Greenhill ready to 'prove himself' as a starter
AUBURN | Cody Greenhill will enter his senior season with 19 career saves, just 10 shy of the Auburn record set by Finley Woodward from 1995-97.
But instead of chasing a 24-year old mark, Greenhill is planning to carve out a new path as a starter in 2021.
“Just to go out there and prove myself again,” said Greenhill of returning after his junior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Obviously this year starting is a lot different than closing. So I feel like I have a big opportunity in front of me. I’ve told some of the guys coming back that, ‘Hey, as soon as you step on campus, we’re going to get ready to work.’ Because I want my season to end in Omaha this year. And I know Steven (Williams), same way. We’ve been together and we look forward to pushing this team like they’ve never been pushed before.
“And personally, I want to do something special and give back to the Auburn community for all the support that they’ve given us. I feel like we owe it to them. And I feel like this year is a good year to do it.”
Greenhill was off to a terrific start as a junior with two saves and no earned runs allowed in 12.2 innings with 17 strikeouts and just one walk. If all had gone as planned, he would have followed up a successful spring as a top 10 round draft pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and would have already been pitching in the minors.
Instead, the MLB draft was stripped down to five rounds and Greenhill and many other top college baseball players from around the country are returning for another season.
"It shows it can be taken away like that,” said Greenhill. “I’ve been helping out with some younger kids and every time they leave I tell them, ‘Don’t take it for granted being able to get to play right now because there’s a lot of guys that would love to be playing.’”
Greenhill began his Auburn career almost exclusively featuring a fastball that can touch the mid 90s. He worked hard to add a curveball going into last season under the tutelage of new pitching coach Tim Hudson and student assistant Gregg Olson, who have over 30 years of pitching experience combined in the major leagues.
Olson, of course, was known for having one of the most devastating curveballs in the majors.
“We played around with a lot of grips, me and Gregg,” Greenhill explained. “Obviously he’s got one of the best curveballs that I’ve ever seen. So who better to learn from than the best guy that throws it? You know? We worked with moving my hand up—or my finger up—being able to get more vertical break on that.”
Greenhill may add a new pitch to his repertoire for this upcoming season, and is already taking pointers from a fellow Auburn pitcher that could join him in the starting rotation in 2021.
“I look forward to trying new things, maybe adding in a slider,” he said. “I’ve talked to — Richard Fitts has a good slider and I’ve talked to him about how he throws that. So just working on things to get better. You never need to stop learning.”
Starting won’t be a completely new experience for Greenhill who helped Russellville High School to three Class 5A state championships in four years on the mound. As a senior, he was 12-2 with a 0.74 ERA and 144 strikeouts.
In fact, Greenhill was already taking on more than a closer’s role during his four appearances in 2020, which averaged more than 3.0 innings per outing.
“I think it’s time,” Auburn coach Butch Thompson said. “We moved away from the multiple appearances on the weekend already and we had started building pitch count with him. I’m just thankful I’m going to be able to give him the ball, is what I’m thankful for, for Auburn, that we have him in play.”