First Live Rehearsal

As I mentioned in last week’s column, Thursday night was the first time I’ve faced live batters since my season ended just after the Labour Day Weekend. It is essential that I have the opportunity to face live hitting before I hit the tryout camp in Florida because throwing a bullpen session to a catcher is completely different when a batter is at the plate trying to deposit my best offerings into the stratosphere.

(Bonus for me: the session was completed in a hitting tunnel, so any contact made by the batter, no matter how solid, would be harmlessly caught in the netting. Thus, I could slough off any hard hits as meaningless contact that would invariably be caught by a fielder. These are the types of mental tricks pitchers need to maintain confidence in their stuff).

There is a certain intensity and sharpness missing when I’m just throwing to a catcher. If I get lazy in my delivery and let pitches drift clumsily to the plate, it’s not a huge deal as there are little repercussions. However, a batter would lace such a mistake pitch back at me with such velocity that my life would flash before my eyes and a girlish scream would undoubtedly escape my lips.

Plus, without a hitter, pitches that miss the corners and end up in the batter’s box won’t hit anyone. With hitters digging in at the dish, there is a very real possibility of plunking someone. Now, I’m definitely not averse to throwing a little chin music in games. It’s a necessary tool as a pitcher to throw inside. It shows the batter you aren’t afraid of him.

However, these are only offseason throwing sessions and the batters are teammates of mine. They are doing me a favour by coming out late on a Thursday night to help me get ready for tryouts. The last thing I want to do is run a fastball in on their ribs as my way of showing appreciation for their help.

I faced two hitters for the equivalent of nine at-bats and I was extremely pleased with the results. My fastball had a lot of life, my curveball was diving into the strike zone with a good amount of break and my command and control were the best they’ve been since the fall.

The mechanical struggles I’ve had since the elongated Christmas break seem to be working themselves out. All of the hard work I’ve put in trying to decipher the complex code that is my delivery over the past few weeks appears to be paying dividends. Basically, I’m a tweed jacket away from being Professor Robert Langdon.

An odd quirk to Thursday’s session was that every batter I faced was right-handed. And I requested it be that way.

Most left-handed pitchers prefer facing left-handed batters because of the advantage gained by a left-handed pitcher’s arm releasing the ball right on top of lefty hitters. I am the complete opposite. I prefer facing righties over lefties because I feel like I have better stuff and command with right-handed hitters.

There’s nothing I hate more than seeing a left-handed hitter leading off the game. I find it tough to get into a groove against lefties; once I do, I’m fine, but it takes me awhile to get there. I’m hopeful the next few throwing sessions will rid me of this strange affliction.

That’s why I didn’t want to face a lefty on Thursday. I needed a session of throwing to right-handed batters to get comfortable with pitching to hitters again. I passed that test, so now the training wheels are coming off, I’m stepping up to the big boy potty, and I’m throwing to a mix of righties and lefties tomorrow.

Pitching Progress

I was able to throw off a mound twice last week; on Thursday night and then again on Saturday morning. The session on Saturday was less than optimal, but I was just happy to get on the hill again and practice my mechanics.

On Thursday, the radar gun was brought out for the first time since I started my offseason training and throwing regimen. For the middle of January, I was very pleased with the results. My fastball speed ranged from 80-85 miles per hour. That’s exactly where I thought it was during last season (most likely consistent in the lower end of the range with a periodic appearance at the top end when I really reached back for something extra).

The fact I am able to hit those numbers in the middle of the winter, without having thrown consistently in recent weeks, and having my body in basically a constant state of fatigue due to my strenuous workouts each day leaves me feeling emboldened about my Fort Myers tryout.

I feel the last point is the most telling in terms of my ability to pitch better than I did last summer. During the past season, it took me a couple months to find a good balance between my in-season training program and pitching in games.

At the start of the year, I would workout right until the day before I pitched and, on the mound the next day, I would invariably run out of gas by the fourth or fifth inning and my pitches would lose their sharpness, velocity and break. My strength and stamina would just be sapped and it always happened at that juncture of the game without fail. It was like I was Cinderella and the clock has just struck midnight (I’m not quite sure what represents my Prince).

After tinkering with my program, I realized that I needed two full rest days from training before I pitched to be at one hundred percent when I took the mound. Right now, I’m training right until Thursday’s throwing session, sometimes working out on Thursday as well. The fact I’m still able to throw with a good velocity, whilst tired, bodes very well for Florida where I plan to be fresh (I’ll train the Saturday before I leave and then rest Sunday, Monday, Tuesday before taking the mound on Wednesday).

So, Thursday was a great session and I left very happy with my velocity (command and control were still just a bit off). As I mentioned previously, Saturday wasn’t that productive because my arm was sore from Thursday. It felt good until I started throwing and then my arm began to throb considerably. I only lasted about twenty pitches or so before calling it a day. I couldn’t even practice my mechanics properly as the pain in my arm precluded me from working at full speed.

Nonetheless, the extra practice proved to me that my stamina is nowhere close to midseason form (nor should it be as the only way to build arm stamina is to throw, throw, throw and then throw some more).

Pitching is an interesting athletic activity. The only way to get better at something is to practice, but the stress of pitching at full speed prevents daily practice. Mirror drills and the like can only take you so far. It’s like asking a basketball player to work on his jumper, but only letting him shoot once or twice a week. I’m basically stuck in a Catch-22 situation until I am able to throw on a regular, multiple times a week basis.

I also think I figured out the disconnect between throwing off flat ground as opposed to toeing the rubber. The slope of mound is causing me to rush through my delivery (simple gravity: I’m falling towards the plate at a faster rate than my ability to get in a proper throwing position). I need to stay back more on my left leg so my arm can catch up with the rest of my body. Thus, I will be in a proper throwing position when I violently rotate my hips towards the catcher.

This Thursday will be the first time I will face live hitters since my season ended in September. Fingers crossed I don’t embrace my inner Rick 'Wild Thing' Vaughn and kill anyone with an errant fastball.

Four Weeks until D-Day

After completing my due diligence and investigatory research, I approached my contacts looking to pick their brains on the legitimacy of the American Association and Can-Am League combined tryout. I just couldn’t find any bad or undesirable information on the event so I have indeed registered for the ‘Indy Pro Showcase’ in Fort Myers, Florida on February 9 and 10.

Plus, the early February start date for the tryout just means that more jobs will be available in a month’s time than at any other tryout camp I attend in the spring. 

This very well may be the best opportunity I have to catch on with a team down south or, if I’m unsuccessful, I will know exactly what I need to work and improve on to better myself for other league tryouts in the pipeline.

The ‘Indy Pro Showcase’ taking place in Detroit is not held until July. That’s basically reserved for last ditch efforts to catch on with an independent league team during the second half of their seasons. Hopefully, that showcase never even ends up on my radar.

I’m heading to Fort Myers to play some ball, get noticed by some independent league teams, and enjoy a much-needed reprieve from this nasty Canadian winter. I fly out early
in the morning on Tuesday the eighth and return late on Friday the eleventh with a place to play this summer. Fingers crossed.

Since I will be on a mound in Florida, under the watchful eyes of a handful of scouts and team administrators, in less than a month I really need to get my indoor throwing sessions under control and on a regular schedule to work through the minor mechanical blips in my delivery.

Because of my cruise and the Christmas break I’ve only thrown off a mound three times in the past six weeks, which is not nearly enough volume to ensure that my pitches are at peak velocity and my mechanics are consistent enough to throw the ball wherever I want.

I need to be throwing more. I need to be in midseason form by the time my plane touches down in Fort Myers. There cannot be any question marks in my mechanics nor can my faith waver upon releasing a pitch. I need to have the confidence to throw any pitch in any count and be sure it hits the strike zone in a specific, pre-determined location.

Truthfully, right now I don’t have that. My last throwing session encapsulated this concern perfectly. Some pitches felt incredible; fastballs that just seemed to explode out of my hand with a modicum of effort and curveballs that broke into the zone so ferociously it was like they were attached to a string. Unfortunately, other efforts felt weak and ineffective and just didn’t end up where I wanted them to.

My mechanics just feel off right now and I have no doubt it’s due to the inconsistent reps I’ve had over the past six weeks. Oddly, my mirror drills feel perfect, but, on the mound, I am unable to replicate that consistency.

What are mirror drills? At least once a day since I started my offseason training program, I spend a minute in front of a mirror practicing my mechanics. It’s an invaluable training tool for developing consistency. The more you practice a skill the more the movement pattern becomes ingrained in your muscle memory. So, if I practice my mechanics every day—even at a pantomime level—there will come a time when my delivery becomes second nature and I will be able to replicate my mechanics at will whenever I want.

I am at that point on flat ground. Even while warming up before I climb atop the mound, my delivery is easy and smooth. It feels perfect. Once I start throwing from the hill, that familiarity and comfort level seems to disappear. I need that feeling to translate from flat ground to the rubber or my two days throwing in the Florida sun will feel like a year (and my neck will be sore from watching moonshots reverberate around Terry Park).

Why is this happening? What is the reason for the disconnect?

My guess is that I’m practicing my delivery from flat ground the majority of the time and only spending a few precious minutes every week (a hell of a lot less than that recently) throwing from a mound. I’m not giving myself enough of a chance to fully develop repeatable mechanics from the hill.

That is going to change. Right until I leave for Florida, I will be throwing at least once week at an indoor facility (and in two of those weeks I will be throwing twice). I am confident I will be able to get my delivery functioning like a well-oiled machine by my departure date.

Tryout Dates Confirmed

I am so glad to see that the calendar has changed to 2011, as the last three weeks of 2010 were detrimental to my training and momentarily stunted the great strides I’ve made since the first week of September.

It all started with the cruise and my inability to workout properly; not to mention the questionable nutritional choices throughout the week combined with the consumption of one too many alcoholic beverages (as my rather imposing credit card bill from that week can attest).

I returned from the cruise right smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season, which was filled with a plethora of familial and friend commitments. This meant that more bad food and drink was crammed into a two week period than I’m used to imbibing in a normal quarter.

Rushing around to these various engagements came at the expense of my strength and conditioning program and, to top it all off, the indoor facility where I throw was closed for the holidays.

It was a perfect storm of inactivity and gluttony.

Everything peaked (or should I say valley-ed) with two extremely tough training sessions I worked into my schedule just before New Year’s. The resulting soreness I experienced from those efforts was nothing short of debilitating and put my body in state of pain that I haven’t felt in years. I couldn’t get up from a chair without grimacing or yelping like a five year old girl with a bee sting.

Luckily, I am happy to say that both my nutrition and my training are back on track and I feel better than I have since the first week of December. I am filled with a renewed sense of vigour and I’m more than ready to chase down my dream as it moves into the backstretch.

My disposition was lifted considerably with the posting of tryout information for three of the leagues I have my eyes on. The tryout dates have reaffirmed my desire to make this dream a reality so much that I find myself shaking with anticipation at the chance to show these leagues what I’m capable of on the field.

The Frontier League will be hosting their annual Tryout Camp and Draft on May 2 and 3 in Florence, Kentucky. On the first day pitchers will be expected to run a 60 yard dash and then complete a 15-20 pitch bullpen. The field managers for all the teams will then pick the pitchers they want to see in the next day’s intrasquad games. From there, clubs will make their selections for the 2011 draft.

Strangely enough, I am more confident for the opportunity to pitch in the intrasquad game than I am in the bullpen session. I don’t possess dominating stuff, but I know I have ability to get hitters out. My strengths may not be seen in their entirety without the opportunity to face live hitting.

However, it is a chance to get on the mound in front of scouts and team personnel; beggars can’t be choosers.

The American Association and the Can-Am League have combined their tryouts in something called the ‘Indy Pro Showcase’ which takes place in Fort Myers, Florida on February 9 and 10.

It looks like a great opportunity—albeit a tad sooner than I had originally anticipated—and it will be a good barometer of where I’m at pitching-wise heading into the season. Unfortunately, it will also be quite an expensive barometer, but one that is ultimately worth the cost.

There is supposedly another showcase in Detroit at a time to be determined, but that most likely won’t be until the weather warms up considerably in this neck of the woods. Thus, it probably makes the most sense to bite the financial bullet, head for the warm confines of Florida, and see where I stack up.

Time to stop dreaming about this and put my plan into action.