I am back in Florida just in time for the second half. I was thinking how nice it would be if we got rained out for a week or longer so I could enjoy a few days off. I was half right as the first game of the second half was rained out which meant a double header on the second day.
I had my worst appearance of the season so far against Jupiter and it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. The part that annoyed me the most was both my manager and pitching coach both had different opinions on why I sucked. One thought it was because I got sent down so my energy was bad. The other thought my arm was hurting again. I like that they expect me to be the guy every time I pitch but I am also realistic post surgery how things go. There will be bad outings mixed in. That is how pitching works.
The other bad part of that was following it up with another crappy outing. My first two post Springfield outings doubled my run total for the year and saw a few home runs. The good news is on the get away day in Dunedin I came in and got two strikeouts. It was better to sit on that outing rather sitting on blowing the game all offday.
The Dunedin series was weird because their stadium is being renovated. That meant we are playing at nearby Jack Russell Memorial the old home of the Phillies spring training. The stadium operated from 1955-2003 and now it is a high school field. It was refreshing to go from the high of Springfield to the low of playing at a high school field but it felt relaxing. It used to hold 7,000 but the main grandstand and seating was taken down in 2007.
The clubhouse was nice and had a ping pong table. Who would of thought all it takes was a ping pong table to lighten up the mood of the team. We won the first game of the series but unfortunately lost the next three which takes the mood right back down.
OldNew
The second half isn’t off to the best start. We are 1-5 and in last place but fortunately for us there are still a whole second half of games to play. There will be more moves made and what we have now at the start of the second half will not be the team when September 1 rolls around. When I looked at Springfield the other day, 13 of the 25 guys started in Palm Beach and were now in Springfield.
We are currently on the bus up to Kissimmee without air conditioning to play the Fire Frogs for three games. I packed enough stuff for a longer trip if for some reason the Cardinals make a move while we are on the road. I’m not going to be caught with half a bag of travel supplies when it is in the essence of baseball to move someone on a road trip. We just had a few guys sent back down from Springfield on a road trip which means they probably have a change of clothes with them and that is it.
My arm is holding up well for the end of June turning into July. This is the time of year during the season where it starts to pick up in wear and tear. The Florida summers are hot last time I checked but I made it through rehab last summer I will be alright this summer. I’m looking forward to how the next two months go in my return to baseball season.
It has been an eventful few weeks to close out the first half of the season.
It all started with the Daytona home games that lead into the Kissimmee road trip which lead to the Lakeland series at home which lead to the Port Charlotte home games which lead to Jupiter games which lead to the end of the first half.
Let us recap.
After the road trip from Port Charlotte we arrived back home for a quick series against Daytona Beach. The first time I pitched against them was back in May and my debut for the season. I took the loss, and this time I pitched against them in a tie game. I gave up a few hits but I worked out of the jam and when I left the game we were winning 3-2 and would eventually hang on to win. My first win of the season came against the same team that gave me the first loss. Baseball is weird.
The next three games were in Kissimee against my old squad the Atlanta Braves. They were the greatest hitting team of all time the series we played them. They were in last place in their division but you wouldn’t have known it from the way that they played against us. The starter in the first game threw a complete game shutout against us. The second game on Saturday started for 1 inning then was rained out. That always strains the bullpen a bit when that happens. We came out the next day on Sunday ready to finish the first game then play the follow up seven innings. I came in and didn’t do so well. I didn’t have it that day but only gave up one run. I think it had something to do with playing against the Braves but we go there soon and I will have to forget those feelings. One way I have been able to tell if I am rushing and not keeping things smooth is when I look at the pitch clock between innings. If I am right, I have it down to 35 seconds or so left before the inning starts. When I pitched versus Atlanta the clock was over a minute left. I rushed big time. The highlight of the trip was Lauren surprising me in Florida. This year has been difficult off the field since I spent the off season in Jupiter instead of Michigan. I didn’t know what to do with my hands or anything when the surprise happened because it was so out of left field. The other trip we had planned got cancelled but more on that later.
Photo by Lauren
When we came back from Kissimmee after being swept, we were still in the playoff hunt. There was a three way tie for first with 11 games to play, and that meant that the playoffs were still in our grasp. Well the Lakeland team that has our number continued to have our number. We dropped the series against them and I had a hand in one of those losses. I came into the ninth of a tie ball game and couldn’t work out the self inflicted traffic jam I created. It felt like no matter who we sent to the plate or who we went to the mound there wasn’t a lot going the way of the Cardinals. The Port Charlotte series went better for us and I tossed in my scoreless inning which was a nice way to bounce back after the two poor showings before. The team was still hanging on in the playoff mix but then we played Jupiter who is last in our league and lost the first game. It sucked the momentum out of us going into the final three games. The final two games of the first half were at the Nationals/Astros complex. The same field that I pitched against Canada on. I pitched on Wednesday and struck them all out. One guy swung so hard he threw his bat into his own dugout. Always a treat when that happens. The second time I have done that this year which always boosts the confidence.
Recycling my earlier photo versus Canada
Following Wednesday we had one more game in the first half on Thursday. It was rained out and the All Star break had begun. I had my ticket to Michigan ready for Friday morning, then I would be back in Florida for the second half Monday morning when the season started. When a minor leaguer schedules a trip, there is always the chance that they will need you on a different team. Myself and four others were called on Thursday night about our upcoming trip to Springfield, MO on Friday. I wasn’t the only one burned by the travel. Two of the other players had family in town that they expected to spend the three day break with. Instead of a nice three day mental break away from the game in Michigan, the next thing I know I was in Springfield in front of a crowd of 6,000 pitching against Corpus Christi.
There are differences between Palm Beach and Springfield. The most noticeable right away is the crowd. The Springfield crowds have thousands of people in them while at one Palm Beach game we had 8 people. The ambient noise is fun, the crowd being into the game making noise is fun, and seeing people do the silly in between inning activity is fun. It was the biggest crowd I have ever played in front of. I also felt out of place because they gave me jersey #4. This is weird for a few reasons being that pitchers usually don’t wear single digits and two the number belongs to Yadi Molina.
Hammons Field
The situation for my outing was a 3-2 ballgame in the 7th inning. We were winning and the top of the lineup was coming up for Houston. I don’t think I threw a quality pitch in warmups but hey they aren’t swinging at warmups. I didn’t hear the crowd noise as much as I thought I would but I did hear the field announcer during my last few warmups. He said, “Defensive change of the Cardinals. Now pitching, Michael Osnowitz”. It was enough to snap me out of my nervous mode and send me into a chuckle. I said hey that isn’t my name, and if they score then I guess these runs are on Michael.
I had the top of the order up and when I was done with my inning 16 pitches later I had two groundouts and a fly out to center. It felt good to compete in AA but they made it tough on me. They swung at the same pitches they normally do but they fouled off a few and looked more confident in the box compared to the guys I’m used to. Not saying that I’ve changed with my one inning in AA and that the A+ hitters won’t have success. That isn’t how baseball works.
After the game on Saturday I was told that I was coming back down to Palm Beach. It was a bummer, but the good news is I dodged the long bus ride to Midland, TX and Corpus Christi. The bad news is that I missed my three off days in Michigan, and that now whenever my phone rings I think it is because I am heading back up at a moments notice. I know that the AA All Star break is coming up and so is the AAA All Star break. That is usually when guys get moved up and down. All I ask is that if I plan to have family visit Florida soon that they won’t get left behind.
In summary my All Star break was eventful. I have my one inning of AA time, I missed my Michigan trip, we lost the first half, the season is halfway over, and now I am a guy they will consider moving up if they need a reliever. All of this while being 13 months post surgery I consider myself doing alright. It is time to refocus on the Florida State League because if I don’t perform here then why would they send me up?
Mentally it would have been nice to have the three off days of doing nothing. Career wise it looks good that I went up and did well in my one inning. I am happy it happened but at the same time it annoys me. I will continue to be the good soldier for the Cardinals and not question what they were thinking. They have believed in me enough to sign me after my stint with Boston. They believed in me coming off a surgery and they believed in me enough to send me up to Springfield. They believe that after 13 months I was ready to go against a AA team. The best part of all of it is even if I don’t go back up, I can leave after 5 innings in spring training with my beard. I am excited to report on the second half of the season. It is crazy to think that in about 70 days the season will be winding down but when something happens on a week to week basis, I’ll be there.
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