than anything. But, I was able to work through it and felt really good about the summer I had.”

On what the identity of the 2025 Virginia Tech team is ...

“I’m like super-duper excited about this year. I think it’s going to be a great year and like, we kind of just handle what we can control. Like, if we go out there and do it to the best of our abilities, like we’ll be just fine. I don’t think there’s anything we need to change. We just need to be able to go out there, relax, control ourselves and the environment that we’re in and just be able to take it kind of one day at a time. Whether it’s like a bad game, or we don’t have the success that we want to, like you have two more that weekend that you’re able to capitalize on and still win the series.”