Whose throwing curveballs now?

All that I’m throwing Thursday nonsense went out the window today. Apparently the schedule that was posted on Monday is not the schedule that we are going by. According to the schedule, I am in line to throw Thursday in a camp game for two innings. 

When I arrived at the ballpark I was told that I was back up duty today for both games. The original plan against the Astros was each guy goes 5 innings and I back up if needed. It was a little bit of a surprise but I am on the two days off schedule I have been following since day one. 

With all this being said, the first starter only went 3 2/3 which at that point I knew I was going to throw at least one inning. The ninth inning rolled around and we were down 8-2, not much pressure on me but I always want to do well. I felt great during warmups and then the inning started. 

I think I got behind the first hitter but he flew out to left field. Second hitter I fell behind, that seems to be my reoccurring theme when I struggle, and he singled to left field. After a long at bat and multiple foul balls, I got the next hitter to pop up to shallow center. The ball was misplayed by the short stop and center fielder and it dropped for a hit. 

1st and 2nd, 1 out, a quick mound visit and I was back on the mound. I tried my change up but it was a ball then went all fastballs to get a swinging strikeout. The last hitter was a bigger righty and I doubled up on curveballs to get ahead 0-2. A couple bad pitches later and he flew out on a fastball to center field to end the inning. 

While I was walking to my conditioning field, I talked to Rich Dubee who is out minor league pitching coordinator. All he told me to do was throw more curveballs and stick with it. With that being said, if I throw again before we break camp I will have to control and throw some more curveballs. If the schedule of two days off and a day on stays true, then I’ll be throwing Friday in Viera against the Nationals. 

My final line was:

1.0 IP 2 H 0 BB 1 K 0 ER

This could have been my last chance to make a good impression before the last roster cuts. I have done well enough to earn a spot, but that is out of my control also. If I throw Friday, great, if this was my last impression, also good because nobody scored. My velocity was more sporadic but I think I know what caused that. 

Rosters should be posted soon and I’ll keep everyone updated on those.

Much Better

Today was my fourth appearance of the spring. I normally throw for the Carolina team but today I threw for the Rome team. We were playing Potomac which is the A working group for the Washington Nationals. 

The starter was slated for five innings, mid relief for three, and myself taking the ball in the ninth. 

On a normal gameday, if you throw in the game you watch the team stretch and do a team fundamental. Then take it into the locker room for lunch. Today the game pitchers had to stretch at 9:30, watch pop ups, and watch PFPs. With that being said, I still had an hour and a half break before I had to be back on the field. It was a bit unusual from the normal routine but hey flexibility is always nice. 

In my last outing, I threw two curveballs. This summer, my curveball was a good secondary offering and the coaches today made it very clear that I needed to throw more curveballs. They also preach that we need fastball command and throw 80% fastballs, but I do what I’m told. I made sure when I was warming up the curveball was ready to go. 

I came into the game top of the ninth with a 5-1 lead. First hitter was a righty and popped out in foul territory on a 1-0 fastball. Second hitter was a lefty and swinging bunted a 1-0 fastball back to me for the out. It would have been great to get ahead of these guys but I felt like I did a good job getting back in the zone on 1-0. The third guy was a lefty and he received the curveballs. I hadnt thrown one yet so I had to shake off the first pitch fastball and go with a curve. First one was a get me over to show him I had it for a strike. The next two were down in the zone and fortunately I got him to chase twice for a swinging strikeout. That was it and after seven pitches the game was over. Final line was:

1.0 IP 0 ER 0 BB 0 H 1 K 

It was a much better outing that my last one against Detroit. A quick seven pitch inning with a few curves mixed in felt great. With the end of spring training in sight, I have one more scheduled appearance. I do not want to look into it too much only throwing once but everyone else seems to have a couple appearances left. 

If Thursday is my last appearance then I should make it a good one. 

Three Week Mark

Here we are at the three week mark since I have arrived in Florida. This means the last full week is around the corner. 

Today was an interesting day. There was rain forecasted and based on tbat forecast the games in Lakeland were cancelled. I was originally scheduled to back up for today’s game. I learned that a few guys who were supposed to throw yesterday did not, which pushed me out of backup duty. We had intersquad games going on instead starting at 10:00. Home plate foul ball duty, it’s not the worst thing to do. 

Today was also interesting because there were a lot of cuts to the minor league teams. With a week to go, I am sure there will be many more cuts to come based on the number of guys that we have in camp. Having guys get cut always makes me sad. Even guys I never talked to getting cut makes me sad. It’s a reality check for most of the guys that this is for real and there are no gurantees to keep playing. Yes there are obviously guys who are 100% safe, but that’s another story. 

When someone gets cut, it could be an end of a dream. Everyone in camp should have the same goal of making it to the major leagues. I know that not everyone will stop playing and keep giving it a go, but I still don’t like it when it happens. Both of my locker buddies were gone the same day and they don’t waste time keeping you around. The plane ticket is usually the same day or early the next day. 

The thing is it’s just like every other day until you get to practice and find out the news. I feel like there is a cloud of uncertantity in the locker room because guys are second guessing themselves. It is sometning I do not think about, but sometimes it comes to the surface and doubt might creep in. That’s a normal and rational feeling in the situation that I am in. To me, one of the most important things is acting and believing that you belong. I believe I belong and I believe that I will last through the next week and make a full season club. 

Tomorrow I get to throw against the Nationals at our place. I’m looking to rebound from my 1.1 IP versus the Tigers. Get a few strikeouts. Show the pitching coach I know what I am doing. Especially because we just changed coaches from the A ball coach to the A+ coach. First time I get to throw in front of him, and hopefully continue to throw in front of him for the last week of camp. 

The Tigers

Third outing of spring today against the Detroit Tigers. My first chance against another organization! Here is how it went down. 

Eighth inning I arrive. Nine pitches later I am out of the inning with a couple hits mixed in. We noticed in the bullpen that guys were taking the first pitch so my plan was to go in and have confidence throwing strike one. I threw all fastballs because for the most part I got ahead or they swung 1-0. 

My second inning, top of 9. Second inning didn’t go as hot. I got the first guy 0-2 and then walked him. Second time I have done that this spring. Those should both be easy strike outs when you get a guy to 0-2. The pitches I followed up with weren’t tempting enough to get a swing out of him. 

Next hitter was a lefty and on a 1-0 fastball he crushed it over the right field wall. At that point, I thought okay here is a chance to show them I can bounce back from a homer. That makes my home run count to 2 lifetime. I’m still on the positive end of the home run spectrum in my book but it still sucks to give one up. The next hitter lined out to center field and my day was done. I’m more upset about going 0-2 on a guy and walking him than a guy squaring up a belt high fastball. My total up to 4 already which isn’t good so next time I’ll need to make sure there are no walks on Saturday. My final line was:

1.1 IP 2 H 1 BB 0 K 2 ER.

Seems the Tigers enjoy hitting off me because my last outing versus them against the GCL didn’t go so hot. Damn those Tigers. 

Besides a bomb and a terrible walk it was a good day. I got to see Terry Tripp who signed me and he got to see me throw for the first time. My first inning was a good sign that I can get a quick inning relying on fastballs in the zone. 

An even bigger plus is that tomorrow is an off day so I’ll get lurk around and rest after going for about three weeks of nonstop baseball. From what I have heard spring is over April 5 so around two weeks more to prove myself. Next time I get to do that is Saturday!

Spring Training Day 15

I think I am near the halfway point of spring training. I do not know the last day of spring, but I do know a few things. 

1. Throwing again Tuesday and Saturday. 

2. Day off Wednesday.

With that being said, it should be a good week. I threw yesterday in our camp game and it went as well as my last outing. I only threw one inning but also had a walk and a strike out. The goal on Tuesday will be to get ahead of the hitters and work towards no walks. 

Between my outings I have been asked to make some mechanical adjustments, which is fine, but it is a different motion. With that being said, it went well because I was near the zone for the most part. My roommate grounded out against me which made me feel good. 

Spring training is very similar to a GCL season. You practice in the morning and you play a game in the afternoon. Except it is only 90 degrees instead of 99 degrees.  Tomorrow will be a short day for me, the A+/A teams are on the road, so I get to watch the higher up teams play. Maybe pick up a thing or two before my outing on Tuesday.

Two more weeks and hopefully I know what full time club I am on. 

2222

The day of the two. First camp game for the Braves was today. We had three games going across the back fields, and ours was only four innings.

The plan for the day was to follow up Caleb Dirks and pitch two innings. He and I were the only two throwing in the camp game. The reason for this was that many of the Carolina/Rome pitchers were throwing in St. Pete for a game against Team Canada. I think it is the same Team Canada from instructional ball but I never faced them so I’m not sure what they are like. Anyways, on days that you pitch in a game, you do not do much leading up to the game. The team meeting was at 9:30, but we were sent back into the locker room until 11:00. During this down time, the other pitchers were throwing sides and shagging batting practice. I forgot about the downtime on days I throw, and was book less. I came in unprepared. 

When we came back out we did a stretch on our own and then I hungout until the game started. When the first inning was finished I went to the bullpen to warmup. I didn’t think I got a very good warmup in and felt awkward during the game. I’ll have to change that for Saturday when I throw again. 

As far as my game performance went, it was the day of twos. I threw two, walked two, gave up two hits, and struck out two. My line if there was a scorebook would be :

2.0 IP 0 ER 2 H 2 BB 2 K

It felt good to be in a game situation, even if it was a camp game. I didn’t feel completely lose, and a tad awkward, even my coach noticed I was tight. Not a nervous tense, just gripping the ball too hard tense. He was looking for a more relaxed arm action and said we can work on it during early work one of these days. That’s what spring is for, to get back into the feel of the game. I doubt they expect guys to be in mid season form when they show up to camp. On the AAA field, Kimbrel hit a guy in the head. at least I didn’t do that. 

Overall, I’m walking away from my performance happy. I threw good change ups for the first time in a while, I had a good curveball, even though it was a lot slower than it was this summer, I’m sure it will speed up as my arm continues to loosen up. 

Going into my next outing, I’m going to work on being more relaxed and have the loose arm that the coaching staff is looking for. I’m excited to see my fellow pitchers start throwing and learn a thing or two. This was my 24th inning as a pro, so I have a long way to go before I’m caught up to these guys. 

Next appearance is Saturday, and it is only one inning which means I’ll have to make the adjustments quicker and won’t have that extra inning to show the coaches my pitching. Overall, positive day and looking forward to Saturday. 

Week One

First week in the books. It has been an eventful week full of baseball and meetings. 

Throughout this first week there have been a lot of meetings. We covered security, leadership, mental skills, pitching meetings, house keeping meetings, MLB guys speaking meetings, and a few I can’t think of right now. The good and bad part of the meetings are that they are early in the morning. Sometimes a few hours before we meet as a team which leads to a lot of down time. Besides the meetings, there has been a lot of baseball in the first week. 

The first week of camp is devoted to fundamentals and doing them the right way. You always here that baseball is a game of repition. Well we do the same reps that have been practiced since the beginning of baseball. We have done cut offs, bunt defense, relays, PFPs, the same stuff that high schools and colleges do. Baseball is definitely a game of repition. 

On a personal note, I have thrown two bullpens and a live BP as of today. Bullpens have been good, but my offspeed control hasn’t been the best so far. With the live BP, we threw with an L-screen in front of us and I had 25 pitches. I couldn’t tell you who was hitting against me because I was trying really hard to focus in on the mitt. My catcher was Blake Austin, a guy I met during the GCL until he was promoted to to Danville. The only awkward part of the live BP is the L-screen. I didn’t feel like I was going to hit it but it is lingering there. Fastball command was good again, it was either down or too high for guys to hit. I was gripping my change up way too hard and spiked a couple which was expected day one to hitters. I thought my curve had good movement but I couldn’t locate very well. 

I’m pretty sure that games start Friday or Saturday against other teams. Besides baseball, most of the guys lurk around the hotel. Board games, card games, video games, and the hot tub are very popular. It isn’t so bad, I’ve gotten through a few books since I’ve been here. 

This week will be great with intersquad games as well as playing against other teams. Coming in hot! 

Spring Training Day 1

Reporting live from the Fairfield Inn. 

Today was the first day of practice for minor league guys. The way the Braves do camp is through working groups and teams. The working groups are all of the minor league affiliates so you practice and eventually play against guys who are near your skill level. 

Before I get into all that I want to talk about yesterday and this morning. Yesterday was the conditioning testing which wasn’t a problem. At five that evening, we had a orientation of sorts at Celebration High. Well it was supposed to start at five, but we had people in traffic so we had to wait. Little did we know at the time the guys causing the delay were John Schuerholz, John Hart, and Dave Trembley. I guess when you are president and the general manager of the Braves you can show up whenever. 

Anyways, it was nice to hear those guys speak about what they expected from camp. They also showed a cool highlight video from last season. Much of the talk was about the Braves of the past, the fourteen division titles, and a championship in 1995. 

This morning, all of the instructors and coaches introduced themselves. One of the first guys to speak was Fred McGriff aka the Crime Dog. I remember watching him when I was a kid with the Braves and the Rays. He also said shebang three times. I didn’t see him as a guy who used the word shebang. After all introductions, we were addressed by the head trainer and head strength coach about the rules. Then Dave Trembley spoke. 

He is a great guy that I think will do well in the system and hopefully take the Braves back to the good days through player development. He said that after he was fired from the Astros he felt lost. He always had a game to be at or players to talk to, but after that he wasn’t sure what he should be doing. I had a brief run in with that feeling. Right after the draft that is how I felt. I didn’t think I played my last game but at the time it’s hard to see past the immediate fact that there is no game. 

Then day one started. For my group, group two, it was an easy day. I think for every group it was an easy day because they don’t want to kill you day one with activity. My group was the first bullpen of the spring. Well technically the fourth wave of bullpens, so about the 36th guy to throw his bullpen. It was twenty-five pitches maximum and thirty-five maximum for starters. My throwing partner was Caleb Dirks, I met him in instructs. Cool guy from Cali. 

My bullpen felt okay, it was my first one outside so it was different. My fastball command was pretty good, either low or high out of the zone. Change up okay, actually better than my curve which was my pitch during the season. I’m not looking too much into it, because I haven’t thrown outside or thrown since Wednesday and it felt like it. After that we had our conditioning so it was an easy day. 

I wrote earlier about autograph seekers. Well I turned a guy down today. He had a big binder of blank cards. I was told this fall not to sign anything blank, I’m not sure if it is bad or good but I’ll listen to what I’m told. 0/1 on autographs but that’s okay. I don’t think missing out on a GCL pitchers autograph is a big deal. 

Day 1 in the books, I think I’m getting a nice tan. I’m trying to remember everything that happens while also soaking in the experience myself. Tomorrow looks to be an easy day also, except it is pitcher fielding practice, shagging batting practice, and running rather than a pen. The season has officially started. 

Pre Spring Training

I’m not counting today as spring training starting. Tomorrow is the conditioning test which to me will begin the season. There was some exciting stuff that happened today. 

The hotel room has been fixed up some, the lights work now which is a plus, and I think the air conditoner will not leak as much as before. My roommate is Ray Patrick-Didder. We played together last summer in the GCL and he speaks good English. He actually bought a PS3 today so our room might become popular when people know we have a game console. Anyways, I went over to the field today because I heard that is what we are supposed to do. I wouldn’t have known to do that unless I heard about it at breakfast. 

When I arrived at the field, the parking lot was almost full because of the big league spring training game. During the GCL season, we stayed in the big league locker room but that isn’t the case for spring training. There are also a lot more Disney people running around, I guess this is a bit more serious that the GCL. The minor league locker room is located behind the big league stadium so it is decent walk. 

We walked by a lot of people holding different sorts of memorabilia. Unfortunately for me, nobody seemed entertained with getting an autograph. But why would they? Maybe in a few years I can remember the people who didn’t seem so interested, but only time will see how that plays out. 

Back to the locker room. There are two locker rooms for minor league guys. A locker room full of pitchers and a locker room full of position guys. There are six pods of pitching lockers so it is a tight fit for everyone to be in there at once. 



I received my two shirts, shorts, long sleeve, and fleece pullover. I like my gloves on top but you can put them wherever. There is also a cabinet on top that can be locked so I will put the more valuable stuff in there. I had a nice pair of socks stolen during the season so I’m not taking any chances.

After loading up the locker, there were some guys in the training room. Figured to take a look and see what was going on. The training staff was doing testing for guys who just got their physicals done but they let us do it early if they wanted. The testing was fun, it was testing range of motion for the most part. Also, they tested strength by having you press against them, and using this little machine to test the power you produced. During internal and external rotation testing, the trainers put an ultrasound on the front of my shoulder. They said they were looking to see how my shoulder moved during rotation. I passed. 

Tomorrow morning is my physical, which is always nice. Then photo day at 10:30, followed by strength and conditioning testing at 1:00. Tomorrow night, there is minor league orientation at 5:00. Then it is day 1 of spring training. 

Orlando!

I survived! For what seemed like endless rain, I have arrived in Orlando. Check in day tomorrow. 

When I left my house Tuesday, I headed to Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, KY. That was my home base for the last two years and happens to be sort of on the way to Orlando. The team was supposed to have a double header but with cool temperatures and rain the games were cancelled. It was a relaxing Tuesday where I got to see some friends. 

On Wednesday, I threw a bullpen in the teams shed, with an actual hitter tracking pitches! It was great to have a hitter standing it and add more pressure. Not really pressure but it made my heart beat a little bit more. That could have been a side effect of me throwing last, which wasn’t the plan, so everyone was watching. That’s the plan away, pitch in front of a lot of people. Anyway, it was great. I felt decent off the turf mound, and received good feedback. The team was heading to Atlanta for the weekend that evening, if that’s not a good sign then I’m not sure what is. 

After that, I showered up and headed to Cleveland, TN to see my former roommate and his family. Always great to see friendly faces. 

Today was the final leg of the trip. 



This was my my view the entire drive until I hit Florida. I felt like a storm chaser or sometning being pelted with rain and seeing the dark clouds. When I reached Atlanta, I could have taken the bypass. What fun is that? I drove right by Turner Field. 



I wanted to see the stadium on the drive down, maybe get some good vibes from it. I noticed after my picture that my hat cast a sweet reflection against the windshield. Maybe I’ll start my photography hobby this year. 

After much rain, and a decent trip, I’m here in Orlando. Check in day is tomorrow, which will brings a lot lf friendly faces to Orlando. I’m my sure what the plan is after that. I know medical checks are tbis weekend but I haven’t heard anything about that. At this point, tomorrow is going to consist of unloading the car and hitting up the outlets for some discount polo shirts. 

I guess my countdown to spring trains is over. I’m not sure if the weekend counts as spring training but it is baseball activity. First spring training. Woo!

Edit #1. I realized last night was my last solo night for a while. Interesting thought after having my own room for the offseason. Hotel life is nice because you get the maid service but have to break in a new roommate. Anwyays, something I thought about this morning.