2020 New Year, Same Spring Training, Sort Of

It is that time of year again.  Baseball is back for the back field veterans like myself.  Major League camp has been churning along since February and now that mid March has arrived it is time for minor league camp to start.

Why is camp pushed back as late as it is this year?  From what I have been told it is because the minor league season is based off of Labor Day.  This season Labor Day is September 7, and last year it was September 2.  The week later pushes everything back but now the off season is over and it is time to roll.

When I first started the journey into blogging and minor league baseball in general I didn’t know that I’d still be writing six years later.  The blog started before I signed with Atlanta, and here we are entering my sixth spring training.  I am fortunate to have made it this far and I want to say thank you to everyone supporting me before we get started.

I reported to camp a week before the actual report date so I could acclimate to the Florida weather as well as get back in the routine of going to the field daily.  The first few days were a shock to the body I was sweating way too much but at the same time it was nice to throw a baseball outdoors. There are not a whole lot of new faces yet as the only people here this early are rehab guys.  I know the rehab life all too well after last season and while I enjoyed my time there I am hoping to not go back.

As an early arrival I am trying to use the technology available to me the best as possible before the hoard of players arrive.  The coaching resources now are spread between 20-30 guys and that will soon jet up to over a hundred guys. This tech includes the Trackman, Rapsodo, and Edgertronic cameras.  I have used the first two before but the edgertronic camera is something I’ve never tried.  It shows your pitch in super slow mo so you can see exactly what your hand is doing and how you are releasing the baseball.  This is good to know in many instances and for me it shows that I am on the side of the ball a bit. In my mind I was always throwing it straight and good backspin but if you look close my hand is off to the side creating a cut fastball.

My middle finger is pulling on the ball and it looks bent.  Where I need to make sure both fingers are working together instead of one overpowering the other.  This is all good information, but with a week before camp starts I have to get people out.  It is about making adjustments but right now it is about making a good impression in the shortened minor league camp.

I am fortunate to return to camp with St. Louis which means I know where everything is at and I don’t have to worry about being the new guy.  I am the wily veteran that the new guys will look towards when they don’t know where something is.  The crafty pitcher that has stories about his career and can relate to almost anyone in the system.  From the undrafted free agent coming into spring training for the first time or the old man like me that is in another minor league spring camp.

The week starts with physicals on Tuesday.  I was here early and knocked out some of the orthopedic testing and the smaller tests but Tuesday what everything else.  Blood draws, body comps, and physical testing all happen on day 1 before we hit the field on Wednesday.  It is no easy task moving every minor league pitcher through a series of tests and having it end up on time. It was my first chance to check the landscape of the new pitchers and I am sure that I look like an old man.  They are still in their early 20s but geez do they look young.

Another thing of note I found out was the scout who originally saw me, and was turning in reports on me, now works for the Mets.  The Red Sox scout who signed me also works for the Mets.  Are the Mets my new best friend?

Wednesday

Right now it is only pitchers and catchers so our practice schedule is split up between throwers and non throwers.  A thrower is someone that is throwing live batting practice or a bullpen.  A non thrower plays catch then does a bunch of defense work.  Whatever your role is on the first day then the next day you swap.  On this Wednesday I was a thrower which meant I am a day one bullpen guy.  The instruction for this bullpen were two warm up pitches and then rip off 25 glove side fastballs. The catchers were on the younger side, or again I was looking old, and it was the first time I’ve thrown in the six man bullpen.  All six guys ripping heaters together and we were the last wave to throw.  Wave 4 represent.  As the last group of the day we didn’t have quite the eyes on us like every other group but there were still Front Office and coaching staff in attendance. I’m not proclaiming success or failure on the first day of bullpens and as they say you can’t make the team on day one.  I’ve always thought they have a general idea of how camp is going to go and where players will be playing but there is room for movement no matter where you are originally slotted.

Thursday

As I mentioned I was a non thrower today which meant the day was relaxed.  The training room.  The day progressed normally with stretch, throw, defense, and then we had a club meeting.  The meeting was to cancel our afternoon meeting slate and basically say we aren’t sure what is happening with the virus going around.  The MLB made a decision to cancel the rest of Spring Training and push back opening day. How this effects roster spots, and who makes what, and minors is all up in the air right now.  I know that I have a bullpen tomorrow and then I’ll end up pitching in strictly exhibition games which is never fun.  Maybe we can go over to Miami and play them a bunch instead of playing ourselves everyday.  At this point nobody knows anything and it changes by the hour on what is actually happening. The only news we have is that Friday is an off day and we reconvene on Saturday.

Welp

Well I was writing this real time and now baseball is postponed for who knows how long. Originally I thought that when everyone left they would take a headcount of who stayed behind and form a workout group between them. Then more state governments began cracking down on large gatherings which negate anything that MLB can do. The MLB originally went with a two week pushback on everything but now looking towards end of May starting back up again. Everyone has been told to vacate the premises of all complexs big league or otherwise.

The news stinks but ultimately the correct move to stop the spread of the virus. The main demographic for baseball is old people we can’t expose them to potential sickness to play sports. As the time of writing there is no discussion on paying minor league players. There are no plans in place to bring them back to camp yet and not even the MLB teams have figured out how to deal with the stoppage. The unknown is the worst part and now I’ll head home to resume training until my name is called again. I’m thinking that I’ll set up my training like I would during the season. My throwing schedule off the mound will be similar to what I’d expect during the season so when things do start up again I’ll be ready to roll.

 The situation is bigger than baseball but when it is finished I will be back to updating everyone with the inner workings of the system. Thanks everyone and stay safe out there.

The Finale

The AA season has ended. I have been slacking on my writing and the truth is that I have not been with my computer. I use the computer to type the long updates and when I was sent to Springfield I only had a phone to type on. Now the season is over and I am back!

The Tulsa outing left a bad taste in my mouth and I wanted to finish up strong after that appearance. I figured that I would get a handful of appearances and if I finished those on a positive note I would be in the good graces of the organization again.

The first step was heading down to Frisco and taking care of business. The last time the team played them I was not here, and it was early in there season. That roster of Frisco was different and the roster of Springfield was different. Those things tend to happen when you play a team after a few months in the minor leagues.

I was looking forward to this trip because I had not seen their stadium and exploring a new city is part of the fun of minor league ball. The hotel was a decent location but there was not much to offer around it besides a Slim Chickens. I had thrown a good and scoreless inning against Arkansas a few days before the trip and we had an off day before the series started. I was the one with the most rest heading into the road trip which meant that I could pitch at anytime. When we only had two weeks left myself and the rest of the bullpen started planning out when we would throw. If we threw the first game of the trip, that meant we had four outings left, if we threw multiple innings, that meant our total amount of appearances was lower. Is it the right thing to do? Probably not but we have to entertain ourselves somehow.

The Frisco bullpen is unique in the fact it is in the stands. To get onto the field you walk through the stands and take the steps down into right field. The field played big compared to Hammons which is always nice as a pitcher to know that a pop up isn’t necessarily a homer. I threw the first game of the series in a 5-0 losing effort. It wasn’t necessarily my turn to throw, but when the call came down to the bullpen the other pitcher was in the bathroom. That is a big no no for the bullpen to be caught with their pants down, literally.

It is a tough look but since I already warmed up the tram decided that it was right for me to go into the game. The inning went smooth and outside an error it was quick. It felt good to get back out there again for a scoreless appearance after the Tulsa series. The series in Frisco was only three games and from there we were onto Midland.

I don’t remember the bus ride from Frisco to Midland but I know that we did not have a sleeper bus which meant I was doubled up on the trip. This trip was the first double up of the year but it wasn’t so bad. Once you get into the early hours of the day you’re body recognizes what is going on and gives into sleep eventually.

When we arrived in Midland there was early talks that we would get a rain out. It rained for all of 5 minutes and then stopped. It would have been solid to catch an extra day of rest but it was all good. We dropped all three games against Midland which propelled them into their playoff race. In the first half the Cardinals beat the Rock Hounds on the last day of the first half. This cause Midland to miss the playoffs by one game and this time we helped them out.

The Midland series wasn’t anything different from normal. We had a game where our starting pitcher went one out and the bullpen covered the rest of the game. It was intense and put extra stress on the boys in the pen. When I mentioned earlier that we were counting down the appearances, when everyone throws one game it changes our outlook going forward. My one inning in Midland came on the second day of the series. I went into the game with zero warm up pitches which was my own fault. I told my catcher I’d start ripping pitches with one out. In the span of five pitches we made three outs and it was time for me to go into the game. It was fine and I had another scoreless appearance but it wasn’t without stress. It is good to know that if needed my arm can handle the eight warm ups on the mound and I’d be okay. I don’t want to do it again, but if I have to then I’ll be ready. The problem with pitching the second game of the series and having such a short bullpen was that I’d be back right away and especially after the long ride from Midland to Springfield.

This Texas trip we did not have the benefit of an offday before and after. The southern division does it all year and we can handle it for one trip.

When we returned to Springfield we had eight games remaining. Due to our recent woes of this road trip we were in a bad playoff position. We needed to win every game and Tulsa needed to lose every game. We lost the first one at home against Frisco which meant we were officially out of the race.

I pitched three times in our final eight games. My post walkoff stats were good and I only gave up two more runs in an inning against Frisco. It was annoying but then against Midland I came back and stranded two runners on 2nd and 3rd. If those would have scored it would have bummed me out all offseason. I wanted my last impression to the team and evaluators that I can bounce back. My last pitch of the season was a strikeout and that makes me proud. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work throughout the rehab process, extended, Palm Beach, and Springfield.

At the end of the minor league season there were a flurry of moves being made between the MLB club, the Memphis team, and our team. The other team that had a flurry of moves was Palm Beach but that was an extreme circumstance. In 2017 the Florida State League playoffs were cut short because of a looming hurricane. This year the last four games of the season were cut short because of a looming hurricane. The MLB team had a rainout on Friday which meant that they had a double header on Saturday. This double header on Saturday just so happened to be before a normally scheduled double header on Sunday. This meant that every pitcher available from Memphis was called up, and rosters expanded on Sunday which meant everyone else was called up. The Memphis team lost three pitchers so we had to send three pitchers to Memphis. That left us with one available reliever for a game, and then it caused some Palm Beach guys to be called back from home to come fill in for us. It was a crazy time. I’m not sure why the 40 man call ups happen with a day left in the minor league season but that will change next year when the rosters expand to 28.

With all of this being said I thought I was going to throw every game left because we had nobody. When we all thought we’d be coming back on short rest the reinforcements from Palm Beach arrived. They did well and provided nine innings of relief over two games for us. I mixed in a scoreless inning and somehow only threw one inning when everyone else was throwing multiples. It gives the three guys who came up and pitched from their couches extra clout going into next spring. They can grow beards and leave after five innings in spring training.

After the whirlwind of activity the season ended. In the minors it is weird. Just like that the season ends and everyone is ready to take off. There was a small meeting to say thanks to everyone and wish everyone well. AFter that it is a freee for all going home. The last time I finished a season was in 2017 Lowell, and this time I was driving home. IT made the trip a lot smoother because all I did was hopping in the car afterwards and heading north.

It was a large group effort to get to the end of the year for me. I couldn’t have done it without a large amount of staff within the Cardinals and the support system I have off the field. Nobody wants to suck and now that I am at AA it is a whole new ball game. It is almost like everything you have done up to AA is irrelevant and this is the first real proving ground for minor league players. I had 2 innings this season that accounted for 9 of my 13 runs in AA. Outside of those 3 appearances I dominated up here. It makes me feel good knowing I can compete up here but the important thing now is not relaxing too much going into next season. The offseason last year for me was huge. The training was intense and I made it through rehab. This year I know that I have to be even better going into spring training. I didn’t pitch at all in spring last year, and now I will have to prove myself against good hitters rather than showing that I am healthy in extended. There are no guranteees ever, but I think I put myself into a good position going into 2020.