(Tuesday’s) practice was even better than yesterday’s. I think that’s what everyone wants to see; the things we work on from day to day need to improve in efficiency with the more repetitions we take. Position players again worked off the tee and soft toss while the pitchers worked through their early stages of mechanics. More and more is being asked of our pitchers as far as conditioning and only time will tell if it pays off but it should help tremendously with our starters being able to throw deeper in games. When you can get a starter into the seventh inning, it takes a lot of pressure off of the bullpen and lessens the work they need to do in high pressure situations. To see those guys doing more sprints, long distance, swimming, and lifting, it really makes you think they’ll be able to hold up throughout the grind of the entire season.

I try to tell all of our players that every drill we do is with a purpose, and if we don’t always have that purpose in mind, the drill becomes less productive. Whether it is catchers working on blocking and framing the ball, outfielders working on accuracy of throws home, or infielders taking ground balls, every drill needs to be at 100% and everyone needs to push the next guy to do just that. The coaches have been doing a great job explaining certain things to players, especially demonstrating fundamentals. I think it’s necessary to something to model after and understand why it is we do everything in these drills.

#17 = Matt Burns