Facing My Fear

Full disclosure: pitching to left-handed batters isn’t actually a fear, but in the interest of driving readership for the site, I figured a compelling title was what I needed in my last column before my tryout showcase in Florida next week.

Did it work? Well, hopefully you’re still reading.

Plus, if you really think about, my preference of facing right-handed hitters is actually an advantage for me on the mound. First, righties are much more prevalent throughout the game of baseball, which means that I’m facing batters from my preferred side of the plate the majority of the time. Second, managers are always reticent to put left-handed hitters in the lineup with a southpaw on the hill so, more often that not, I don’t have to worry about left-handed sticks in the first place.

Nevertheless, I did buckle down and throw a couple of at-bats against left-handed hitters in my last throwing session and I actually felt surprisingly comfortable with them digging in against me. I didn’t notice a precipitous drop-off in the efficacy of my pitches that sometimes, in my mind anyway, appears when facing left-handed hitters.

I’m going to use a compliment sandwich (two good things sandwiched around a quick bout of negativity) to describe my thoughts on the throwing session. The previous paragraph was something good. However, I was unhappy with how the session began. My pitches were all over the place, I had no idea where I was delivering the ball and, upon releasing each pitch, my legs flayed every which way like Elaine Benes trying to dance.

Part of my struggles were due to the fact I started throwing full speed much too quickly and didn’t take my time to establish proper mechanics before heating up. Second, but an extension of the first, is that I rushed my delivery, completely missing the mechanical checkpoints necessary for a smooth, repeatable motion.

Luckily, I was able to self-correct the flaws by the end of the session, but it was a tad disconcerting that I allowed myself to lose focus so quickly. In a practice session, I have more than enough time to fix the problem. At the tryout showcase, there’s no guarantee I will have that safety net available to me.

However, I was happy with the way I threw by the time I called it a night and I was encouraged by the velocity on my pitches even though I was once again sore from last week’s workouts. I’ve realized that I haven’t had one throwing session all offseason where my arm and body have felt one hundred percent.

Thus, this week, I’ve made the conscious decision to scale back my workouts in advance of my final indoor session tomorrow (I will also be tossing a very light bullpen on Sunday morning to alleviate any lingering kinks). I took the entire weekend off, worked out light Monday and Tuesday, taking Wednesday and Thursday off, light workouts Friday and Saturday, then off until a run in Florida on Tuesday before I take the mound on Wednesday.

I would like one throwing session where my arm feels like it could throw a baseball through a brick wall. I need to remember what it feels like to be pitching at full capacity in a dress rehearsal performance before the real thing next week.

In terms of blog coverage, my plan is to tape video blogs each day I’m in Florida in lieu of written columns (admittedly ambitious). I’m thinking of producing 3-5 minute clips: my thought process on Tuesday heading into the tryout, a recap of each day of the showcase on Wednesday and Thursday, and then a final wrap-up on Friday. Taping the segments won’t be an issue, but I’m worried that my limited technological know-how will screw up the uploading process to the blog. Plus, the upload will depend heavily on the internet connectivity I’m able to acquire in Florida.

Worst case is I’ll post all the videos when I get back. Best case, you will be able to follow along with my progress down in Florida for all four days next week (most likely looking at an after dinner post each day).

Well, now it’s go time. Time to show these independent leagues what I’ve got. The next time you’ll hear from me I will be in sunny Fort Myers, hopefully taking the next step on my quest to play professional baseball this summer.