More live batting practice today in Padres camp, along with 1st and 3rd defense fundamental drill. What always amazes me, and I mentioned this to Mark Loretta who was standing at the cage with me as we watched Cashner throw, is how quickly hitters start getting their reactions to the fastball up to speed.
Just 2 days ago most of the hitters were simply overmatched by the better fastballs they saw, but today you could see a lot more quality swings and contact with more fastballs especially those over the plate. In an effort to see those relievers who I missed on their first day of facing hitters, I spent much of the morning hustling back and forth between fields.
COLOMBIAN CONSISTENCY: Ernesto Frieri – The Colombian right hander had streaks of inconsistency, and moments of flat out wildness last season hitting a team high 9 batters. One of the challenges with Ernie is his unorthodox mechanics, which produce great velocity and movement, but not the easiest to “fix” when things go awry. So, I wasn’t sure what I was going to see out of him this early in the spring. What I saw today, though, was pretty darn nice. The good velocity was there as expected, but it was the consistent control of that heat down in the zone that was encouraging. He also threw multiple very effective change ups, and had good run on his fastball. Although he did get around a few sliders, and fought a little bit at times to get the ball in tight on lefties, it was an overall very effective and encouraging round of work for a guy who the team is expecting to be an important part of the back end of the bullpen.
TOUGH TO SQUARE UP: Brad Bach – Just as I was commenting on how the batters were starting to catch up to fastballs and hit some balls hard, enter Brad Brach. What followed was 10 minutes of mostly foul tips, miss hits, and off balance swings. His cross body delivery and 3/4 arm slot must make it difficult to pick up the ball. What he also does well is show the exact same arm speed on his sneaky fastball, slider with depth, and change up that dies at the end. It’s not so much that any one pitch was devastating today, but they’re all good, and all look identical out of the hand until the batter has to commit then the pitch reveals it’s true destination. Great demonstration of how to keep guys off balance, and the ball away from the barrel of the bat.
Two other things that were interesting to observe:
First, the pitchers really do appear to be putting more into their hitting drills this year than ever before. Darren Balsley told me at the beginning of camp that one of their goals as a staff was to be more productive at the plate. It’s been more than just lip service as I’ve seen more time in the cages, more soft toss drills, batting tee work, and even Dave Roberts commented on how guys just seem more determined and focused in their bunting drills. Does this mean they will hit .250 this year as a as a staff? Doubt it. But if it helps a starter stay in a game longer, give Buddy the option of not having to pinch hit thus saving using another reliever, put pressure on an opposing bullpen or manager to make a move, force the defense to handle the ball in a pressure situation, then ultimately maybe for a team that plays a lot of close games it will mean a couple more wins. I say time well spent.
Second, Buddy Black is always moving around, full of energy , and interactive with his players, and today he was encouraging his catchers to be the same way. I noticed several times today when he made a comment to a pitcher that he then followed that up with encouragement to the catcher to also verbally or through body language help coax or guide his pitcher to make the needed adjustment. When I was pitching I wanted my catcher to show he was engaged with what we were trying to accomplish together, and verbal and physical communication would often give you that little extra boost of confidence or determination to make that next pitch. Nice to see the Pads catchers being encouraged to take that leadership role from behind the dish.
“If you believe your catcher is intelligent and you know that he has considerable experience, it is a good thing to leave the game almost entirely in his hands.” – Bob Feller
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