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.
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