PSSBL Mustangs Update

Posted on June 5th, 2008 in mustangs, pictures, working out, goals by Kyle

We’re 1-2, with our only win coming from a forfeit (we were probably going to win anyway). We lost a game 13-14 because of a wild pitch where the pitcher didn’t cover (we probably would have lost even if he covered) and we walked a ton of batters (the strike zone became absurdly small). Anyway, it’s not a great start - our pitching hasn’t been too good, but the hitting is absolutely dismal in a lot of spots. It’s not for lack of effort, either - lots of the guys show up to practice and work their asses off, we just can’t seem to tie it all together. I still have faith, though - our defense has been quite good in the last two games, and the pitching is coming around.  I still think we’re in the top half of the division - we should be fine.

On a personal level, here’s what’s up with me:

  • I am insanely stressed out with life. When you add this to my laziness, I have gained more weight and gotten more fat. Annoying. I am trying to reverse it, I promise.
  • I still work out 4 days a week with wrist weights, throwing into a net, and dutifully taking batting practice. As a result, I can’t control my fastball, my changeup for some reason is no good anymore, and I sucked in my one official appearance with the Mustangs. It doesn’t help that I just figured out how I want to windup and deliver the ball to the plate using a pendulum swing motion and body action. I need to take it easier on my arm, as it’s rarely 100% for team practices (always good for games, though - I take enough time off).
  • I’ve been hitting fairly well after developing a consistent stride and loading pattern. Against the Mudhens on Friday, I crushed a ball to left field that was ~310 feet on a line. I followed that up with a single, a walk, and an infield pop-up. I’ve been getting jammed too much inside, and that sucks. I need to fix that. Oh well - at least I have a consistent swing that I’m happy with. Can’t ask for too much more.
  • My defense has been quite good, if I do say so myself. I have made all of the plays at me at second base, and though most were easy, I have had two pretty good range-y plays as well as a diving stop with the infield drawn in to save a run and pick up an out. I still airmail it from time to time on double plays, but with some help from my teammates on picking up the target, I think that’s largely fixed.

My physical fitness has never been worse. I weigh ~215 lbs right now and I wanted to start the year at 195, preferably at 190. Life has gotten in the way of actually paying attention to working out and eating right, but that’s not much of an excuse. Back to the grind.

Rob (our GM) has done a great job of managing the team despite some minor quarrels here and there. I realize I’m not one of the top four pitchers on the team with my wildness, and though I’m bummed I don’t pitch, there’s really no reason I deserve a regular spot either as a reliever or a starter. I’ll continue to work hard, and I’m sure Rob will work me in there as the situation calls for/allows it. I’m still batting cleanup, starting at second base, and playing every game, so what can I really complain about? Nothing.

Speaking of pitching, here’s what I’ve finally settled on throwing:

  • Two-seam Maxline/Torque fastballs (I can control it much better and get decent sink on them)
  • Pronation slider
  • Four-seam Circle Change (which sucks right now and I have no idea why - it’s always been my best pitch)

The command/control of my fastball is pretty godawful right now, or at least it was in the game. In practice, it hasn’t been. My velocity has picked up a bunch, though, so that’s some good news. I really want to limit my walks to one every other inning, but at this point I’d take one per inning.

Last, but not least, here’s an animated image of what I do with wrist weights:

And my stats for the year so far (Mustangs Batting Stats - Pitching Stats)

Pitching: 2.2 IP, 3 BB, 3 K, 3 ER, 10.11 ERA 2.25 WHIP
Hitting: .375/.500/.500 , 8 AB - 1 RBI, 1 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 2b

Next game is Sunday at Steve Cox Field - the newly-remodeled White Center Park - versus the revamped Missions. I am looking forward to it. Well, I always look forward to playing baseball, of course.

Oh, and in the other amateur league I play in (Seattle League; my team is Nandemoya), there’s a HS pitcher from Japan named Hirosei who is the best pitcher in the league. He throws a fastball/slider/forkball combination, and he has pretty good velocity (usually around 82-84). However, this year, he has gained a ton more on his fastball, and though his secondary pitches lag behind, I swear to god he was touching 90 for 2-3 pitches the last time I saw him. It was unbelievable.

First Game - PSSBL Mustangs

Posted on May 5th, 2008 in mustangs, working out, goals by Kyle

Our first game didn’t go so well, so I won’t write much about it. The defense was pretty rusty to kick off the game, committing a few errors and mental mistakes, but the real culprit was the poor performance by the 1-4 hitters, who were 2-for-15 combined. This included me, who went 0-for-3 with only two real good swings on a baseball (one fouled straight back and one sky high flyball; I just barely missed both). I attribute it to first game jitters as well as just having an off day; I think that our team will be well above .500 this year and that I’ll achieve my personal goals as well.

On another note, the stress in my life over the past 3-4 months has directly led to me neglecting my physical fitness and nutrition routines. Unsurprisingly, I am softer than ever and overweight to boot. Fortunately for me, I picked up a baseball coaching client who is very dedicated and motivates me to get into good shape as well. I’m going to do my best to update this blog daily with my caloric intake and my physical activity for the day. I need to get on a lifting program, as I’ve largely neglected the gym, and I also need to start running more as the weather continues to get nicer and my time commitment to Roosevelt baseball wanes (the season ends in about a week).

I don’t believe in tracking scale weight, but I’m definitely carrying plenty of fat. I’d like to lose 2 pounds per week for the next 8 weeks, which would put me at the weight I wanted to be to start the season.

Tomorrow I’m going to hit the gym after baseball practice, lift, and then hit the grocery store to pick up some food in accordance with my weekly meal plan.

Besides, I need to look better for my wedding pictures!

First Scrimmage!

Posted on April 6th, 2008 in mustangs, gamelog, video by Kyle

Today the weather finally held out (for awhile, anyway) and we played our first scrimmage against the PSSBL Bulls (formerly the Sox). They are a bit of a rivalry for us, since the commissioner plays for their team and is a friend of a few of the people on our squad. I had some negative experiences against their team when I played for the Mariners in the Rocky division, so I was pretty amped up to pitch and step into the batter’s box against them.

Jacob got the start and went 2 IP, allowing two runs, of which one was unearned (I believe). I came in to pitch in the third and went two innings, allowing no runs, one walk and no strikeouts. Both Jacob and I threw only fastball/changeup/gyroball combinations, saving our breaking balls for the regular season. The truth is that I have little faith in my pronation curve at this point, but feel it should be ready by the season opener. I had decent control but below-average command of my changeup, but when I threw it where I wanted, the hitters were completely thrown off. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t thrown it, since it’s my best pitch and we play the Bulls four times this year, but hopefully I’ll have developed the pronation curve by the next time we play them.

At the plate I went 1-for-2 with a strikeout (swinging and missing middle-out) and a double. I also picked up a very easy infield assist at second base to close out our game as the rain started in on us. We ended the game after 5.5 innings with the scored tied up at 2-2.

All in all, it was a very good day for me, and everyone seemed positive about our chances going forward. I think it’s clear that our pitching is going to be pretty good. I’ll have tough competition for the #2 spot, as Roger came on in the fifth and pitched two excellent innings, recording a few strikeouts. As I’ve said before, I definitely don’t mind the competition - I thrive on it!

Today was also the first game where I threw from the Marshall windup and the modified set position. It felt great - way better than throwing from the traditional windup. I will continue to use these mechanics until I run into an overzealous ump. I think I should keep a copy of the MLB rules regarding the windup/set positions on me at all times just to prove that they are in fact legal throwing positions. For those of you who aren’t aware what Marshall pitchers look like, here’s a clip of Jeff Sparks throwing the pronation curve (large file - 13.5 MB):

Scaling The Wall

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 in mustangs, practice by Jacob

Yesterday’s practice was a good one for myself as well.  I’d felt as though I’d hit a wall the last few times I’d thrown the ball, the velocity was there, but my control wasn’t.  I’ve been trying to add more backside drive when coming down the mound, sometimes this changes the plane of my shoulders and I miss my target.  It’s a small adjustment, and I fell I put it together for a few pitches yesterday.

It’s tough working on things when you’re simultaneously trying to make an impression on your new teammates.  I’ve thrown so many bullpens this off-season that if I don’t have a specific thing to work on, I find myself not able to really “lock in”… but I think that will be easily remedied by having some opposition.  I’m the kind of pitcher who needs to get some guys out before I can start to show my leadership on the mound.  Two scrimmage innings on Sunday is the next step in that direction.

The Adams division is an interesting situation.  With only six teams, we are going to play each other four times…  which paves the way for some intense rivalry and revenge opportunities.  Our scrimmage Sunday is against division opponents, but it’s the pre-season.  I’ll be curious to see if the turnout justifies actually playing, hopefully eighteen guys show.  I’m also anxious to see how intense the gamesmanship is.  Many of these guys know each other, so it will be interesting to see how hard people play in the spring muck.

Our team is taking shape, I really like the quality of ballplayers Rob has assembled.  We’re deep at just about every position, even catcher.  Competition from within combined with a good practice regimen…  Sounds like the perfect approach to the season.

Tuesday’s Practice

Posted on April 1st, 2008 in mustangs, practice by Kyle

More people showed up to tonight’s practice, about nine altogether. We had the two guys there from the previously mentioned post, who ended up falling to us in the draft. Both of them can throw pretty well, but one is pretty raw (never pitched in HS) and the other just needs some more time on the mound. I would imagine that both should become pitchers on the team, as they definitely have the ability and both seem to want to work hard, which fits in with the team’s philosophy.

Rob reaffirmed the notion that no positions or spots in the lineup are completely spoken for, which is just how I like it. Despite the fact that I was told that I’ll be batting in the middle of the lineup, pitching, and possibly playing 2b on my days off, I never take anything for granted anymore. I welcome the competition (both of the new guys can hit and one looks to be a good infielder) and like the chance to compete for the shortstop position as well! I do prefer playing second base, but if my bat and glove carry me on the left side of the infield, that’s where I’ll play.

I feel like I had a great session all around today. I hit well, I fielded plenty of balls cleanly and made mostly good throws, and my breaking ball is getting more consistent now that I’ve taken a bit off and switched to the two-seam grip. A big dilemma for me is the fact that I throw so much more consistently and with more velocity from the pseudo-traditional windup and drop-step delivery that Marshall teaches, but I’m not sure what umpires are going to say. It’s a completely legal delivery and fits well within the rules of MLB and our league, but that might not necessarily fly. I plan on throwing using those mechanics in the Sunday scrimmage; we’ll see how the Bulls like it (I’m sure they won’t).

Tomorrow I’ll be holding optional BP for the HS team, and I’ll probably throw some to the catcher there as well as long as my arm’s not too sore. After stopping the heavy-duty wrist weights/iron ball/lifting program, my arm is feeling better than ever and I daresay at 100%. I’m going to start cutting weight, which is what I wanted to do earlier, but didn’t want to run a caloric deficit while on the serious workout plan. I learned the hard way last year that cutting calories while on such a program can seriously deplete muscle mass and inhibit recovery on my arm.

Tuesday’s Practice, Hitting Progress

Posted on March 26th, 2008 in mustangs, practice by Kyle

Some of the Mustangs were in attendance, mostly the usual suspects. Rob had two tryout players at the practice to further evaluate them for the draft on Saturday - one of them is an outfielder, not sure on the other one. Either way, both seemed like they’d be a good fit on the team - one of them can throw pretty hard as a pitcher, and the other can hit pretty well. We’ll see how it turns out on draft day.

I threw from the mound a bit, but after throwing so much BP and not warming up adequately, it wasn’t too impressive. I switched to my old two-seam curve grip that I used a few months ago when I couldn’t figure out the standard curve grip; I got the idea from a Baseball America profile on an up-and-coming pitcher in the Orioles organization (can’t remember who, though).

Still mashing the ball pretty good, though. I’m going to hit on Wednesday night with Vinny to get a few more hacks in as well as a videotaped session (both pitching and hitting). Rob says that he plans to hit me 3rd or 4th in the lineup, which I was very happy with! I love hitting in the middle of the lineup, and though I really like hitting 2nd, it’s definitely an honor to hit cleanup. Steve and I are the early frontrunners in those spots, with Jason (our shortstop) leading off, as I assume Rob is trying to find a good left-handed bat to hit 2nd. In the early workouts and practices that we’ve had, both Steve and I have the most power on the team, so it does make sense. I’d say at this point Steve is a better overall hitter than me. Checking his stats from last year, it looks like he batted .465/.581/.651, which is pretty sick, even considering Rocky-level pitching. I think an OPS of 1.200 is achievable, but would be pretty damn difficult this year, since we’re facing tougher pitching and defenses.

I feel that I should have no problem in out-producing last year’s stats, which over all the leagues I played in, were:

.300/.380/.410 over 113 PA / 100 AB
30 H, 9 2b, 1 3b, 12 RBI, 14 R, 8 SB, 8 K, 9 BB, 4 HBP

I was hitting .410 going into the last two weeks of the season, where I just slumped. It sucked. I think a reasonable projection for me this year over 120 PA would be:

.400/.470/.600

I will definitely hit at least two home runs this year; there’s pretty much no way to avoid it. I hit at least four warning track shots at larger fields, and I’m worlds better as a hitter now. I still want to steal 10 bases this year, but it’ll be tough with Steve batting ahead of me and clogging the bases!

Robbie has had insane improvement after getting a few lessons at Big League Edge down in Auburn, so I might check it out as well. I’d love to be throwing 8 MPH faster than I am right now, since that’d put me right around the 80 MPH mark.

Time to get some late-night work done before the Oakland/Boston game. Go Rich Harden!