Thaiss and Jones humbled by UVa HOF inductions

It was a few days before Thanksgiving when Matt Thaiss’ phone started buzzing. It was Brian O’Connor calling.

Thaiss, now a big leaguer with the Los Angeles Angels, couldn’t figure out why his old baseball coach at Virginia would be calling. He and O’Connor typically stuck to text messages when catching up. Thaiss didn’t realize that, five years removed from his final season at UVa, he had been added to the ballot for the baseball program’s hall of fame. He certainly didn’t expect to be getting inducted.

“I honestly had no idea that I was eligible,” Thaiss admitted. “When Oak was calling me, I had no idea that that’s what it was about. It definitely caught me by surprise.”

It has quickly become one of O’Connor’s favorite annual traditions, calling to break the news to a new class of inductees. The Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame was established in the summer of 2017, with a 15-member group serving as the inaugural induction group the following January. A total of 34 former players or coaches were elected through the hall’s first four seasons of existence.

Thaiss will be one of two players to join that exclusive list on Thursday, along with right-hander Connor Jones, who was also elected in his first year of eligibility. Those two newcomers will be inducted during a virtual ceremony Thursday night, along with the six members of the 2021 class: outfielder Steve Bryant, infielder/outfielder Mike Papi, right-handers Branden Kline and Josh Sborz and lefties Nathan Kirby and Brandon Waddell.

Kirby, Waddell and Sborz were all elected last year in their first year of eligibility, making them the first players from UVa’s 2015 NCAA championship team to join the program’s hall of fame. When Jones saw those three former teammates voted in, he did the math and realized he’d be on the ballot this year. He thought he might have a shot, but still wasn’t anticipating that call from O’Connor.

“It really didn’t settle in with me and I still don’t think it has,” Jones said. “In talking to people after that, when you think about hall of fame; forever. That’s pretty crazy to think about.”

Jones and Thaiss both passed on the opportunity to turn pro out of high school to enroll at UVa in the summer of 2013. Thaiss, a 32nd round draft pick by the Red Sox, was ranked as the top catcher and No. 3 overall player in New Jersey by Perfect Game. Jones was even more highly regarded, ranked as the top player in Virginia and the No. 17 prospect in the country in the class of 2013. Projected as a potential early-round pick, Jones told teams he’d honor his UVa commitment and slipped to the Padres in Round 21.

They arrived at UVa in the midst of a run of unprecedented success for the program—10 straight NCAA Tournaments, including four super regional appearances and two trips to the College World Series in the previous five years. As freshmen, they were reinforcements on a veteran-laden club that eventually got back to Omaha, losing the CWS Finals to Vanderbilt in three games.

“That 2014 Virginia team—and I might be a little biased—it’s gotta be one of the best college baseball teams ever assembled,” said Thaiss.

Thaiss appeared in 26 games that spring, with all 16 of his starts coming at designated hitter. Just one of his 68 at-bats came in the postseason. But he spent the year getting in better shape and honing his raw skills in anticipation of a bigger opportunity. Thaiss studied how veteran catcher Nate Irving prepared on a daily basis. He watched the way his teammates battled back after dropping the first game against Maryland to win the Charlottesville Super Regional and gutted their way to a 15-inning win against TCU in Omaha.

“Being in those games, those environments,” Thaiss recalled, “watching how those guys handled the adversity, it kind of molded me in how I wanted to handle myself. I had a lot of guys to look up to that year.”

Jones remembers “a lot of ups and downs” during his freshman year. He pitched mostly out of the bullpen, earning his first college win in his lone start against James Madison. He was charged with a run (and never more than one) in just five of his first 16 appearances through late April, often serving as the bullpen piggy-back for Sborz, the Saturday starter that season, in ACC play.

His season turned when he was summoned in relief of Sborz with runners on the corners and nobody out in the fifth inning of a game at Florida State. Jones failed to get out of the jam unscathed, allowing four runs (he was charged with two) on two hits.

“A ball bounces off the bag, a ball wasn’t fielded in the field. The situation speeds up on you and it’s pressure,” Jones recounted. “That was really hard on me not coming through in some of the big spots I was put in. That really affected my confidence.”

The righty made just eight more appearances the rest of the way, and gave up runs in seven of them. He only pitched one inning against Bucknell in the NCAA Tournament. It wasn’t until he went away to New Hampshire to play summer ball that he was able to clear his head and refocus for his second college season.

“Very few players are going to come in as freshmen and live up to all the expectations,” said O’Connor, explaining that Jones needed time to hone his feel and understanding of how to manage tight situations. “Stuff doesn’t do that. It’s very rare for that to happen for somebody immediately as they start their career.”

With Sborz shifting to the closer role, Jones was slotted into the weekend rotation entering the 2015 season. He stayed there for the remainder of his UVa career and ascended to the Friday night spot when Kirby went down with a lat strain in mid-April 2015. He went 4-1 with a 2.667 ERA in nine starts after Kirby got hurt, the final four coming during the Cavaliers’ postseason run to the national championship.

“He was good before that, but that’s when he really stepped up and emerged and started to win games himself,” O’Connor said. “Those elite pitchers, they have the ability in a lot of cases to win the game themselves. You’ve got to make plays behind them, but they don’t need much help.”

Jones was even better in 2016, earning first-team All-ACC and consensus All-America honors after going 11-1 with a 2.34 ER and 72 strikeouts in 15 starts. After that season, Jones was drafted No. 70 overall by the Cardinals.

“You can’t measure how good he was, especially in ’15,” said Thaiss, crediting Jones’ combination of stuff and composure. “He was great in ’16 too, but that year in ’15, we don’t win the national championship without him.”

Thaiss spent his final two UVa seasons as Jones’ primary battery mate, serving as the Hoos’ top catcher in both 2015 and 2016. Thaiss entered that sophomore season feeling he needed to prove to the remaining veterans from the 2014 team that he belonged in the everyday lineup; by late February, he was hitting in the middle of that lineup.

Thaiss led the national championship team in batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.512), on-base percentage (.512) and home runs (10), and was second on that team with 67 RBI. He was an All-American the following year after hitting .375 with 10 homers and 59 RBI, all tops on the 2016 team. He again led that team in slugging (.578) and on-base percentage (.473) as well. The Angels made Thaiss the No. 16 overall pick that summer.

“He obviously delivered high-level results on great teams,” O’Connor said, “but most importantly, how he went about his business. His work ethic, his maturity were what separates him.”

O’Connor credited Thaiss with a “calm confidence. It wasn’t a ‘pump your fist’ mentality.” Jones called his catcher intense and focused, with the personality to guide the Cavaliers’ pitching staff from behind the plate.

“When we were working together, I felt like he would kind of try to just steer me in a direction instead of forcing me to go this way or that way,” Jones recalled. “He would see where I was going and nudge me one way or another instead of trying to take charge.”

Thaiss joins John Hicks as catchers in the Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame; Jones is the 17th pitcher elected. This spring, their names will be hung along the concourse at Disharoon Park next to other UVa all-time greats like Danny Hultzen and Chris Taylor, Ryan Zimmerman and Mark Reynolds.

“You hear the coaches or people mention one of those guy’s names, or you see their faces and their accolades and pictures and stuff throughout the facility,” said Jones, who spent last season with the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate. “It’s the same names you keep seeing and hearing about, and to think that could be me, it’s really special to me to leave an impact like that.”

“This is a testament to the program and the coaches,” said Thaiss, who made his MLB debut in 2019. “When I committed in I don’t even remember when, I never thought I’d get those experiences there and come out the player I came out. I was decent coming out of high school, but I wasn’t the player I was until I came out of college, and that’s all a credit to the coaches and the program.”

JOIN CAVSCORNER TODAY!

If you are not already a member of CavsCorner, come join us and see what all of the buzz is about.

Click HERE to subscribe and get all of the latest news and join hundreds of other UVa fans in talking about Cavalier football, basketball, and recruiting. You won't be disappointed!