SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2017
Overcast today, but warm enough at 66. They were late again today I got there at 10 and they werenât out on the field yet. They didnât get done their warmup exercises until 10:47. This provided a lot of time to meet and talk with old friends. While I was waiting, an announcement came over the attendantâs Walkie Talkie that they were moving the game time up one hour today. That caught my attention, what game? All the information I had listed the February 23 game with Tampa University as the first game. I went to talk to the attendant and as it turns out, Spectrum Field was hosting a college tournament this weekend and the game they were talking about was one of those.
They again started with their running the bases drills. These were basically the same ones that I described yesterday. After that, they went into a pickoff, rundown drill that I found interesting. It started with the pitcher holding the ball like he was getting ready to deliver it home and then a quick throw to first to catch the runner off base. Then they would then go through the drill, making sure everyone went to the right spot every time the ball was thrown. They also did it catching the runner off second and third base. Given the problems they had last year with the execution of these fundamental skills, I would say that this was time well spent. It would be nice if they could eliminate some of the fiascos they had last year.
Pitchers began to warm up on the mounds that we canât see. I couldnât help but wonder if they were just getting their work in, or the team was going to do the live batting practice. I could tell that there were four of them and that indicated batting practice. Sure enough, the protective screens were set and the pitchers came out. Yesterday I ran from field to field trying to see who the pitchers were on the mound of each. The bad thing about that is that you really donât get the chance to see who is doing what, you are always moving. Today I was standing at the Ashburn field(southwest field) and I saw that Jared Eickhoff was heading to the mound. He interests me greatly this year so I decided to stay there and watch. The hitters in this group, were Tommy Joseph, Howie Kendrick, Michael Saunders, Cameron Rupp, and Aaron Altherr. The first thing that happened was that Tommy Joseph set up at the plate left handed. No, he is not going to work on switch hitting. One of the jobs of the hitters is to give the pitcher a realistic image of the strike zone and often the hitter will take the first on the opposite side of the plate. Although the first time out for a pitcher is not a good indication, I thought Eickhoff looked fairly sharp. The hitters werenât hitting a lot. Eickhoff was followed by Hector Neris. Neris was having problems locating the ball. Several time he moved the hittersâ feet. They both looked like they were throwing fairly hard and without a lot of effort.
After Neris, the players left the field and the grounds crew wheeled out the platforms that the coaches throw batting practice from and that was a signal for me to go to lunch. It struck me that this was a very short session. Actually, if the warmup time is eliminated, The playing drills were only 43 minutes. Looking at the sky and wondered if the minor league kids were going to get any practice in. It could rain any second. The minor leaguers usually do their workouts in the afternoon until the big team moves up to the stadium on February 23. Sometimes the major leaguers come out to work with coaches on specific problems. I decided to go to Frenchyâs Outpost for lunch.