Padres 2012 Spring Training Report – 3/3

Pretty quiet day yesterday at Padres camp, partly because of the gail force winds blowing through, but mainly because of the Player’s Association meeting in the morning.  That meeting is somewhat of a double edged sword for players.

 It usually takes about two hours, and while there are some topics that are of interest to most guys, but there are also generally many house cleaning and legal updates as well that can put a lot of guys to sleep.  The part that does get everyone’s attention (or at lest used to when I was in those meetings) is the topic of licensing shares, and specifically how big a check each guy will receive.  I have no idea what a full share is these days; at the height of the trading card frenzy in the early 90’s it was as high as $80+K per player, but after the strike of ’94 it dropped significantly.  Regardless of the current annual share, it’s always nice to get that check in spring!

While the 40-man roster guys were learning about their new bargaining agreement, the youngsters invited to mini camp were out doing their thing.  I had a chance to watch top catching prospect Austin Hedges for the first time.  It was touted that even as a high school senior he was already the best defensive catcher in the entire draft last year.  With high expectations I walked over to the bullpens to watch some of the young arms on the way, and Hedges’ receiving skills.  First thing that surprised me about him was his physical presence.  He’s listed at 6’1″, 190 lbs., but his presence is larger than that.  It’s hard to explain, but there are some guys who just sit back there, and are non entities – just a person holding a mitt essentially.  Then there are some guys who have are more than just a backstop.  They have an air about them which give them the platform to be the field general if they want it, and that is something you can’t teach – Hedges seems to have it.  Obviously it was only a bullpen session, but what I saw was a guy who gives a good target, sets up nicely, moves well, reacts well, and can stick it when framing a close pitch.  Didn’t get to see him throw or hit, but the catch part is already there and will only get better.

Changing gears, it’s been interesting getting a feel for the mindset of the batters this spring.  New hitting coaches Phil Plantier and Alonzo Powell have clearly had an impact.

• First, a number of guys have mentioned to me about the time they were able to spend with either coach during the off season.  Those players expressed how helpful it was to get some things worked out in preparation for spring, and coming to camp with a clear game plan and clear head of what they needed to do.
• Second, there has been a common theme among most of the guys of simplifying things.  Not so simple as “see the ball, hit the ball”, but simplifying the approach and “mechanics” (although some guys don’t like to use that word) of their swing so that when things do get out of whack there is a recognizable and dependable foundation to return to to get back on track.  As an athlete, at least in MLB, it’s not a questions of whether you will get out of sync with your swing if you’re a hitter, or your delivery if you’re a pitcher, but how quickly you can detect it and make the adjustment to get locked back in.  Understanding their swing, and having simple keys to get back to their strength seems to be a common focus among the hitters this spring.
• Finally, I’ve heard the word “Aggressive” more out of the mouths of Padres’ hitters this spring than maybe ever before.  No “Passive aggressive” being preached – it’s let’s be aggressive and jump on our pitch when we see it.  That doesn’t mean uncontrolled swinging out of the tail, but simply a mindset that they are up there to hit, so be ready from the first pitch to crush your pitch when you get it.

Thought I had a read on the lineup for tomorrow’s game, but after talking to a couple of players it’s clear it will not be exactly as anticipated, so I will leave that alone until we have a confirmed line up tomorrow.

We do, however, have a pretty good read on the scheduled pitchers:

• Bass
• Palmer
• Hinshaw
• Cashner
• Thayer
• Hamren

Can’t wait to see how the work put in by these players so far during spring workouts translates into game competition.

“There has always been a saying in baseball that you can’t make a hitter, but I think you can improve a hitter. More than you can improve a fielder. More mistakes are made hitting than in any other part of the game.” – Ted Williams

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