Going into today, I was a little bit more excited than the past few days. Today I was scheduled to throw my first bullpen since I have been down here! The beginning of the day was the same as the past few days with breakfast followed by meetings then stretch, long toss and flat grounds, and team defense (I think I am finally starting to get all the different bunt defenses). I was the lucky one to get out of shagging BP today, which I was quite pleased with!
The bullpens took place on the 8 pack and there were 3 of us throwing at a time. I'm not sure what my catcher's name was, but I have had multiple conversations with him in part because he can speak english and is fluent in spanish. He's my go-to guy to ask what the dominicans are saying when spanish is being thrown around like you wouldn't belive. Anyways, I played catch with him to warm my arm back up since it had been almost a good 2 hours since I long tossed and did my flat ground. When I felt good and warm, I asked him to get down. I started to throw each pitch just getting the feel for each before I really started my bullpen. It was about a 7-10 pitch warm up. Once I started my pen, I worked on throwing the ball down hill and pounding the bottom of the strike zone (typically at the squatted catcher's knees). I threw a couple right down the middle then I started to move the ball around, going in and out. I then moved to the change-up and did the same thing. The change-up was pretty good, but I still threw some that I wasn't happy with. I did the same thing with my slider as well. The slider was better than the change-up, but yet still not where I would like it to be (I'm a perfectionist). I finished up with 2 fastballs, one arm side (inside to a right handed hitter) and one glove side (away to a right handed hitter). I shook the catcher's hand and thanked him when I was done.
While I was throwing my pen, the pitching coordinator was standing behind me watching. He was also watching the other 2 guys throw as well. I have never been a huge fan of just plain bullpens because I feel I do better against a hitter. I love to compete in anything I do (I won't even let my little brothers beat me at anything still today). I have no idea what he thought of my pen because the only thing he asked me when I was done was what I was used as at school and how I was felt. He asked everybody when they were done what they were used as at school and how they felt. I won't lie, it was kind of nerve wracking throwing for the first time in front of him, but I did as best as I could and I was happy with my pen. It felt like the ball was coming out of my hand pretty good even though I was not trying to throw as hard as I can. I was working more on locating the ball and keeping it down. I just hope he was happy as well...I guess we'll see...
After I threw, I had to go condition with the strength coaches. They supervised our running, which was not bad at all, it was only hard to breath when you stopped running. I then went inside to do our "Cuff" program with the trainers. It is the shoulder program that the entire organization does. It was kind of tough and made my shoulder and forearm burn a little bit, but it felt good. I iced down when I was done and my day was done! After icing I went to eat in the cafeteria and hung out with the guys for a little bit. Arik and I played a game of ping pong and he gave me a good beating (I never said I was good at ping pong, I actually am really bad.).
Tomorrow, I am scheduled to long toss again with a flat ground followed by a short side on thursday. I am interested to see how they do their short sides...
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