Andy Barkett begins his second season as manager of the Jacksonville Suns,  after spending three seasons as manager of Class-A Lakeland with the Detroit  Tigers organization. Barkett guided the Suns to a 70-70 record in 2011, but the  Suns failed to make the playoffs after winning the Southern League pennant the  two previous seasons. Jeff Elliott met with Barkett on Tuesday for his thoughts  about the coming season, his progression as a manager, what type of team the  Suns will field this year and more.

What did you learn about the Southern League last year in your first  season at this level?

I had heard if you’re an exceptional player in the Southern League, you can  play in the big leagues, and I saw that. It’s not that I didn’t know it, but I  saw it with my own eyes. Being able to manage in the All-Star Game and watch the  caliber of players that we have in the league, it’s definitely a league where  there’s a lot of stars and a lot of great players that you’re going to watch on  TV one day.

It’s tough for players to make the jump from Single-A to Double-A — is it equally tough for a manager?

Somewhat. I think there’s some managers better suited for different levels  based on personality and the way they run their teams. In A ball, you have to be  a little more stringent, a little more sergeant-like, where here, they need to  start growing up. There are maybe 100 A-ball managers but only 30 Double-A  managers so it probably is harder to get to this level.

How much more comfortable are you at the Double-A level now that  you’ve got a year’s experience behind you?

Much more comfortable, more comfortable and confident going into this season.  I know what to expect as far managing a game. I went through many situations  including a ton of extra inning games that we had last year. So I was actively  managing a lot of the time which was great experience for me. In baseball,  there’s something new that happens every 24 hours. I feel I’m better prepared  for those things as they come to me this year. Just knowing now about the other  ball parks and what you can expect there, the hotels, etc., there was a little  anxiety last year because we’ve never been there before.

How important is it to have John Duffy returning as your pitching  coach?

Coming into a new organization, you’re always a little apprehensive about who  can you trust, who can you build a relationship from. Duff and I were from two  different backgrounds, two different heritages, but we’re both baseball guys and  we really care about players. So we had that common ground and with that common  ground, builds a friendship and a trust. So he knows how I operate and I know  how he operates. He knows normally what I’m thinking and how I want to manage a  game. He works his tail off and takes care of things that I don’t have to take  care of. I’m happy and blessed to have him.

It’s your first year with hitting coach Kevin “Smoke” Randel. What’s  your background with him?

I don’t really have any. So we’ve gone through a familiarity process getting  to know each other throughout spring training and talking baseball  philosophy.

Will your approach as Suns manager be any different this  year?

I want to be a little more active in the instruction of my club. Last year  coming into a new organization, I wasn’t really familiar with the hierarchy of  work. I was a little bit timid with how I wanted to run my team. With this  organization, managers manage; hitting coaches serve as hitting coaches and they  don’t cross each other’s lines. Not necessarily in a bad sense so that the  hitting coach can implement the program. But this year, I feel there is a little  bit more freedom for me to run it how I want to run it and I plan to do that  from Day 1. I’m going to use the organization’s manual, but at the same time,  I’d like to be more active in how we run the club and how we teach and  everything.

As a collective group, how would you describe this year’s pitching  staff?

I would say we have late-in-the-game arms. I don’t think we have a glaring  star in the whole group. I think guys like [Evan] Reed and [AJ] Ramos are  definitely on the radar and will be watched closely just like the rest of them  will be. But they’re moving through the system quickly. Our starting pitchers  are durable guys, they’re workhorses. Our pitching staff will keep us in games I  believe. If we can get five innings out of our starters, I can get some guys in  there that will get us to late in the game.

Same question for the hitters, how would you describe the group of  position players?

I would say question marks, not necessarily in a negative fashion, but more  the fact that we could go a number of different ways offensively. We have a lot  of players who have the ability to hit very well in this league. But several are  unproven at this level and some are repeating this level but didn’t really  dominate it. We have a lot of guys who are “in the frying pan” offensively. We  have a lot of potential in the group, potential for a big year if guys can be  what we think they can be. But there are a lot of question marks. Will the new  guys at this level respond offensively? We’ll find out and we’ll know soon,  maybe by the end of April when they’ve had 100 at-bats or so.

Will the Suns have the same kind of speed they’ve had in the  past?

We don’t have a lot of speed. We’re going to have to hit the ball in the gap  or over the fence. We’ve got singles hitters so it’s going to take three hits to  score them. We’ll have to hit doubles or homers to win games. It’s a little  different going into this season, unlike last year when we had a guy [Kevin  Mattison] who could fly.

Kyle Skipworth was a former No. 1 draft pick of the Marlins who  struggled in his first season at the Double-A level last year, hitting .207. Are  you expecting bigger things from him this year?

I said at our organizational meeting, April through July last year, I was  hitting my head against the wall [about Skipworth's play]. But in August, I saw  the makings of a baseball player, a big-league player, for the first time. It  was flashes, it wasn’t every day but it was there a lot more than it was the  first four months. He has a plus-tool that he can the ball way over the fence  that not a lot of people can do. Even when he mishits it, he can still hit it  over the fence. This spring towards the end of camp, he really showed progress.  But he knows he has to limit his strikeouts and put the ball in play with two  strikes. I think if he maintains his approach, we’re going to see big things out  of him. I believe in him, but he’s got to believe he can do it. When that  happens, the sky’s the limit.

This is the third time in four years that Graham Taylor has been with  the Suns. He’s pitched at the major league level. Is this the year for him to  get back there?

No question. If he pitches like he did in spring training, he’s got a chance  to pitch a few more years and get to the big leagues. He’s in the best shape of  his life and is pitching as well as he ever has. If he can carry that into the  season, we may have a great story here.

Were you comfortable with your objective of getting players from last  year’s team to advance to Triple-A or the big leagues which is what the Marlins  are looking for?

Yes, I’m very proud of what we were able to do last year. We got a couple  guys like Luke Montz and Kevin Mattison, both of whom barely made our roster  coming out of spring training last year. Both have moved up and Mattison is now  on the Marlins 40-man roster. Chris Hatcher, Sandy Rosario, Brad Hand, they all  went to the big leagues last year. Skippy [Skipworth] started looking like a  baseball player. Some others had the best season they ever had. From a  development standpoint, I believe we definitely did our job and we did it  well.