I made my 2nd start of the 2010 season 2 nights ago against the Bakersfield Blaze (Rangers). I admittedly was a little nervous before the game because Bakersfield's Stadium is famous for having a tiny dimensions especially to centerfield where it is 354 feet***. Once I watched batting practice I felt much better because the park played much deeper than its dimensions because the wind would knock everything down.

***The short porch was not the only unique thing about Bakersfield's ball park (Sam Lynn Ballpark). The field was built in the opposite direction that the baseball fields are meant to be built in. This may not seem like a huge deal except for the fact that this means the sun sets directly behind the centerfield fence and directly into the eyes of the batter and the catcher. To combat this problem a monstrous batters eye was constructed behind the centerfield fence so that as the sun began to set it would be blocked by the batter's eye thus allowing the batter and the catcher to see the ball rather than being blinded by the sun. This would have been a great solution but unfortunately the sun blocking batter's eye was built during the winter when the sun comes down in a different place than it does during the summer. Now if you go to Sam Lynn Ballpark as the sun is going down you can watch as the sun goes right to the left of the batter's eye that was supposed to block it. I've seen a lot of quirky ball parks in my few years in minor league baseball but so far Sam Lynn takes the cake.***

After my last start where I struggled with commanding my curveball I really wanted to focus on getting my curveball breaking how I wanted it and ending up where I want it to go. This is different than how I normally warm up in that I usually focus on getting my fastball and change up locked in to both sides of the plate and only spin 4 or 5 curveballs. I do this because if I can locate my fastball down to my glove side and my arm side then my mechanics are where I need them to be. I don't need to throw a ton of breaking balls because the only difference between my fastball and my curveball is my hand position at release.

The curveball turned out to be the key against Bakersfield because they are a great fastball hitting team. I was able to get ahead with a curve or a change up and then keep them guessing later in the count. In the end it was a successful day, 6 innings pitched 4 hits 1 run 0 walks and 2 strikeouts.

One thing I have noticed on this road trip is that it is much harder to have a set pre game routine on the road than at home. At home I know that I get out on the field 45 minutes before game time, stretch and run for 15 minutes, do dry work for 5 minutes, throw out to 120 feet, come in and throw 6 change ups at 80 feet until 15 minutes before the game, warm up in the bullpen for 10 to 12 minutes, simulate the first 2 batters of the game and then walk down to the dugout to rest for 2 minutes before the 1st pitch. On the road you don't really know when the first pitch is going to be and you don't know how long the top of the 1st inning is going to take. I have always been the type of pitcher who would prefer to get ready to early on the road so what I have been doing is getting completely warm before the National Anthem. After the Anthem is over I wait for the opposing pitcher to take the field at which point I simulate the first two batters of the game and then head down to the dugout. It doesn't give me exactly the same amount of time before I get on the mound each game but it give me a sense of normalcy that puts me at ease before the game starts. What are your thoughts? What do you do at home vs. when you are on the road?

Baseball season is officially here! Two nights ago I made my first start of the season, which also happened to be opening day for the California League, against the Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks). I had never experienced an opening day as a starter in my minor league career and I was excited to get the 2010 season off to a good start for the team and for myself.

My focus going into the game was to establish my fastball and change up to both sides of the plate and try to force some early weak contact. The California League is a notorious for being a hitters league so my hope was that I could work down in the zone to to get ground balls.

In the end I felt like I executed my game plan well and was helped out by a few great plays by my defense so that I was able to go 4 1/3 innings with 0 runs, 3 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. I could do without the three walks but for the first start of the year I can't be too upset.

A few days ago I was lucky enough to get to go and dress for a big league game (often times minor leaguers are sent as back up just in case the scheduled pitchers don't make it through their allotted inning(s)). Although I didn't get into the game it was awesome to get to experience the light at the end of the tunnel for a day.

Going "across the street" as we call it in the A's organization also afforded me the opportunity to see how the big leaguers go about their business. The biggest thing that I will take away from that day is that there is a definite reason why major league pitchers are able to locate the way they do.

The reason for this is the way that they go through their throwing program. Just as a quick aside, the throwing program is basically what we, as pitchers, do every day to get ourselves loose for early work, bullpens, flat grounds etc. The distance and throws vary based on when the last time you pitched and when you are going to pitch again. I didn't really notice that most minor leaguers were not getting the most out of this program, myself included, until I saw the pitchers on the major league staff play catch.

Rather than throwing to get loose, the big league pitchers executed every single throw with a purpose. The key to pitching is repeating your delivery. I know a lot is said about mechanics, arm slots or whatever but you can be very successful repeating a bad delivery from a funky arm slot. What separates the major league pitchers from the minor league pitchers is that they are working on repeating their delivery every single time they throw the baseball while most minor leaguers work on repeating their delivery when they are on a mound.

It makes sense that the more times you throw a baseball the same way the more it is going to be natural to to throw the baseball that way when you are on the mound with the bases loaded and have a full count.

My ultimate goal is to make it to the major leagues, and stay there, so I have made some changes in how I play catch.

1- I don't just throw to the person I am throwing with. I pick a spot on his jersey or pants and try to throw to that small spot. When I am on the mound I am trying to locate to exact spots, why do anything different when I am playing catch?

2- I really focus on keeping my weight back and riding my back leg rather than diving with my shoulder. This has been my major mechanical adjustment as compared to last year. Although I am doing well so far with it, it doesn't help me to have bad habits when I am playing catch.

3- I always stick my landing and get over my front leg. If you want to locate in the bottom of the zone you need to land on a solid base and throw over your front leg. If you play catch every day and don't finish with your head on target over your front leg why are you going to do it when you get on a mound?

HItters are so big, strong and smart today that pitchers really need to have superb command to get outs at the major league level. The only way you are going to accomplish this is to have a delivery that you can repeat.