Cody Herald has had to rewire his brain.

For so long, the 24-year-old has had the mentality of a baseball player — something he did exceptionally well for Butler High School, Seton Hill University, the Butler BlueSox in the Prospect League and even the Washington Wild Things in the Frontier League.

Herald is still in uniform and still on the field for the BlueSox now, only he wears the uniform and the pullover of a manager and his position is in the third base coaching box.

It's a transition that is still a work in progress following his first game as the BlueSox manager Tuesday night at Kelly Automotive Park, a 9-5 loss to Champion City.

“One thing that's so hard, especially since I'm done playing, is not to think about playing and not think about what a player thinks about,” Herald said. “You have to think like a coach.”

And look like one, even though Herald would fit right in and not look out of place with his players.

He has a thick beard now, grown to support the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It makes him look a little older.

But not much.

“The beard does help,” Herald deadpanned, stroking the whiskers with his fingers. “Hopefully the Pens keep going. Maybe I'll just pretend they're playing all year round and not shave it.”

Herald, who just learned he would be managing the BlueSox less than a month ago, had been grappling with the age issue ever since.

“I had some long talks with my father,” Herald said. “Obviously, I'm super excited — this is something I want to do in the future. As I told him, the biggest thing that's going to be tough for me is these kids are going to show up expecting to see an older guy and they're going to see a kid who's just 24 years old and has just finished playing.

“I wanted them to respect me. I try to talk to every one of the kids and get a feel for them. I think the guys I have here respect me, even though I'm young. They know, 'Hey, he wants to win.'”

Herald said his youth may also be an advantage — as well as his experience of playing in the Prospect League not so long ago.

He is taking a crash course in his personnel and how they will fit together.

It's a process.

“It's hard this early to figure out a lineup that's going to click and feed off each other,” Herald said. “Especially when we only have two days before the first game to practice and we still don't have some kids here yet. First game, some of these kids haven't seen live pitching in a few weeks, especially with a wood bat.”

Herald, though, is excited to see where his first journey into managing will take him and the BlueSox.

“I'm confident in all the hitters,” Herald said. “I think we're going to come around.”