Here we are back at square one. It was a weird road trip for us this time around because we had two rain out days. We came in expecting to play Thursday-Sunday and we ended up playing double headers on Friday and Sunday.
The last time I went on the mound was Monday, however I had been throwing off the mound as part of our throwing program. My action came on the final day of the trip in the last inning. I know my role on the team and it is a role that I have earned. I only pitch in situations when there is nothing on the line. It is not a role that you want, to be the filler on the team, but it doesn’t matter what I want. It doesn’t matter how I feel or what I think or what role I think I should be in. The facts are the facts and right now you could argue, although I wouldn’t argue with you, that I am the worst pitcher on our staff, potentially in the league. It could be said that I am digging myself into my grave, and what is the first rule of digging holes to get out? That you have to stop digging.
When you get the point I am at you might say to yourself well you can only go up from here. I could see how you might say that but I have proven to myself again that yes you can continue to dig into the hole you have found yourself in. At this point these first three weeks can hang over your head for the entire season as a reliever, or heck now probably even as a starter. If teams truly want people to develop and learn then I am going to be a great example of someone who has danced with failure for the last few years and come away on the other side a better pitcher and competitor.
To this point I have been digging into a hole. We have an off day on Monday from all baseball activity which the advice I got from our coaches was to not think about baseball at all. A complete mental and physical break from baseball. Then when I come back on Tuesday be a different person who has drawn the line in the sand that is saying no more of this. No more of whatever the heck I’ve been doing that’s made me the worst.
This post certainly has a negative ting to it and that’s okay. Like I said what I feel isn’t going to change the outcome of what has happened to say. All I can do is feel like the work I put in will lead me to success down the road, and starting on Tuesday. The season is still very young and I have damage control to do, and each opportunity at the ballpark is a chance to improve. Everyone else is enjoying their time so far and I’m over here being a pud. Pud life. One thing our coach always tells us is that you can either take their lunch money when you pitch or you let the other team take your money from you. Today was a day that I had my money taken from me.
Easier said than done. After three weeks here I have to start something new or I won’t make it through another three weeks.
The first road trip of the year is in the books and the Red Sox went 5-2. Not a bad start for our season on the road and bouncing back from a 1-3 start to the season.
The first trip on the road was to Lynchburg, VA. The Lynchburg Hillcats are the Cleveland Indians affiliate for this league. They actually used to be the Atlanta Braves when I was there in 2014. Baseball is a small world.
The thing about the Lynchburg trip is that it is about 1.5 hours away from Salem. This means that we do not stay the night, we just commute back and forth before and after the game. Not the biggest of deals, but it can be a let down knowing after the game you have to sit on the bus instead of going right back to bed. The good news during the trip is that we won more than we lost, and winning makes bus rides a lot more enjoyable heading back. From the rumor mill about Lynchburg their field is not in the best of shape. The playing surface isn’t the greatest but then we showed up the playing surface was new.
Views of Lynchburg
The locker rooms were pleasant, the spreads were good, and the atmosphere in Lynchburg was nice. I wonder how it looked in 1757 when John Lynch founded the burg. Good crowds for a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday game. I did not pitch during this series as I threw my 2 innings on Sunday. I thought that there would be a chance I would pitch Wednesday if I was called upon, but I did not end up pitching until Friday of this week.
After our return from Wednesday’s game we were on the bus at 7:30 to head to Kinston, NC. Actually, we went to Greenville, NC, which is about a 45 min drive from Kinston. Greenville is home to Eastern Carolina University, and exploring their campus was nice. It was a smaller campus but the downtown area had a lot of school spirit and reminded me of my days in Terre Haute. Apparently Kinston is not the best area and does not have the amenities to house us while we are there. Originally known as Kingston, named after King George III, the city renamed to Kisnton to show their disapproval of the king after The Revolutionary War Also. Greenville is also named after a Revolutionary general, who were apparently popular in North Carolina. The team in Kinston left in 2011, and is now part of the Carolina league again. From what I gathered the location and the stadium was part of the reason that t the team left in the first place. The Rangers moved out to High Desert in California, but then ran into problems with the city and the stadium there and were looking for a new home in 2017. The city of Kinston made renovations to their stadium to lure the team back and rejoin the league. Once again, the ballpark was being talked about in a negative light because nobody has seen it since 2011. When we arrived it was nicer than anticipated, and it was a pleasant surprise for us. The atmosphere over the weekend was nice and there were probably 2-3000 people at each game.
Wood Ducks
I pitched okay in my one appearance on Friday. I went 1.1 innings and ended up giving in one run, but I thought most of my hitters were competitive and I didn’t back down. The bullpen bailed me out stranding my other two runners and I am thankful for that and the W that we got. I felt good on the mound, felt like my stuff was good enough to get the outs I needed, and overall looking to build off what I did on Friday into the next appearance and start a new scoreless streak.
Off the field there wasn’t much going on, a few weird conversations in the bullpen, and some good conversation with our pitching coach. One of the topics we talked about in the bullpen was how we all know guys who “don’t care” but somehow work their way up through the ladder of minor league baseball onto the league. I put “don’t care” into quotes because I think those guys are just acting like they don’t and on the inside they do care. It would be hard to play a game like baseball each day and not care about what is happening, and I think I need to take a page from their playbook. I asked our coach if is possible to care too much, and he said no, which sort of shot down my thought. Sometimes you can care too much and it messes with your psyche. The deep emotional investment into each and every pitch can mess with your mind, and training yourself to erase each pitch would be better. If you are attaching emotional meaning to each and everything you do, it can be labeled as passion, but also think it can be a hindrance going forward. I guess there is a fine line that you have to be able to walk, and the old saying fake it till you make it can be true.
Another point our pitching coach made was about how when you look back over the season and see zeros by your name that is all that will matter. You won’t say oh man I walked 2 guys but I threw up a zero that was a bad outing. Then look at an outing where you gave up 5 hits and 2 runs but no walks, and will think dang bad outing I gave up runs. Basically if you have a zero by your name at the end of the day then who cares how it happens. You can refine yourself between each outing and work on the walks, but zeros will always play.
Which leads me to tonight. It was a rainy and soggy day today in Salem. The rain started at the onset of the game but was over by about the fourth inning. Our starter Matt Kent was cruising through the game and it helped that we had a nine run second inning. During the game it was great to see our guys smashing the ball left and right, and maybe I am soft because I had a soft spot for their pitcher. I’ve been there before on the wrong end and it is not a good feeling. When the seventh inning rolled around I was the first one to get the call to start warming up. Kent got a quick out and I thought okay be ready for this inning but also be ready and don’t overthrow because I might not pitch until the 8th inning. Well there was a close play at first which Kent thought the guy was out and disagreed with the ump who felt it necessary to throw him out of the game. Which meant my time in the bullpen was over and it was game on.
The umpire and my manager reminded me that I got a few extra warm-ups and not to rush through this. I thought okay that is well and good but also I’ll stick with my routine and throw my eight pitches and lets go game on. My outing went pretty good, not as smooth as I would have hoped, but like my coach says, zeroes are the goal. I came in and gave our team a chance by throwing up a few zeroes on board. Zeroes are always good and I am glad that I contributed to the win tonight in a positive way. Our pitching coach always tells us that we are always building a scoreless inning streak, build off that and it keep it going and that is the plan this time. Keep the scoreless inning streak going.
King of the Castle
I’ll have a front toss on Wednesday, and be up for the game also. Tomorrow will be a chiller day for me in the pen unless and emergency, and I am looking forward to working on my game during catch and seeing what feedback I can get from my coaches. I have a tendency to over analyze each thing I do, and told I talk to much after an outing trying to figure this or figure that. Now is the time to think about it, but now that it is over it is time to relax, look back on the positive, and go from there.
Two more home games versus Wilmington, and then four on the road. Looking forward to a good week ahead. 🙂
The rosters are set, practice is over, and all that is left is Opening Night in Salem, VA.
Due to the new team, these Down East Ducks, the schedule originally had us playing at their place on the road but they wanted to make sure they had plenty of time for their opening night. Therefore the first four games of the season would be playing at Haley Toyota. The first two nights of the season were cold, cold for anywhere, not just cold coming from two months in Florida where the blood thins out. Jackets and hoodies were required for anyone not actively on the field, and a wind screen or two could have helped also. The home bullpen is exposed to all the elements and there is no hiding from the extensive wind blasts that were here the first two days of the season.
Before any games took place in Salem we had Monday off, Tuesday practice, and Wednesday practice. The mad dash for housing was underway, the smell of baseball was back in the air, and the season was looming. My first three days in Salem went well, exploring the city, even checking out next door Roanoke, and Virginia Tech is in the neighborhood. The town has a Barnes and Noble which is my specialty, and a Chipotle. That means most of the basic needs of a baseball player are covered. The next step in the equation was finding a place to live for potentially six months. The rental market in Salem is slim pickings, and most places were not being flexible with their rentals. There was a nice furnished two bedroom that myself and Mr. Adam Lau moved into, and it has been going great this week. Full furnishings, internet is holding up to our needs, and there is a private entrance so we aren’t causing a ruckus to the owner who lives above us. We moved into the rental on Thursday, and then it was time for opening day.
Lurker Basement
My comments about my opening appearance will be brief as I want to forget them as soon as possible. Lets just say that I dug myself into a hole, and now everything I do will be an improvement on that. The job of a pitcher is to get outs, which I did not, and therefore it cost the team the victory. I’ve talked before how it is never good to be the guy who squanders away a good team effort for eight innings and in a blink of an eye all of that is ruined because I couldn’t get it done. Mentally I don’t think I was locked in all the way, that I was pitching scared, and it showed in my results.
With the first outing in the books, I had a day to think about what needed to change. In honesty my mind always races to the worst possible outcomes when something goes wrong, and this was no exception. The creeping void is always beckoning to me, and rewriting my thought process is going to be critical to thriving during a season. One thing my Dad has told me is that positive thoughts don’t always work, but negative thoughts always do. A self fulfilling prophecy if you will.
Military Uniforms
The good news for me as a reliever is that I will get another chance very soon, and unlike a sport like football I do not have to wait an entire week to get another chance at redemption. After two close games with the Wood Ducks, one win and one loss, both decided by bang bang plays in the bottom of the 9th, it was our first afternoon game of the season. The weather was improving, the sun was shining, and it was time for me to pitch again. There isn’t a set order for relievers, but there were three of us that happened to pitch Thursday, which meant that we had time to rest and were expected to be the first three guys out of the pen tonight. With all that being said, it would also be determined on the flow of the game and what the situation is.
When I was called upon Sunday, it was 7-3 Wood Ducks in the 7th inning. This outing went much better than my last one, and now my earned run average is no longer infinity. That is always nice. Anyways, my first hitter grounded out to short stop, which is what I thought off the bat, but it was an E6 when it was all said and done. I’m not calling out my defense, those guys make all kinds of great plays, but I wanted to note that for a brief second on the mound I thought woo hoo I got an out that is a great start, and then that feeling faded right away. The next thought on my mind was okay, fastball down and away lets get a groundball to short and let them make the next play. The next pitch is the important one. When my outing was all said and done I gave up the one unearned run, which if a guy scores, earned or unearned, that is on the pitcher. My two innings of work were in the books and now I have a chance to get things rolling. Our pitching coach talks about how you can always start building a scoreless streak. My streak is at two currently, and now will be tested on the road going forward. Each individual pitch and appearance is a separate instance and should be treated accordingly, only when the last pitch of the season is thrown then we can look back to look at the body of work.
The next seven games of the year are on the road, three with the Lynchburg Hillcats, and four against the Kinston Wood Ducks. It is a little weird that we play the Ducks eight of our first 11 games, and then we don’t play them at all the rest of the season. The Hillcats are our closest opponent, which means in this league we will see a lot of them. Also, we commute on the trip and do not stay overnight, which means we leave around 1:00 pm each day and will probably return to Salem around 1:00 am. That is no problem, because we have nothing else better to do. I say that because we had an autograph signing today, and one lady asked why were doing this, and her friend responded that we have nothing else better to do. It comes with the territory.
I’m optimistic about the team we have this year. I know I am new to the club and new to the organization but it looks like we have a real chance to do something special. The coaching staff has been great so far, and winning always makes everything better during the dog days of the season. The goals of the season are always to win more than you lose, as well as stay healthy throughout the season. The 2017 season and chapter of our lives is still very young, and I am looking forward to seeing where Salem, VA takes all of us in these few months of our lives.
The final week of spring training. The rosters are closing on what will start as opening day rosters. The starters are ramping up their pitch counts. Hitters are starting to see the ball better after having at bats under their belt. The final week has commenced.
After my Thursday appearance last week I thought that I would be on the mound again Saturday in a one inning appearance. Instead, I was pleased to see my name on the list of pitchers Monday, and once again I was scheduled for an inning. It looked like the final week of games schedule would be starter for 5, reliever for 2, reliever for 1, reliever for 1. Four pitchers in each game, four games being played, 16 guys going out there and competing for the Red Sox.
Thinking back to my outing on Monday it went okay. I say okay because I let in a run, but I was commanding the zone well. I was throwing good pitches that found their way for base hits. The first pitch of my outing was my new prototype slider that resulted in a broken bat single. Darn that guy for recognizing a slider and putting a good enough swing on the ball to reach base. He advanced to second while stealing, but the ball was hit right to second and the there was not a chance at a double play. The next guy had a weak pop up, and the fourth hitter was able to go backside against the shift for a base hit that scored the runner on a close play. After that he was caught stealing and my inning was over. I felt like the slider is coming along as a pitch that I can control in the zone as well as one I can get hitters to swing and miss out of the zone.
I figured the normal schedule of 1 inning = 1 day off but was told my next appearance would not be until Thursday for 2 innings. The dreaded 2 inning appearance. For those just joining us, the last time I was tasked with a 2 inning appearance my brain short circuited and caused a malfunction that was not ideal. This time around even though my heart rate was up I figured these same Twins were unable to make good contact last time when they knew fastballs were on the way, and this time I would have more success. I did have more success this time but I labored through my second inning rather than my first inning. Once again I felt like I was commanding the zone but also putting myself into hitters counts because my slider was moving. Moving more than I have seen it move before, and I was starting it too low in the zone. The next time I am on the mound I will have to start it up a few inches higher to get the desired results from the hitters. This was my final spring appearance and overall I had a successful spring. Outside one wild outing I was feeling strong on the mound. I was competitive in each outing, not saying I went with a 0.00 ERA but the hits that I did surrender will balance out during the season. If I continue to get groundballs left and right those will turn into outs more often than not.
My catchers and throwing partners have been giving me good feedback on the slider, as well as the heaviness of my fastball. The goal going into a season is to work the kinks out and make sure you are firing on all cylinders going into April. After my last outing my pitching coach told me he has some ideas that we can play with starting on Friday, and carrying them into a season which will give me better results. We were also reminded each day in spring that everything and everyone is being evaluated throughout the entirety of spring. That is why I wanted to perform well and compete my last outing to show the brass that I am going to be a competitor who will continue to improve and have potential going forward. When the club thinks that your potential is capped and that potential isn’t leading you to the big leagues then they make a change. I did not want to leave a negative impression going into the decision room where the staff will decide where I will be going, wherever that might be.
The final rosters were not posted until April Fools. I always thought that was a weird day to be posting final rosters but then again I don’t know how the process of deciding a final roster works. The culmination of mini camp and spring training ended with everyone coming inside after the game against the Twins to see where they were being placed. For the most part the rosters were set already and maybe 1-2 guys moved around on the final day. Yesterday they had rosters posted but then they made sure to let us know the final rosters were not until April 1. When I saw that my name was still with the Salem roster I was pumped. I have never made a team out of spring training, and this is my third go around. I haven’t had an official April baseball game since I was playing a college season.
Wheels Up
The rosters were set and since the AA/AAA guys were going to have extended drives they were allowed to take off on Saturday. I think most teams have Monday off, then practice for a few days, then the season starts on Thursday. AA/AAA guys got a head start on the driving as their affiliate clubs are a tad farther than the lower ranked guys. The trip for me started Sunday after morning practice. The drive to Salem was only 13 hours on paper but after being up at 6 everyday for 2 months and then having a morning practice at the start of the drive, I didn’t make it too far down the road. I stopped in Columbia, SC, and left myself about four hours left for the morning.
The final push towards Salem was fun, except for the fog and rain that was waiting for me when I crossed from NC into Virginia. Since I have been in Salem it has no stopped raining. I’m not sure what the weather forecast is for the weekend but hopefully everything is good to go for Thursday. When I got to the team hotel, which we are allowed a 3 day grace period, I took a quick nap then thought I would explore Salem. I went to the field, was greeted by a college team that uses the facilities, and then saw my first glimpse of the clubhouse. The clubhouse is spacious, and I chose a locker near the back with an outlet near it which is always good for charging up electronics for bus rides after the game.
Pants, helmets, gear, and all manners of things were spread around the clubhouse and I grabbed a couple of pants that felt good, nice and tight, but flexible. I picked #45, it is a solid pitching number, and more importantly the jersey fits well. The main concern was finding something that fit me because after all it will hopefully be my jersey for the next five months. The next step is two days of practice before the season starts on Thursday. From that point it it is business time. The other part of the equation is the scramble to find some place to live. Either every complex is already taken, agencies want a 12 month lease, or there is not a good fit for what the players are looking for. The couches in the clubhouse felt comfortable, and could always be an option I think if I had to lay my head somewhere while I figured out what my next move for living will be. I have a few leads for housing, and there is an extended stay hotel nearby which could serve as a good option.
Clubhouse
I’m not sure if I’ve fully realized that I have advanced my career for at least a little while longer. I came in trying to win a job on any squad and I am leaving spring training on a team. There are 12 pitchers on our roster, and I was selected as one of them to represent the Salem Red Sox. I was not a draft guy from a couple years ago who played in A and now A+ is their natural progression, I had to go on the detour rode until this point. I’m excited for what the season will offer, and I’ll do my best to execute pitches and control what I can control.
First Impression
The season opener is Thursday night, and from there it is a heavy dose of baseball until September.
A Baseball Blog 
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