The final two week road trip of the season has come and gone. On the road to two familiar places for me including my old stomping grounds of Springfield.
The first stop was Tulsa to continue the Propeller Series. The series was 9-9 at the start of the week and ended 12-12. A classic and timeless battle of two evenly matched teams. I only made one brief appearance against the Drillers and unfortunately for me it didn’t go as well as I had been hoping.
I came into the game with the bases loaded and nobody out and got singled out of the game after recording two outs. It certainly isn’t ideal to come in and not even make it out of an inning, and they have shown trust in me to come into a game with base runners and work out of it.
I’m not sure if I have been throwing meat balls or what lately but I have been giving up a lot of hits. Too many for liking. The good news I was in the strike zone this outing but also when I had a chance to put guys away they were hitting two strike pitches.
The Drillers have been my nemesis this year and my struggles at their field continued. What was fun about this trip was for the weekend Tulsa was the Tulsa Noodlers. Noodling is when you stick your arm into a hole in the water and the catfish bits your arm and you pull them out. The cool thing was they wore these sweet Noodler jerseys and almost won all their games as the Noodlers until we rallied on Sunday.
The Noodlers were also dealing with a bit of Covid that sidelined some of their players and coaches. They just so happened to be in Springfield the weekend before and that meant Springfield was dealing with their own bit of Covid. When the Wind Surge rolled into town we were playing against a Skelton crew of Cardinals.
It was great seeing some of my teammates from 2019 and being back at Hammons field. The only part of the trip that I wish went differently was my performance on the mound. I was nervous and stressed going into the series because I knew that I was going to throw on Tuesday and get right in there.
You may say it is silly to be anxious about pitching against the old club and that it is still the same game. You are correct. My mind does not work that way when I am playing. I was ready to pitch and it is funny because I didn’t even pitch against the guys I would consider my friends from the Cardinals. As I said, they were dealing with Covid and had a few guys out, which meant they called up guys from different levels to fill the roster.
It was weird being on the other foul line and other bullpen, and patrolling areas of Hammons field I was not used to patrolling. The view was different but the goal of pitching well remained the same. My second appearance was a grind it out appearance because I came in the game in the second inning. I was ready, but wish I was more effective and efficient out there compared to what I did.
One thing I have been joking and saying a lot this year is “X amount of games left, can’t hold back now”. I still say that. After this road series, we have four series left and potentially the playoffs. The more I say it, the more it sets in that the season is almost over and that’s always a bummer. I haven’t had the best results or best year so far, and knowing I have 8-10 more regular series appearances adds to the urgency of pitching well for 2022.
That is called anxiety when worrying about the future or trying to project into the future. I am doing my best to remain present for the next 24 games, help the Wind Surge in any shape or form that I can, and leave a good last impression when October rolls around.
My fastball they have been teaching me is making progress, and as that progress and I am in the strike zone more I will have success. There are so many variables in baseball out of my control and especially when the ball leaves my hand, so I will do my best to execute each pitch. I remind myself to enjoy it too while I am out there I have been on the outside looking in, and while I am physically capable I want to keep playing as much as a team wants me. The Diamondbacks opened the door back up this year and now the Twins are expecting me to continue to improve.
What I am trying to say is I have four weeks left to show myself I am capable and then we ride from there. As of right now I am walking way too many people. The most I’ve walked in a long time which is never fun. The second I think I have something figured out with mechanics or mindset I get brought back to normal. As a 30 year old AA player, it is the most frustrating thing this year. I have had my control issues before but this year has been very bad for the first sixteen weeks. These final four weeks is about showing that I can be competitive in the zone and be efficient. There isn’t much we can improve on going forward until the pitches are landing in the strike zone.
Whether it be winterball to get looks, a good movement plot chart to get looks, or just finishing healthy and being a body for somebody next year I will do my part to stay present and have fun.
As always, thank you everyone who is following along and I look forward to covering the finale of the Propeller series, and a Wind Surge playoff push.
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