So I've been a little lazy with new posts. I haven't had too much to say since the days are starting to run together. I have so far thrown 3 innings so far and have fared well. First off, I threw 1 inning in intrasquad against our Dayton squad. I have just a quick thing to say about squads:
Everyone in camp is assigned to one of the four teams: Triple A (Louisville), Double A (Carolina), High A (Bakersfield), and low A (Dayton). You usually will stay with these teams until your break camp. However, don't put too much stock into which team you're with for Spring Training because there are a ton of guys that get invites to Big League camp, and when they make cuts, those guys are then reassigned to minor league camp (usually Triple or Double A). When those guys get sent down, they take the spots of the current guys who then get reassigned also. So there's a trickle down effect going on. So guys usually look at which team they're assigned to in Spring Training and then they knock themselves down a level and that's where they'll most likely be (if they're lucky).
So I threw one inning, got a 1-2-3. I was happy about the 1-2-3, but what really made me happy was that it was against the 2-3-4 hitters in our lineup whom are all lefties. So last year, I had a decent year, but when you break down my stats, lefties hit .500 off me in 3.2 innings. Righties hit .160 in 13.2 innings...so quite the difference. So for me to get three of our better lefties out in order is always a good sign. I understand it's just spring, and hitters are still trying to get their timing back, but a win is a win in my book.
So yesterday was our first game against a different team. I was backup for the game, meaning that if a pitcher went down with an injury or threw too many pitches in on inning, then I would fill in. It turns out that the only team that needed fill ins were the Diamondbacks. They had a shortstop who took a worm burner off the jewels as well as a pitcher who took a comebacker off the foot. At the end of the day, I ended up not throwing. In spring training games, you play like it's a real game, but if a pitcher is struggling to throw strikes or is getting hit around a bit, you can just roll the inning to save their arm. So that means that the games really don't count. If we kept score in this first game, we would have lost, but it didn't count so no worries. One thing that did kind of suck was that the game was 3 hours long. I had my fair share of 3+ hour games in college, but last year, we would bang out a game in 2 hours pretty routinely. Maybe I have become spoiled, but a 3.5 hour game really wears on you after you're at the field 5 hours before the first pitch. Either way, at the end of the day, I am happy to be playing baseball again. Everyone will always find something to complain about!
So I was slated to throw 2 innings the next day (Wednesday) since I didn't get in as a back up. We were set to travel to the Rockies' yard for a 1 pm start. The Rockies and Diamondbacks are two teams that are new to the AZL. They just build a completely new facility on the other side of town (the east side) and it's beautiful. Even though I had a decent 1-2-3 inning for my last outing, I had a few things to improve upon. The management expressed their desire for me to expand my stride. I always knew that this was an area of potential improvement for my delivery. It kinda fell in that "not broke so don't fix it categories " in the past, but if I want to stick around at this level, you have to have your delivery fine tuned to get the most out of your body.
So I made these adjustments but never really had a chance to really try them out by throwing a pen or anything. I was a little nervous for the past few days because I would go into a game without the 100% confidence that I could move the ball wherever I wanted. I did a lot of mental preparation for this outing to try and make up for the lack of physical preparation. This morning I got up on a mound and did some dry throws and liked what progress I had made. I found a shred of hope and help on to that as much as I could. We went through the usual stretch, throwing program, and BP. We had a quick lunch at the field and got on the bus for the bus trip. The bus trip across the city very reminiscent of last year in the AZL and may have helped put me in my comfort zone a bit. I was definitely a little nervous, but tried to get myself in a similar mindset that I had last year here while focusing on taking deep breaths.
One thing that I realized while closing at Wake was that I went through a mental cycle through out the game. I knew my role: I was a back end bullpen guy. There would be times in the middle of the game where it would be a close game and I would all the sudden be hit with a tremendous anxiety of doubt. I would start worrying whether or not I would have my good stuff that day, that I could blow the game for the team, I could go out there and not record a single out and completely fail. Eventually I would work myself out of these thoughts and chalk it up to all my previous hard work, preparation, and fate. No matter where I was in this mental cycle, by the time I made the first warm up throw, I would be locked in. One advantage that I have when I get out there is the ability to make adjustments between pitches. This is something that I've learned from a few of my extremely influential pitching coaches in the past, and if you've been around me while I'm coaching, this is something I stress to my players. If my ball isn't going where I want, I know that I can make the right adjustment to bring it in line. This ensures a bit of consistency with my location. With good location, more often than not, you'll have success. Somedays, it doesn't matter what you do, you get hit, but at least in the long run, I'm ok as long as I can remain calm and have confidence. That usually comes through mental preparation.
So today I was slated to throw 3rd in line. The starter, first reliever and I were suppose to throw 2 innings a piece. However, the second pitcher wasn't able to complete his second inning so I got bumped up early. Nothing like a rushed warm up session! I warm up quickly anyways, thanks to a few years of bullpen time at Wake so no biggie. This warm up was important because it was the first time I would get to try out my new stride. After warming up it was apparent that I had good control of my slider and change up, but my fast ball was all over the place, which usually isn't a great sign since everything comes off your fastball. Like my second bullpen, I had to chalk it up to I'll just have to figure it out when I get on the mound with a hitter in there. Sure enough, my first warm up pitch out there was a good one and I immediately had a sense of relief.
The first hitter stepped in and I got him to pop out to first. The second hitter punched out on a slider in the dirt. The third hitter grounded out. One thing that can happen to pitchers is that you can come out hot and then between innings you can lose your focus and come out stale in the next inning and get crushed. I tried to keep my focus and so I went out the next inning and threw my warm up pitches. I got down 3-0 to the first hitter which is a no-no for pitchers. You don't ever walk the leadoff man. I managed to come back and get it to 3-2 before inducing a weak pop up to the SS. The next guy up was a righty and got a first pitch change up for strike one. The next pitch was an inside 2 seamer which is probably one of my favorite pitches to throw. I threw one on the black which he managed to chop through the left side. It was a great pitch, but he somehow got to it and punched it through...that's baseball. The next hitter hit a ground ball to my left which I got a glove on but not all of it which redirected it to my second baseman who got the out at first. So I had a man on second with 2 outs. For my first pitch, I went with the no look pitch to home and induced a ground ball to our third baseman to end the inning. No problem.
I was definitely relieved to have a decent outing as I know nothing is guaranteed in baseball. Things can change on you in an instant so you have to keep that humility and don't get too big of a head because you'll get knocked down a peg or two by the baseball gods if you're not careful. So tomorrow is an intrasquad game. I have to lift upper body after I get in and get my hip worked on by the trainers. I did a lower body lift last week and was sore for 4 days after since we weren't allowed to lift for the first week of being here. There's a very true saying: It takes 2 months to get in shape and 2 weeks to get out of shape. I'm not out of baseball shape by any means, but in terms of offseason-heavy-lifting shape, I'm a little out of it. We weren't allowed to lift until then so it wasn't by choice. Anyways, I live to see another day!
Take it easy.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Day 6
So I'm guessing we're on the new routine now that the hitters are here. Each level had 6 guys or so throw live BP to hitters. Live BP is basically where a hitter will get in there and you'll throw to him like a game. He doesn't know what's coming, but he gets a few swings so even if he puts one in play he stays in there for a few more hacks. I was slated to throw on day 1, 3rd in line so after stretching and reviewing some bunt plays some more I left to go stretch out to get ready.
I'm lucky I went over there at the right time because the schedules here are practically written in a different language. You can literally stare at them for 15 minutes and still have no idea what's going on or where you're suppose to go. We had one of the coaches go over it twice and I STILL had no idea where I was suppose to go. As soon as I had it straight Browning came over and told me contradictory information that messed it all up. Everyone seems to take the follow-the-group strategy when going from field to field. If you ever mess up, there will be another 6 people messing up with you which demonstrates that it was their fault, not your own.
So we're told that we have 20 minutes from the sound of the air horn to get ready before we go in. Well a horn went off and people started getting ready, only to find out that it was actually the air horn from the indians' camp down the street. So once everyone get on the same schedule we were good. I did my normal throwing routine and hopped up on the mound. It was evident after a few erratic throws that I was going to have to figure it out while I'm throwing to the batter. It didn't matter what I did while warming up, everything was up in the zone. My change-up was missing way to the right, and my slider was flat. Mac sped up my delivery during my last bullpen and that had great results that day, but each day since has been a bit of a struggle for me to keep my upper and lower body in sync. I knew I had to slow myself down a tad and give my arms time to get on top of the ball, but no matter what I did, I was erratic. I finished up and strolled over to my field and watched the guy before me throw his final pitches. Browning emphasized the throwing of strikes (as he always does) and here I was able to locate 2 out of 30 pitches in my warm up.
I got on the mound and all the sudden, I was money. I don't know how it happens, but I suppose if I had to choose a place for it to click, that would be the place. I mean, I definitely had some pitches that were a good deal off, but I at least was able to throw strikes. I had a few things that I wanted to work on that I knew I struggled with last year. Our live BP session was timed, so we just faced as many batters as we could get in. I don't really know how many I faced, add the fact that we didn't really have fielders and it makes for some confusion in how you did. I threw strikes and got a ton of ground balls as usual. This was the first time the hitters faced live pitching so we were suppose to dominate a bit. Overall I felt pretty good about my performance and wrapped up the rest of my BP session. Afterwards I had to run about 1.75 miles and did my arm care. Not a bad day.
I'm lucky I went over there at the right time because the schedules here are practically written in a different language. You can literally stare at them for 15 minutes and still have no idea what's going on or where you're suppose to go. We had one of the coaches go over it twice and I STILL had no idea where I was suppose to go. As soon as I had it straight Browning came over and told me contradictory information that messed it all up. Everyone seems to take the follow-the-group strategy when going from field to field. If you ever mess up, there will be another 6 people messing up with you which demonstrates that it was their fault, not your own.
So we're told that we have 20 minutes from the sound of the air horn to get ready before we go in. Well a horn went off and people started getting ready, only to find out that it was actually the air horn from the indians' camp down the street. So once everyone get on the same schedule we were good. I did my normal throwing routine and hopped up on the mound. It was evident after a few erratic throws that I was going to have to figure it out while I'm throwing to the batter. It didn't matter what I did while warming up, everything was up in the zone. My change-up was missing way to the right, and my slider was flat. Mac sped up my delivery during my last bullpen and that had great results that day, but each day since has been a bit of a struggle for me to keep my upper and lower body in sync. I knew I had to slow myself down a tad and give my arms time to get on top of the ball, but no matter what I did, I was erratic. I finished up and strolled over to my field and watched the guy before me throw his final pitches. Browning emphasized the throwing of strikes (as he always does) and here I was able to locate 2 out of 30 pitches in my warm up.
I got on the mound and all the sudden, I was money. I don't know how it happens, but I suppose if I had to choose a place for it to click, that would be the place. I mean, I definitely had some pitches that were a good deal off, but I at least was able to throw strikes. I had a few things that I wanted to work on that I knew I struggled with last year. Our live BP session was timed, so we just faced as many batters as we could get in. I don't really know how many I faced, add the fact that we didn't really have fielders and it makes for some confusion in how you did. I threw strikes and got a ton of ground balls as usual. This was the first time the hitters faced live pitching so we were suppose to dominate a bit. Overall I felt pretty good about my performance and wrapped up the rest of my BP session. Afterwards I had to run about 1.75 miles and did my arm care. Not a bad day.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Day 4 - 5
So I have a few days to catch up on... I have been pretty busy / lazy during my hotel time so I'm going to do my best to catch you guys up on the past few days. I have a feeling this entry will be a little long so bear with me. One thing I'm going to try and do is give you some insight into some of the lesser known intricacies of baseball as well as my experiences over the past few days so enjoy!
Day 4 was pretty standard. It was the final day of just having the pitchers around. We ran through the usual gambit of PFP's and bunting. One thing that did stick out at the end was sitting down to eat lunch and having Barry Larkin there eating with all of us. Barry was an iconic player for the Reds while I was growing up and seeing him around was pretty special. I didn't get to talk to him as he was here to work with our position players, but it was still pretty cool.
After our day was over at the field, I left with a trio of Canadian teammates instead of going back to the hotel. They were living over at a fellow countryman's house in Peoria. He is in big league camp with the Blue Jays. We went to his house for a bit and hung out. Later on, they invited me to go to the NHL game at 7. The Phoenix Coyotes were playing the Vancouver Canucks. I had only been to a Cyclones game, never an NHL game, let alone with 3 Canadians who had grown up on cross checks and slapshots, so I decided to tag along with them. The Canucks are currently one of the top teams in the league and the Coyotes are in playoff hunt so it was set to be a good game. I say next to Mike Henry also known as "Hank" and he answered the multitude of questions I had for him. I had seen many a NHL game on TV, but it doesn't compare in person. It's like NASCAR, it's just not watching unless you're there. After a heated game and a few sick goals, the Canucks won in overtime. After the game, Lotzkar dropped me off at the hotel where I met up with Ralph. Last year during my time here in AZL, I would come down to the hotel bar and eat on our offday. I would invariably end up starting a conversation with the other inhabitants of the hotel. Ralph worked as a Federal Agent in the FBI for 20 or so years and therefore had a ton of cool stories to share. He also demonstrated his ability to be a human lie detector. I've never been a good liar, so I was an easy target, but it was cool nonetheless. Ralph was back in town for business and so we sat at the bar and caught up. Another interesting thing about him is that he's also an avid racquetball player. He is currently sponsored by Pro Kennex, the same company that sponsored me during my active racquetball years. Pro Kennex isn't one of the more common companies so it was interesting to come across him. After a long day at the field, the NHL game, and some conversation, I was spent. I was practically out by the time my head hit my pillow.
Day 5 was the first day with hitters, so that brought some new changes. Instead of stretching as a unit, all the players broke into their respective teams and then stretched on their fields. It was great to see some of the hitters again. Usually baseball teams are broken into pitchers and hitters with not too much interaction between. That lends itself of pitchers hanging out with pitchers and hitters hanging out with hitters. The only interaction between the two outside of the actual game is the occasional joke made about athleticism. The position players insist that they're the "real athletes" and pitchers are the "non-athletes". The only correlation between pitchers and the lack of athleticism exists when analyzing lefty pitchers. Righties are the only true athletes. Even Browning (himself a lefty have you), when announcing which side everyone will be throwing on will say, "non-athletes down the left field line (hitters) and true athletes over here (referring to the pitchers)." This leads to the same old arguments and comments which ends up getting us nowhere. However, through all the typical snide remarks and insults, I found myself very happy to see a lot of these guys again. I found that since we crushed the last month of the season that we really grew together as a team. It's amazing what a lot of winning will do for the morale and relationships among the players while off the field. It's also amazing what losing will do too.
As a quick recap from last year, we won something ridiculous like the last 23 of 26 games to finish the season. We needed to win every one of those games to make the playoffs. We ended up closing out the season with a half game lead in the wildcard race and had to take on the number one seed in the Giants in the first round. The Giants had a very experienced team with an even more talented pitching staff. We had a mostly young guys but one thing we did have was a lot of momentum. We took a large lead early which was held by out starter, Ishmael Guillon. Once he came out the Giants managed to rally and get within one run. I came in the 9th inning for the close. The Giants had 2 corner outfielders who were at least over 6'5" a piece. I had one of them up with 2 outs and got ahead 0-2. I hung a slider to one of them earlier in the season and he hit it about 9000 feet...foul. If you want to see this exact pitch, you can check it out on Facebook. My brother happened to record it and put it on the video he made of me pitching in AZL. Anyways, I ended up hanging another slider to him this time and he hit a lazer right at our 3rd basemen who promptly gobbled it up and threw it to first for the win and save.
Even though we lost in the final game of the playoffs to the Brewers, we had grown as a team. In my mind it was pretty special because winning at the end of the year isn't usually a matter of beating the other team, it's just a matter of wanting to win. What I mean is that the season is very long and draining and usually in the final month of the season many guys will not care if they win or lose as a team as long as they get to go home and don't make the playoffs. I've heard of this happening in summer ball and here in pro-ball. This especially applies to teams on the fringe of making the playoffs. We were on the fringe last year, but instead of wanting to lose games, we made the final push and secured a spot in the playoffs.
So it's great seeing all the guys again. If we can manage to stay together as a team, we should have a similar fate as last year. On this day, pitchers didn't have to show up until after 1 or so since the hitters had all the physicals and what not that we had to go through a few days earlier. The problem with this is that the Reds didn't provide us with later shuttles. If you wanted guaranteed transportation to the field you would have to leave at latest 8 am shuttle. You would then spend the next 5 hours doing nothing at the field. That left the pitchers with trying to find their own way to the yard. I was lucky to have Lotzkar who picked me up and let me squeeze in behind him in his sweet SS Camaro.
After stretching as a squad, we went over bunt plays and picks. As you move up the ladder in baseball the game obviously gets a little quick and also a little more complicated. You have to find a way to neutralize the great players on the other team. Well one way a pitcher can do this is through pick offs. Within the realm of pickoffs you have ones that are called from the dug out and relayed through the catcher, you also have situational pickoffs like ones relayed through bunt coverages and 1st and 3rd defenses. You also have timing picks that are relayed from the any of the fielders to you between pitches and also daylight picks that are called with an open glove as the fielder breaks toward the bag. Finally you have voluntary picks which is your standard, throw-whenever-you-feel-like-it pick. Seems like a lot, which it is, but it's mostly the same plays you've practiced growing up, just with different signs. It's always just a matter of doing the drills a few times to get the feel back and confidence up. However, these aren't things that you can just go through the motions because the odds are you will only practice it in spring training and be expected to recall everything and perform correctly months down the road during the season with a game on the line.
So after reviewing the plays and getting a few reps in we went into BP. Batting practice is something that every baseball player has to sit through on a day in and day out for an entire season. Sessions usually last anywhere between 60 and (more often than not) 90 minutes. As a pitcher, this time is usually spent shagging balls or performing a duty. The duties include standing on first or second base to receive ground balls from infielders, catching up fungo (depending on the coach), and finally the much loathed bucket duty. I'll get to the bucket in a second, but first there's shagging. As a pitcher, ideally you'll be evenly spread out along the warning track behind all the outfielders and get the balls that they can't track down. Well it gets kind of lonely (not to say boring) just sitting there for 90 minutes without anyone to talk to. So over time, the pitchers will slowly start shifting toward each other to form a group. If you have a strict manager that enforced the spread out rule, then you have to resort to other forms of amusement which usually involves the aforementioned guy on the bucket.
Again, ideally a ball hit to you will result in you making a nice accurate throw into the guy manning the bucket so the balls can get recycled. However, this is rarely the case. Allow me to elaborate. There are 5 types of shaggers during BP: the sandbagger, power shagger, buzzer beater, sniper, and the bullpen thrower. There was a blog article outlining this phenomenon a few years back but I couldn't find it. So I will do my best to paraphrase his description from memory.
First off is the sandbagger (also known as the fisherman). He is the guy that will only field a ball that is right to him. Once he gets that ball, instead of throwing the ball all the way into the bucket (no short distance), he will just lob it about 50 feet in front of him. Since the pitchers are by the warning track, 50 feet is incredibly closer to him than the guy actually collecting the balls on the bucket. Over the course of 90 minutes the sandbagger will throw each progressive ball a little closer to the guy on the bucket to set the line. As the guy on the bucket, you won't go 200 feet away to collect balls, but if there is a steady line of baseballs every 5 feet you're more likely to take the bait. Before you know it, you're all the way out to the warning track with more balls than you can carry looking like a complete rookie. This is also called fishing. Next is the powershagger. He is the guy (usually a pitcher) that wants to demonstrate his athleticism by tracking down every ball that is hit to his part of the field. Most guys take the less-is-more approach to BP which means they won't go after anything that's more than a few steps from them. The powershagger takes is upon himself to run everything down and even make diving plays on liners in the gaps. After a running grab he'll usually look around to make sure people saw him make the play and make some comment about how he should be a position player or something along the lines of water covering 2/3 of the earth and him covering the rest. The next guy is the buzzer beater. Instead of throwing the ball in and having it stop after a nice 10 yard roll toward the bucket, he decides to turn the bucket into a basket and try to make it in...from 200 feet out. The only thing that gets hit during these shots is the guy on the bucket. The thing is is that when you cut a shot off you'll get the proverbial, "that ball was going in!" This is then followed by the once upon a time legend where he made one from 200 feet away with his eyes closed, or something along those lines.
Next is the sniper. This guy turns the pitcher on the bucket into his primary target. He'll save up a few balls and when the bucket guy isn't looking, he'll zing one past his ear in an attempt to smoke him in the back. The friendly ones will settle for hitting you on the bounce, but the more ruthless, direct hit guys exist on every team. Finally, last but not least, is the bullpen pitcher. While you have the pitcher acting as a position player in a powershagger, here you have the opposite: a position player acting as a pitcher. This guy will summon the bucket guy to come over and crouch down like a catcher so he can show off his new pitch. This new pitch is NEVER a fastball, or anything that moves relatively straight. No, it's some type of knuckle-curve-splitter that results in the catcher having to block a ball that bounces right in front of him. It turns a normal day of BP into an adventure.
So needless to say, we finished off BP and for the first time since I've been here, had a day off running. I went back home and proceeded to be lazy for the next few hours. I was planning on writing about today's exploits but since this turned into the longest blog post ever, I'll spare you the time. I'll add it as a separate entry tomorrow, if you've even read down this point.
Until next time.
Day 4 was pretty standard. It was the final day of just having the pitchers around. We ran through the usual gambit of PFP's and bunting. One thing that did stick out at the end was sitting down to eat lunch and having Barry Larkin there eating with all of us. Barry was an iconic player for the Reds while I was growing up and seeing him around was pretty special. I didn't get to talk to him as he was here to work with our position players, but it was still pretty cool.
After our day was over at the field, I left with a trio of Canadian teammates instead of going back to the hotel. They were living over at a fellow countryman's house in Peoria. He is in big league camp with the Blue Jays. We went to his house for a bit and hung out. Later on, they invited me to go to the NHL game at 7. The Phoenix Coyotes were playing the Vancouver Canucks. I had only been to a Cyclones game, never an NHL game, let alone with 3 Canadians who had grown up on cross checks and slapshots, so I decided to tag along with them. The Canucks are currently one of the top teams in the league and the Coyotes are in playoff hunt so it was set to be a good game. I say next to Mike Henry also known as "Hank" and he answered the multitude of questions I had for him. I had seen many a NHL game on TV, but it doesn't compare in person. It's like NASCAR, it's just not watching unless you're there. After a heated game and a few sick goals, the Canucks won in overtime. After the game, Lotzkar dropped me off at the hotel where I met up with Ralph. Last year during my time here in AZL, I would come down to the hotel bar and eat on our offday. I would invariably end up starting a conversation with the other inhabitants of the hotel. Ralph worked as a Federal Agent in the FBI for 20 or so years and therefore had a ton of cool stories to share. He also demonstrated his ability to be a human lie detector. I've never been a good liar, so I was an easy target, but it was cool nonetheless. Ralph was back in town for business and so we sat at the bar and caught up. Another interesting thing about him is that he's also an avid racquetball player. He is currently sponsored by Pro Kennex, the same company that sponsored me during my active racquetball years. Pro Kennex isn't one of the more common companies so it was interesting to come across him. After a long day at the field, the NHL game, and some conversation, I was spent. I was practically out by the time my head hit my pillow.
Day 5 was the first day with hitters, so that brought some new changes. Instead of stretching as a unit, all the players broke into their respective teams and then stretched on their fields. It was great to see some of the hitters again. Usually baseball teams are broken into pitchers and hitters with not too much interaction between. That lends itself of pitchers hanging out with pitchers and hitters hanging out with hitters. The only interaction between the two outside of the actual game is the occasional joke made about athleticism. The position players insist that they're the "real athletes" and pitchers are the "non-athletes". The only correlation between pitchers and the lack of athleticism exists when analyzing lefty pitchers. Righties are the only true athletes. Even Browning (himself a lefty have you), when announcing which side everyone will be throwing on will say, "non-athletes down the left field line (hitters) and true athletes over here (referring to the pitchers)." This leads to the same old arguments and comments which ends up getting us nowhere. However, through all the typical snide remarks and insults, I found myself very happy to see a lot of these guys again. I found that since we crushed the last month of the season that we really grew together as a team. It's amazing what a lot of winning will do for the morale and relationships among the players while off the field. It's also amazing what losing will do too.
As a quick recap from last year, we won something ridiculous like the last 23 of 26 games to finish the season. We needed to win every one of those games to make the playoffs. We ended up closing out the season with a half game lead in the wildcard race and had to take on the number one seed in the Giants in the first round. The Giants had a very experienced team with an even more talented pitching staff. We had a mostly young guys but one thing we did have was a lot of momentum. We took a large lead early which was held by out starter, Ishmael Guillon. Once he came out the Giants managed to rally and get within one run. I came in the 9th inning for the close. The Giants had 2 corner outfielders who were at least over 6'5" a piece. I had one of them up with 2 outs and got ahead 0-2. I hung a slider to one of them earlier in the season and he hit it about 9000 feet...foul. If you want to see this exact pitch, you can check it out on Facebook. My brother happened to record it and put it on the video he made of me pitching in AZL. Anyways, I ended up hanging another slider to him this time and he hit a lazer right at our 3rd basemen who promptly gobbled it up and threw it to first for the win and save.
Even though we lost in the final game of the playoffs to the Brewers, we had grown as a team. In my mind it was pretty special because winning at the end of the year isn't usually a matter of beating the other team, it's just a matter of wanting to win. What I mean is that the season is very long and draining and usually in the final month of the season many guys will not care if they win or lose as a team as long as they get to go home and don't make the playoffs. I've heard of this happening in summer ball and here in pro-ball. This especially applies to teams on the fringe of making the playoffs. We were on the fringe last year, but instead of wanting to lose games, we made the final push and secured a spot in the playoffs.
So it's great seeing all the guys again. If we can manage to stay together as a team, we should have a similar fate as last year. On this day, pitchers didn't have to show up until after 1 or so since the hitters had all the physicals and what not that we had to go through a few days earlier. The problem with this is that the Reds didn't provide us with later shuttles. If you wanted guaranteed transportation to the field you would have to leave at latest 8 am shuttle. You would then spend the next 5 hours doing nothing at the field. That left the pitchers with trying to find their own way to the yard. I was lucky to have Lotzkar who picked me up and let me squeeze in behind him in his sweet SS Camaro.
After stretching as a squad, we went over bunt plays and picks. As you move up the ladder in baseball the game obviously gets a little quick and also a little more complicated. You have to find a way to neutralize the great players on the other team. Well one way a pitcher can do this is through pick offs. Within the realm of pickoffs you have ones that are called from the dug out and relayed through the catcher, you also have situational pickoffs like ones relayed through bunt coverages and 1st and 3rd defenses. You also have timing picks that are relayed from the any of the fielders to you between pitches and also daylight picks that are called with an open glove as the fielder breaks toward the bag. Finally you have voluntary picks which is your standard, throw-whenever-you-feel-like-it pick. Seems like a lot, which it is, but it's mostly the same plays you've practiced growing up, just with different signs. It's always just a matter of doing the drills a few times to get the feel back and confidence up. However, these aren't things that you can just go through the motions because the odds are you will only practice it in spring training and be expected to recall everything and perform correctly months down the road during the season with a game on the line.
So after reviewing the plays and getting a few reps in we went into BP. Batting practice is something that every baseball player has to sit through on a day in and day out for an entire season. Sessions usually last anywhere between 60 and (more often than not) 90 minutes. As a pitcher, this time is usually spent shagging balls or performing a duty. The duties include standing on first or second base to receive ground balls from infielders, catching up fungo (depending on the coach), and finally the much loathed bucket duty. I'll get to the bucket in a second, but first there's shagging. As a pitcher, ideally you'll be evenly spread out along the warning track behind all the outfielders and get the balls that they can't track down. Well it gets kind of lonely (not to say boring) just sitting there for 90 minutes without anyone to talk to. So over time, the pitchers will slowly start shifting toward each other to form a group. If you have a strict manager that enforced the spread out rule, then you have to resort to other forms of amusement which usually involves the aforementioned guy on the bucket.
Again, ideally a ball hit to you will result in you making a nice accurate throw into the guy manning the bucket so the balls can get recycled. However, this is rarely the case. Allow me to elaborate. There are 5 types of shaggers during BP: the sandbagger, power shagger, buzzer beater, sniper, and the bullpen thrower. There was a blog article outlining this phenomenon a few years back but I couldn't find it. So I will do my best to paraphrase his description from memory.
First off is the sandbagger (also known as the fisherman). He is the guy that will only field a ball that is right to him. Once he gets that ball, instead of throwing the ball all the way into the bucket (no short distance), he will just lob it about 50 feet in front of him. Since the pitchers are by the warning track, 50 feet is incredibly closer to him than the guy actually collecting the balls on the bucket. Over the course of 90 minutes the sandbagger will throw each progressive ball a little closer to the guy on the bucket to set the line. As the guy on the bucket, you won't go 200 feet away to collect balls, but if there is a steady line of baseballs every 5 feet you're more likely to take the bait. Before you know it, you're all the way out to the warning track with more balls than you can carry looking like a complete rookie. This is also called fishing. Next is the powershagger. He is the guy (usually a pitcher) that wants to demonstrate his athleticism by tracking down every ball that is hit to his part of the field. Most guys take the less-is-more approach to BP which means they won't go after anything that's more than a few steps from them. The powershagger takes is upon himself to run everything down and even make diving plays on liners in the gaps. After a running grab he'll usually look around to make sure people saw him make the play and make some comment about how he should be a position player or something along the lines of water covering 2/3 of the earth and him covering the rest. The next guy is the buzzer beater. Instead of throwing the ball in and having it stop after a nice 10 yard roll toward the bucket, he decides to turn the bucket into a basket and try to make it in...from 200 feet out. The only thing that gets hit during these shots is the guy on the bucket. The thing is is that when you cut a shot off you'll get the proverbial, "that ball was going in!" This is then followed by the once upon a time legend where he made one from 200 feet away with his eyes closed, or something along those lines.
Next is the sniper. This guy turns the pitcher on the bucket into his primary target. He'll save up a few balls and when the bucket guy isn't looking, he'll zing one past his ear in an attempt to smoke him in the back. The friendly ones will settle for hitting you on the bounce, but the more ruthless, direct hit guys exist on every team. Finally, last but not least, is the bullpen pitcher. While you have the pitcher acting as a position player in a powershagger, here you have the opposite: a position player acting as a pitcher. This guy will summon the bucket guy to come over and crouch down like a catcher so he can show off his new pitch. This new pitch is NEVER a fastball, or anything that moves relatively straight. No, it's some type of knuckle-curve-splitter that results in the catcher having to block a ball that bounces right in front of him. It turns a normal day of BP into an adventure.
So needless to say, we finished off BP and for the first time since I've been here, had a day off running. I went back home and proceeded to be lazy for the next few hours. I was planning on writing about today's exploits but since this turned into the longest blog post ever, I'll spare you the time. I'll add it as a separate entry tomorrow, if you've even read down this point.
Until next time.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Day 2 and 3
So Day 2 was shorter and overall better than day 1. After breakfast in the hotel, I rolled in to the field on the early shuttle at 7:15. I changed into some sliders and went into the training room to hit up the hot and cold tubs. My legs were fried from the previous day's work so I had to do a little extra preparation and stretching to get myself ready. Tired and sore legs are an epidemic and all too common in spring training, so complaining about them really doesn't get you that far. In fact, if you're feeling fresh then you're not going hard enough.
We went out for early work at 9 am where we just went over properly holding runners and the effectiveness of being quick to the plate (under 1.3 seconds). It's interesting to hear our coaches talk about holding runners. I always knew the benefit of it, but I'm still managing to learn new techniques to better my game. We did the usual drills for the day and then went to conditioning and fitness testing.
We had a few tests that we needed to do to see where we were in relation to other guys. First off was the T-test where you would run forward 10 yards, then shuffle left and then right and back peddle back. You would do that one time for each direction. I didn't do as well as I wanted but still turned in a decent time I suppose. Afterwards was the vertical leap test and the sit up test. For the sit up test, I set a goal for the offseason for 65 sit ups in a minute. I came up 1 short with 64. Once we were done with all the tests we had to run 10, 60 yard sprints.
Once finished, I ate lunch and caught a shuttle back to the room where I immediately fell asleep for 2 hours. The nap was well deserved but came back to haunt me as I couldn't fall asleep as easily as I normally do that night.
It seems that the days are getting to be on a schedule now. Breakfast will be at 6:45 am and then I'll be rolling home around 1:30. On day 3 (Monday), we did some more early work where we talked about managing the running game again. Afterwards we did the team stretch and went back into our quick 10 minute stations. I think I may be getting better at bunting. I was pretty horrendous to begin, but today I think I may be getting better (but still not necessarily good). Finally in the last station I was set to throw a pen. Last time I only threw change-ups and fastballs. Today we were allowed to spin a few breakers off the mound. Unfortunately for us we had 35-40 mph winds that were blowing from every direction. Playing catch at about 90-120' was a debacle as balls were flying everywhere. Luckily though, we caught the eye of the hurricane and were able to get a pen in without the ridiculous winds. Mac, our minor league pitching coordinator, worked with me on lengthening my stride. I was already pretty quick to the plate, so he had me lift my leg a little higher so I can get more of a push off my back leg which would in turn lengthen my stride. I was still able to locate my pitches and felt pretty good overall. Once finished, I went and did my running for the day as well as my arm care.
Not a bad day overall. I don't know what it is, but my pens out here are immensely better than the ones I was throwing at home. It could just be me getting back into it a bit more, but I was not happy with the pens I was throwing at home. Now that I'm here, outside, in warm weather, my pens are starting to come together. Hopefully I can keep it going! The competition out here is pretty ridiculous. Everyone is amazing. There's always someone who throws harder, has better control, or is in better shape. It's very easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, but one thing I've learned is that you have to be concerned with making yourself better. Just work hard and have a good attitude. If you can do those things, everything will work out the way it's suppose to.
We went out for early work at 9 am where we just went over properly holding runners and the effectiveness of being quick to the plate (under 1.3 seconds). It's interesting to hear our coaches talk about holding runners. I always knew the benefit of it, but I'm still managing to learn new techniques to better my game. We did the usual drills for the day and then went to conditioning and fitness testing.
We had a few tests that we needed to do to see where we were in relation to other guys. First off was the T-test where you would run forward 10 yards, then shuffle left and then right and back peddle back. You would do that one time for each direction. I didn't do as well as I wanted but still turned in a decent time I suppose. Afterwards was the vertical leap test and the sit up test. For the sit up test, I set a goal for the offseason for 65 sit ups in a minute. I came up 1 short with 64. Once we were done with all the tests we had to run 10, 60 yard sprints.
Once finished, I ate lunch and caught a shuttle back to the room where I immediately fell asleep for 2 hours. The nap was well deserved but came back to haunt me as I couldn't fall asleep as easily as I normally do that night.
It seems that the days are getting to be on a schedule now. Breakfast will be at 6:45 am and then I'll be rolling home around 1:30. On day 3 (Monday), we did some more early work where we talked about managing the running game again. Afterwards we did the team stretch and went back into our quick 10 minute stations. I think I may be getting better at bunting. I was pretty horrendous to begin, but today I think I may be getting better (but still not necessarily good). Finally in the last station I was set to throw a pen. Last time I only threw change-ups and fastballs. Today we were allowed to spin a few breakers off the mound. Unfortunately for us we had 35-40 mph winds that were blowing from every direction. Playing catch at about 90-120' was a debacle as balls were flying everywhere. Luckily though, we caught the eye of the hurricane and were able to get a pen in without the ridiculous winds. Mac, our minor league pitching coordinator, worked with me on lengthening my stride. I was already pretty quick to the plate, so he had me lift my leg a little higher so I can get more of a push off my back leg which would in turn lengthen my stride. I was still able to locate my pitches and felt pretty good overall. Once finished, I went and did my running for the day as well as my arm care.
Not a bad day overall. I don't know what it is, but my pens out here are immensely better than the ones I was throwing at home. It could just be me getting back into it a bit more, but I was not happy with the pens I was throwing at home. Now that I'm here, outside, in warm weather, my pens are starting to come together. Hopefully I can keep it going! The competition out here is pretty ridiculous. Everyone is amazing. There's always someone who throws harder, has better control, or is in better shape. It's very easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing, but one thing I've learned is that you have to be concerned with making yourself better. Just work hard and have a good attitude. If you can do those things, everything will work out the way it's suppose to.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Travel and Day 1
After waiting 6 long months for March 4th, the day finally came. I woke up early and was taken to the airport by my dad and little brother John. I checked my bag (48 lbs...that's what I call experience), and went through security. I met up with another Cincinnati guy on the other side, his name is Joel, he's 6'4, and a pitcher, though left handed. He went to Colerain. We chatted it up for a bit and then hopped on our flight to Phoenix with a lay over in Chi-town.
After hours of reading, Cribbage, and Angry Birds, I finally landed in Phoenix. I got picked up by the van and was greeted by some familiar faces from last year. After battling some rush house traffic we were dropped off at the familiar Hilton Garden Inn. I checked in and found out my roommate was Nathan Driessen, the left handed, submarine pitcher from Australia that I played with last year in AZL. Unfortunately for him, he was stranded in Honolulu for the time being. I found out that we would not be allowed to eat or drink anything from after midnight because of drug testing the next morning (at 6 am). Exhausted from traveling, I passed out.
Anyone who was familiar with my offseason workout schedule will know that waking up at 6 am here is no problem. However, what is posing a minor problem is me trying to be able to get to bed late enough to where I don't wake up around 3-4 am. Since we're only 2 hours behind EST, it's not as bad, but hopefully once that time change hits I'll be on regular MST. Anyways, I rolled out of bed at 5:45 and went down and did the urine and blood tests followed by breakfast.
Afterwards, I hitched a ride to the field and unpacked my things. I found out that I was assigned number 47. Once my things were unpacked, I changed into my workout clothes and working toward the long checklist of tests. If you didn't do anything during your offseason conditioning, they will know. If you hated one particular lift and created an imbalance in your muscles and strength, they will know. The amount of tests we did was ridiculous. I started by getting my picture taken with all the Reds affiliate hats. Later I got my height, weight, and body fat checked and found out that I was down 12 lbs from last year's peak. That was surprising since I have been eating myself crazy for the last 2 weeks and only have seemed to have lost weight. My vision came in at 20/15 in both eyes which was pleasing. The thing I was anticipating was the consensus on my hip. Once I got the orthopedic examination, they took one look at my hip and said there was some angular displacement which means my hips were angled forward a little bit. I assured him that it could just be my oddly shaped body (thanks dad), but they insisted that I have really tight hip flexors and quads. I knew my hip flexor was tight because it had been bothering me for some time now, but the quad did surprise me as I did a pretty extensive stretching program this offseason. I was happy to hear that it wasn't anything major.
After the physicals, we had a quick meeting that was sort of an introduction to Spring Training, and we then went and stretched as a unit. After stretch, we broke up into our parts with about 8-9 guys per group. We then did a throwing program, and an endless amount of PFP's (pitcher's fielding practice). Most of the fielding drills were nothing out of the ordinary, but one new thing for me was bunting. Pitchers don't get to have the opportunity to hit until Double A, but they have everyone learn how to bunt regardless. It's been a few years since I had a legitimate reason to have lumber in my hands but I'm doing my best to shake off the rust. After bunting practice, I was slated to throw my first bullpen. It was a pen where we only threw fastballs and change-ups, and at about 85% velocity. Overall I felt pretty good and had good location. I bounced my first change-up at about 40 feet but after that I was good. Throwing that pen did a lot for my confidence because that is obviously one of the fundamental aspects of your livelihood as a pitcher and your offseason preparation.
After doing all the stations we were brought to the final station: conditioning. We had the option to do the 2 mile conditioning test now or wait until after our next bullpen. This two mile test is something that all the pitchers have been dreading It doesn't matter how much running you did in the offseason. Anything short of a marathon will mean that the 2 mile will be a difficult test with the dry desert heat. My legs were cashed after a long day of physicals and drills but I wanted to get this 2 miler out of the way. At the end of the run I clocked in a time of 13 minutes and 18 seconds. I was a little disappointed with my time due to the amount of running I did to prepare, but I eventually learned that it was a pretty good time so at the end of the day, I'm happy.
After the 2 mile run, pitches that threw a bullpen had to do arm care weights. My mind was a little fuzzy from the run but I managed to get it finished. The day was finally over. I took the shuttle back to the hotel and passed out.
After hours of reading, Cribbage, and Angry Birds, I finally landed in Phoenix. I got picked up by the van and was greeted by some familiar faces from last year. After battling some rush house traffic we were dropped off at the familiar Hilton Garden Inn. I checked in and found out my roommate was Nathan Driessen, the left handed, submarine pitcher from Australia that I played with last year in AZL. Unfortunately for him, he was stranded in Honolulu for the time being. I found out that we would not be allowed to eat or drink anything from after midnight because of drug testing the next morning (at 6 am). Exhausted from traveling, I passed out.
Anyone who was familiar with my offseason workout schedule will know that waking up at 6 am here is no problem. However, what is posing a minor problem is me trying to be able to get to bed late enough to where I don't wake up around 3-4 am. Since we're only 2 hours behind EST, it's not as bad, but hopefully once that time change hits I'll be on regular MST. Anyways, I rolled out of bed at 5:45 and went down and did the urine and blood tests followed by breakfast.
Afterwards, I hitched a ride to the field and unpacked my things. I found out that I was assigned number 47. Once my things were unpacked, I changed into my workout clothes and working toward the long checklist of tests. If you didn't do anything during your offseason conditioning, they will know. If you hated one particular lift and created an imbalance in your muscles and strength, they will know. The amount of tests we did was ridiculous. I started by getting my picture taken with all the Reds affiliate hats. Later I got my height, weight, and body fat checked and found out that I was down 12 lbs from last year's peak. That was surprising since I have been eating myself crazy for the last 2 weeks and only have seemed to have lost weight. My vision came in at 20/15 in both eyes which was pleasing. The thing I was anticipating was the consensus on my hip. Once I got the orthopedic examination, they took one look at my hip and said there was some angular displacement which means my hips were angled forward a little bit. I assured him that it could just be my oddly shaped body (thanks dad), but they insisted that I have really tight hip flexors and quads. I knew my hip flexor was tight because it had been bothering me for some time now, but the quad did surprise me as I did a pretty extensive stretching program this offseason. I was happy to hear that it wasn't anything major.
After the physicals, we had a quick meeting that was sort of an introduction to Spring Training, and we then went and stretched as a unit. After stretch, we broke up into our parts with about 8-9 guys per group. We then did a throwing program, and an endless amount of PFP's (pitcher's fielding practice). Most of the fielding drills were nothing out of the ordinary, but one new thing for me was bunting. Pitchers don't get to have the opportunity to hit until Double A, but they have everyone learn how to bunt regardless. It's been a few years since I had a legitimate reason to have lumber in my hands but I'm doing my best to shake off the rust. After bunting practice, I was slated to throw my first bullpen. It was a pen where we only threw fastballs and change-ups, and at about 85% velocity. Overall I felt pretty good and had good location. I bounced my first change-up at about 40 feet but after that I was good. Throwing that pen did a lot for my confidence because that is obviously one of the fundamental aspects of your livelihood as a pitcher and your offseason preparation.
After doing all the stations we were brought to the final station: conditioning. We had the option to do the 2 mile conditioning test now or wait until after our next bullpen. This two mile test is something that all the pitchers have been dreading It doesn't matter how much running you did in the offseason. Anything short of a marathon will mean that the 2 mile will be a difficult test with the dry desert heat. My legs were cashed after a long day of physicals and drills but I wanted to get this 2 miler out of the way. At the end of the run I clocked in a time of 13 minutes and 18 seconds. I was a little disappointed with my time due to the amount of running I did to prepare, but I eventually learned that it was a pretty good time so at the end of the day, I'm happy.
After the 2 mile run, pitches that threw a bullpen had to do arm care weights. My mind was a little fuzzy from the run but I managed to get it finished. The day was finally over. I took the shuttle back to the hotel and passed out.
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