Padres Spring Training Report – Feb. 18, 2014

More PFP, more bullpens, more position players reporting to camp today…in other words everything moving forward as smoothly as could be expected for the Padres in Peoria.  Today was the official check in day for the position players, but most of them had already arrived over the last week.  In fact, Buddy mentioned before practice today how pleased he was with the early turnout, and the work that guys had already gotten in with Phil Plantier and Alonzo Powell in the cages.  Physicals and blood work were the order of the day for the new arrivals, and tomorrow will be the first full squad workout.

It was the starters turn today to get their bullpen work in, and it was the first day that they were allowed to start spinning some breaking pitches.  To be honest, many of these guys have already been throwing some breaking balls at home in preparation for spring, so the curveballs and sliders were in general better than “first day” offerings.

The breaking ball that I was most excited to see again was Tyson Ross’s filthy slider.  As noted in one of the trivia questions posted on this site a few days ago (Trivia Challenge 2/16/14), Tyson had the lowest contact rate in MLB the second half of last season, and a lot of that had to do with his almost untouchable slider.  It looked good today as expected, and even better was the down hill plane of his explosive fastball.  Younger brother, Joe, also looked solid once again today showing the ability to repeat his delivery and consistently locate his FB at the knees.  For the youngest player in camp he is showing very well, and handling himself just fine.

Darren Balsley mixed in some fun today with the pitcher’s drills by having a come backer contest as part of the daily PFP.  Using a softer practice ball so as to not put anyone on the DL, Darren hit hot come backers to the guys with a miss or bobble resulting in instant elimination.  After a series of screaming missiles, vicious one hoppers, and back spin bad hoppers, the field was dwindled down to two…Tim Stauffer and Nick Vincent.  For several minutes the two finalists adeptly one hopped, scooped, snared, and ole’d volley after volley off Balsley’s menacing fungo, until finally Darren cut the distance in half for the final showdown.  Vincent went first and couldn’t quite hang on to the full strength pellet that shot of Darren’s bat, and off the heel of his glove.  Now Stauffer stepped up with the title on the line, and the anticipation of a sizzling hot rocket to be shooting his way.  Instead he easily fielded a half swing, candy hop offering from Darren, eliciting hoots, hollers, and cries of “Fix” from the jeering crowd of players, accusing Balsley of having money on Stauffer to win it.  It was a lot of fun, and those brief moments of light hearted competition in the middle of the day’s work go a long way in breaking up what can become the monotony of the must be done repetitive drills of spring.

In case you’re wondering, yes the catchers are also getting their fielding drills in as well.  While the pitchers take their come backers, and cover first on balls to the right side, the catchers go over to one of the half fields to get their grunt work in as well.  Balls in the dirt, framing, throws to the bases, and pop ups are just some of the skills they work on as a group until the pitchers are ready to throw their bullpens.  Not sure with Bad Ausmus moving on to manage the Tigers whether the Catcher’s Olympics contest will still be conducted.  The first week of spring means a lot of squatting catching ‘pens, and other leg work for the receivers, but all seem to be getting their legs underneath them and looking forward to mixing up the routine a little with the arrival of the rest of the squad.

The good news continues on the health front with everyone still reportedly feeling good.  Josh Johnson skipped his bullpen session today, as was discussed would happen coming into camp to be sure not to put too much stress on his surgically cleaned out elbow as he prepares for opening day.  He’ll likely take an extra day between pitching workouts now and then throughout camp.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s first full squad workout!

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