BB&T Ballpark

Just got back from the new park. It is pretty incredible, maybe the best minor league field Ive ever seen. This or Dayton.

There is still a little bit of construction going on and the playing surfice isnt done yet. They have to level the dirt and the brown in the grass you see is sand which is used to level the infield. . The clubhouse is outrageous as well. Huge lockers with tons of storage space. There are a few couches in the middle and for lack of better words it is huge and awesome. We have a little weight room in there with squat rack and a dumbbells and whatnot and a nice big training room too.

There is a long video board that is on the left field fence all the way out to left center. Huge scoreboard and smaller scoreboards the border the first and second levels of the stadium. There is also luxury boxes and a club/restaurant upstairs. The photos don't do it justice but here they are taken from my (not so) high resolution camera on my phone.

Winston

Spring training is over and I am back in Winston-Salem now. Spring ended well, I threw 3 innings before we left, not allowing a base runner with 3 strikeouts only throwing 31 pitches.

Spring training went by super fast, it was only 3 weeks essentially. The last week of spring training can be nerve racking. That is the time when guys are getting released all around you. Some guys are done playing the game they love forever, some look for new opportunities. I have gotten several calls from ex-teammates who want my help finding them a new team or just have questions about the process because I went through it. Professional baseball is a harsh environment and is not always fair. There are many factors that go into filling out rosters and its tough when every year you have an influx of young guys straight out of college who they need to make room for. So you don't stay in this game long if you don't progress and make moves.

I used to really think about all this and put pressure on myself but now I have a different outlook. Honestly I am not worried about it at all. I am committed to just going out and pitching with confidence and enjoying it...Its simple really.

We are now in the Quality Inn. We have to find a place to live and I'm leaning towards living with a couple teammates. I thought about the solo mission but in the end its too expensive. I might get my car shipped out here too. Having that freedom is a huge plus for me.

We flew in yesterday and have an off day today. We are going to set up our lockers at brand new BB&T Ballpark today and then have a little batting practice tomorrow and then we bus to Charlotte to play our AAA team. Next 2 days I think we play our Low A team in Kannapolis.

We open up in Kinston on April 8th.

The Journey is the Reward

3/26

Today was a good day. Went to the park ate some breakfast, did a little lift and stretch, played catch and watched our 6 inning intrasquad. Then ate lunch and showered and got outta there by 12. As close to an off day as it gets! Free day activities=Went to the grocery store, caught up on the new office episodes over the Internet, did some reading, ate a few more times (1 more makes 6 meals today), stretched/yoga a few times, NCAA tourney games. By the way great game last night Xavier vs Kansas State. They really got after it, unreal game 2OT.



Yesterday I threw my first inning of this spring against the Indians in Goodyear. I had a little oblique problem and was out a week but fortunately its all good now and I am back in action. It went well, I threw 8 pitches (8 strikes) so it was a quick 1, 2, 3 inning with a K. I felt pretty good, my mechanics had been a tad off in my bullpens after the oblique strain because I was compensating for it. I felt like I was better in that area yesterday for sure...I felt real good out there.



Tomorrow I assume I will pitch again at home against the Reds.

Words of Wisdom

Kaizen--Japanese for "constant daily improvement"

Spring continues to roll on. We started games against other teams Saturday. I am scheduled to pitch tomarrow in my first game outing. When games start you are either at the park from 7 to about 5 or if you are off and dont have to chart or shag foul balls that day you are done by about 11:30.

I was out there doing the radar gun and charting yesterday and I got torched by the sun, im sporting a nice lobster color left side of my neck.

We played the Padres today I was wishing I would pitch against them to show them whats up, but it will have to wait for another day.

Not much going on other than ball, Ive gone to a few movies like Brooklyns Finest and Repoman. The former is a little brutal, the later is pretty solid. By the way I think the word "brutal" popped into my head because Tiger Woods used it a few times in his interview...which ive seen about 10 times now...show someting else ESPN.

Also went to dinner at Outback in Scottsdale with some other baseball who are in spring training here who train with me at P3 in the offseason.


Why do people sing take me out to the ball game when they're alread there?

Day 5

Just got back to the Comfort Suites after day 5

I am lounging on my couch with my feet up watching some Around the Horn on ESPN just recharging after the day. A little later I'm gonna get together with my buddy Kenny and his wife Lyndsay to get some dinner over here in Glendale by the football/hockey stadium. Its a cool area there are some shops and restaurants all intertwined next to the hockey arena, its like its own little city.

Things are going well at Camelback Ranch. This is where we share our facility with the Dodgers. It opened last year and its really nice and clean. They take good care of us here and the White Sox really seem to genuinely care about the welfare of their players.

It is a little different from my first 2 springs with the Padres. For one we are sort of separated from the big leaguers. But you see them around in the parking lot or on the practice field which is next to the 4 fields we use. I saw Jake Peavy in the lot the other day and talked to him for a little bit. My uncle is his agent and I got to know him when we were both with the Padres. Definitely a good guy and I really admire the way he competes out there on the mound, the guy gets after it.

I threw live bp today to hitters. The way it works is you put an L-screen in front of the mound and tell the hitter whats coming so both you and he can get something out of it. Each hitter gets 5 pitches then they switch out. Its funny how if you execute pitches nobody hits the ball hard even though they know whats coming. Nobody hit the ball hard of me, there wouldn't have been any hits, I struck out a few guys too. Its a good indicator that my stuff is good and I have good movement and rotation on my pitches.

All and all its good to be back in spring, getting to see all these guys again is fun. Yesterday I went out to Chili's with 5 guys in the area who all played with the Windy City Thunderbolts the Indy ball team I was with for those long.....loooong 3 months hahaha.

"Relish Today, Ketchup Tomorrow"
--Woody Paige
but if you have too much relish the mustard will come off the hotdog......i know...sorry

BEASTMODE

This is my first post after the end of last season in September. After reading back over some of my posts I was a little disappointed in the depth of my reports. This is especially true on the topic of my performances. I would usually write something like "I pitched well." But what does that mean? My bad

Basically I don't like to toot my own horn and I think humility is part of having good character. I think that is why I didn't go into great detail. Fact is I did pitch well...pretty damn good. I really rode a wave of confidence towards the middle/end of last year. I have continued to be very confident over the off season and into spring training. Right now I feel like a beast physically and I must say I am extremely confident. It seems like an oxymoron but right now I have an aura of almost arrogance while residing to remain humble and give all the glory to God.

As for my off season it was great. My training meant waking up at 530am and training at 6am at SBCC mainly because otherwise it was too crowded in there. Then in December or January I went back to P3 to train. I really progressed physically this off season, I guess I say that every year but this year I feel better than ever. I feel super strong and explosive. I did things I was even surprised at in my training. Its funny everyone is surprised I am a pitcher. Some Seattle Mariners front office guys came into P3 and they asked Marcus Elliot (P3 owner) what I play, shortstop? centerfield? strong safety? Also I am more mobile than ever before, super loose and fresh. All this is summarized as me being in beastmode...yup i said it. beastmode.



As for baseball this off season I eased into it more than normal. I started playing catch after 2 months but instead of blowing it out and throwing 6 days a week, I knocked it down to 3-4 days a week all off season. I feel fresh and not burned out, plus my arm strength is great. One day I threw longtoss 125 yards threw the field goal post and beyond. I also started earlier with bullpens and added in some live pitching at SBCC. I did this because the past few years I have got off to slow starts and get better as the season goes on. So I decided to start earlier with the mound work, I think it will really pay off.

I drove into AZ on Sunday, the rain pretty much followed me here the whole way so the drive was a little slower than normal...especially when a semi-truck crashed and the trailer broke open and all kinds of cargo was all over the freeway. whoops.

So I got settled into the Comfort Suites and its a legit hotel. Mainly because there is a good sized fridge and microwave in the room. So last night after getting in I went to Sprouts Farmers Market (grocery store) and loaded up on food. Got some sando material (turkey, swiss, avocado, spinach, whole-grain bread), I also got some premade meals like salmon and talapia, I got broccoli too...the MVP of vegetables haha. All this to go along with my multi-grain oatmeal, quinoa, sweet potatoes, apples, tangerines, goji berries, blueberries, and almonds that I brought from home.

Im wacko yes

Want more wacko? I went to home improvement right now and bought a long dowell to stretch plus a PVC pipe to use as a foam roller. For those of you who don't know a foam roller is for self massage basically. Usually its done with foam but I'm at the point where I'm really loose and I kneed something harder. So you lay down on this rock hard PVC pipe with whatever muscle is tight and let the good times roll. pun intended

Yesterday woke up at 615 hoped on the bus to the field and had a physical that took like 2 hours. Its a pretty thorough process. Piss test, blood drawn, tetanus shot, skin sample, grip test, body fat, wingspan, orthopedics, and the topper is the classic turn your head and cough. When I got strapped up to the EKG I couldn't help thinking we were all kind of robot warrior going out to do battle.

Then since the fields were wet we waited around another 2 -3 hours and then I threw my bullpen. It went really well, I hit all my spots except 2 times so that went really really well.

Then I did my 4 leg circuit test and lifted and ran. The leg circuits are 20 speed squats, 20 lunges, 20 get ups, and 10 squat jumps. We have to do it 4 times straight no stopping...piece of cake. I admit my quads are sore today.

Ill describe the stadium, facility, and whats going on more later, this has been a long post, but there was lots to cover

WORDS OF WISDOM

don't listen to your GPS or you might end up in a lake...i learned this from michael in the office.

my friends gave me hard time about listening to my TomTom a weak ago and fittingly this episode was on last night.