Its been quite some time since I last posted here is what I have been up to.

- The first three weeks of spring training have gone pretty well. It was amazing how much of an adjustment it was to throw outside after throwing inside for 3 months. The first day every other throw was either way to high or was bouncing because my depth perception was all out of whack. Fortunately after about 20 throws I was able to adjust.

- As mentioned in previous blogs I made a few mechanical adjustments this off season to help me command my pitches more effectively and to protect myself from injury. My focus has been to really control my front side and not rush out towards the plate as well as not throw across my body quite so much. Right now I am probably executing 90 percent of the pitches how I want to and 10 percent I fall into my old bad habit of diving towards the plate. I just need to focus on my dry work to make my new mechanics muscle memory.

- Legendary A's pitcher Dave Stewart came to talk to all the pitchers in minor league camp. He offered a very unique approach to pitching. For Dave Stewart every single person he faced was trying to take something from him. Every hitter was trying to take a win from him, take money out of his pocket. He said he would do anything to fight, kick, scratch, whatever it takes to to make sure that no one ever took anything from him. The best part of the meeting was that towards the end of the meeting he was holding a small water bottle and he challenged anyone to come up and try to take it from him, no one was crazy enough to try to make a move for that water bottle because you just knew that he would die before ever letting someone have that water bottle. It was amazing to see how single minded you need to be to compete at the major league level.

Now that I am in the routine of Spring Training I should have more time to post so until next time.

ps. thanks to my dad for the spring training photo