Hard pitches and hard work
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 22, 2008 
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It was an interesting day in camp as the pitchers threw live batting practice to the hitters. I watched Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang face Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu and Jesus Montero.
The format was pretty simple. Each pitcher threw 35 pitches. The hitters rotated every five pitches. The pitchers threw from behind a screen to a catcher who was in the batting cage.
There was one moderately hard-hit ball off Mussina. He kept his pitches down and looked very good. Wang gave up five line drives, four off the bat of Montero. “He’s a strong young man, a strong hitter,” Joe Girardi said.
Joba Chamberlain, who got the loudest cheer from the crowd, had a nice changeup and looked good. He faced a different set of hitters — Hideki Matsui, Jose Molina, Eric Duncan and Jason Lane.
The pitchers also had a lot of running today. An exhausted Mussina came back to the clubhouse and said, “Tomorrow we’ll go to the airport to pull planes with our teeth.”
Phil Hughes sat slumped in his chair. He’s working out with Andy Pettitte in the morning and doing the running in the afternoon. By the end of the day, he can barely move.
“You’re only 22, you should be fine,” Mussina said.
“I’m 21,” Hughes said.
“See?” Mussina said. “I’m old, I can complain.”
“Tomorrow they’re going to take us to the airport to pull jets with out teeth.â€
Haha what has gotten into Moose this offseason?
Hes been really outspoken so far and cracking one-liners like hes taking over for Leno.
Moose has always cracked one-liners as far back as his Baltimore Oriole days.
I love the humor from Mussina.
And dang, Montero…wow.
http://firetorre.blogspot.com/.....ro-10.html
Phil,
I know you read this blog, man up! j/k Seriously though when do the crazy workouts stop?
It’s really good to hear about Moose being in high spirits this year.
Man this makes me excited about the end of March. You guys (most of you at least) are lucky you don’t have to pay $180 to watch the Yankees! At least the Nats have a new stadium?
Nah, I’m even more happy that there’s a new post almost every time I get to this site.
Jesus is good
Nice to see this group with a renewed sense of training in the pre-season. In years past they really treated spring training like it was a chore instead of preparation. Looks like Girardi is already placing his stamp on this team.
Think Mussina will stay like this all year? The whole team seems to be having fun…. or maybe its just what Pete is feeding us from Tampa?
NICE! we sponsored his page on thebaseballcube.com
http://thebaseballcube.com/pla.....tero.shtml
I’m thinking it’s a good page to sponsor.
boy Mussina is really funny this season. I think alot of it has to do with him knowing that his career is coming to an end and this might be his last season with the Yankees.
I hope Wang isn’t upset because Montero can crush alot of baseballs, that kid’s power is more than Big Papi was at his age.
Who is the man and what has he done with Mike Mussina?
Mussina is a real class act. He struggled mightily last year and is clearly happy to have it behind him and see if he can rebound.
Yes, I am sure he senses the twilight of his career, but it’s pretty obvious he wants to have a positive influence on the youngsters.
Good vibes all around from what we are reading/seeing. Very excited for the season’s start.
Thank you, Pete!
None of these players are so old that this extra road work can do anything other than good. It’s called training and conditioning. It establishes the right tone at the top, gives them less time for b.s. and trouble making in the locker room, forces them to work as a team with everyone running together, conditions body and mind and makes them ready and focused by Opening Day instead of the All Star Break.
See you on the runway Moose. And hey, remember to use your Poligrip Denture Adhesive.
The Moose is definitely loose this year. That made me LOL!
4 were hit by Jesus
I love Moose.
http://riveraveblues.com/
This is a Blogopost about ‘ARod and being tested 10 times’.
It is a must read, and it mentions this blob and Pete a number of times.
Pete – You should read it also.
I don’t think it trashes anyone, but is a level headed synopsis of how many of us feel.
Imagine the T-shirts we could make with the name Jesus…
wow.
P.S. Don’t forget to read the comments
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO ?
Catherine: How much you wanna bet they’re already made and just waiting for the orders?
I have always like Moose.
SJ44 and Murphydog –
Good commentary today.
Moose is great. I really hopes he has a strong comeback year. We could sure use 175 > league average innings from Mike.
Last year was horrible, but don’t forget 2006 was 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 175Ks.
Don’t F$%* with the Jesus !!
Please give us Girardi audio!
Is there any reason why Wang yielding five line drives in BP should concern anyone?
Jesus Is My Catcher. Hallelujah.
not when Jesus hits 4 of them
OH MY GOD! WANG GOT CRUSHED TODAY! I TOLD YOU CASH SHOULD HAVE TRADED HIM WHILE HE STILL HAD SOME VALUE!
Kill-Schill
Hmmm was mocking certain posters here.
Nice to see some sarcastic posts here lol
“Catherine
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Imagine the T-shirts we could make with the name Jesus…
wow.”
imagine the John Sterling HR call
great link OldYanksfan. I’m not sure how Pete will take that. I notice that media members defend each other at the end of the day (Ironic since they always try to scrutinized the players backing each other).
Jesus is a beast. I saw that kid hit a ball in Tampa last year I think is still in the air.
The ball sounds differently coming off his bat. The only other two guys I have seen who had that “different” type of sound coming off the bat at that age were Arod and Vlad.
In fact, Montero reminds me a lot of Vlad at the same age.
I saw Vlad in West Palm Beach (when he was with the Expos) when he was 18 years old. Montero is thicker than Vlad was but, Vlad had those long arms and the ball came off his bat like a rocket. Montero does the same thing.
Guys who were 10+ years older than Vlad were shocked at how the ball sounded when it left his bat.
I can’t wait to see more of Montero this year.
Of all the young players, Montero is a kid who could find his way to the majors very quickly.
His bat could put him in the majors in two years, IMO.
Its not out of the realm of possibility if he has a good year in the minors in 2008.
8 year olds ,dude?
Imagine the John Sterling HR call
“Jee-sus, Mary and Joseph… that ball is gone!”
“That ball is high, it is far, it… is… gone! Holy Hey-soos, it’s a Miraculous Mash by Montero.”
(I love that cornball Sterling. I really do).
Pete,
I’m curious. You’ve been giving the vibe that while the team is working their butts off more than ever that they also seem to have great chemistry overall and are enjoying eachother. How would you compare the overall mood and vibe to Joe Torre’s spring training camps of years past? I really like what I’m hearing and I’m wondering if its noticably different beyond all the running. I’d love nothing more than to have a fit, prepared club come out of the gates mashing and more than anything having fun doing it. It seems like Cano, Melky, Joba and Hughes injected some of that fun into the second half of last season and I’m hoping this has spread throughout the club and keeps going. If Girardi can maintain the balance of hard work and good times we may be in for a special season. I’m crossing my fingers.
SJ,
Whats the word on Albaladejo? I haven’t heard his name once.
SJ44, have you heard anything about Salcedo?
there were rumors he had signed with Cleveland, then a brief rumor that the Yankees had made a huge offer…
anyone know?
Salcedo better be good if he expects a $4-5M signing bonus.
“His bat could put him in the majors in two years, IMO.”
I was wondering about him a few days ago. I hope he has a monster year and makes the Yankees think twice about signing Texiera.
he has a HI5 account kind of like myspace and Edward has a pic on there saying mi team hinting he wants to sign w/ the Indians.
Relax Worried Guy…it’s BATTING practice.
Uh….do most jets have teeth? Are jets without teeth harder to pull than those which do have teeth? (just kidding, I know it was a typo)
No, I recognize that. But I worry about Wang nonetheless. Not because I think Wang’s post-season performance augured regression representative– it attribute it to a fatigue that kept his pitches high in the zone– but because I wonder (i) whether it will mess with his confidence and (ii) whether Eiland is best suited for working with a sinkerball pitcher.
I had heard Stolttlemyer on FranDog a couple of times since Wang’s performance. He said he observed that Wang’s pitches were moving left to right instead of up and down and surmised that he was having difficulty with his sinker’s arm slot. Stott threw a similar sinker evidently.
I only hope Eiland will prove as instrumental in Wang’s development and adjustments as Stott once was.
Who is Salcedo?
Who, Who, is Salcedo?
I love Moose’s wry humor. I’ll keep saying it–I’m predicting a bounceback year for him.
If only Montero was a closer! We’d get “Jesus Saves” headlines.
hmmm,
This is what Jim Callis said about Salcedo on Wednesday:
Jordan Rosario (North Carolina): Any updates on Edward Salcedo?
Jim Callis: Nope. He still hasn’t signed and I’m still not sure I’ll believe he really exists until someone signs him.
I heard Schilling showed up at camp the other day, and actually scared the heck out of Dice-K
http://www.traveladventures.or.....umo1.shtml
hmmm,
I’ve heard its between the Yankees and Indians for Salcedo and he hasn’t told either team who he will sign with yet.
Boras is his agent and I think he is trying to push the process a little longer to see if he can get more money.
I heard (third hand so I don’t know how true it is) the Yankees offered 4 million.
Haven’t gotten any confirmation from anybody with the Yankees on that though so don’t take it to the bank.
Kill Schill –
http://www.baseballamerica.com.....cts/?p=721
Salcedo has not officially signed with either the Indians or the Yankees as far as I know.
I think it’s impossible to know what’s going on there because his agent is none other than Scott Boras.
Boras has been leaking rumors since the fall about Salcedo signing with the Yankees, Mariners, and Indians all of which have been false. BA has had a few posts about him on their prospect blog saying that he hadn’t signed with any of the rumored teams.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer then reported that Salcedo was going to sign with the yankees for $5million. I wonder who the source of that leak was? Can’t Boras just pick up the phone and call Shapiro. The Cleveland Plain dealer of course has great inside sources with the yankees and what they offer prospects, LOL!
If Boras is involved I don’t see salcedo signing until the last minute, but who knows.
From everything you hear he sounds like he might be in the Angel Villalona/ Montero level of talent.
$5 million for a 16 year old?
That’s Edward Salcedo
http://img153.imageshack.us/im.....edoty5.png
this is his HI5
Salcedo
CB,
didnt Montero get in the $2M range? Is Salcedo considered that much better?
I posted his link WTF ? where is it ?
I’m really lovin’ this harding work camp mentality.
I think this has been a soft team in recent years. Soft has definitely left the building.
Dave,
Albaladejo hasn’t thrown with the top groups yet. He will. They are just putting groups together now so, more guys will throw in the next few days.
ok never mind there it is 4:24 PM post
Thanks SJ.
I’ll be interested to see how he looks. I haven’t seen him pitch yet but the Yanks must have liked what they saw in his 14IP last season.
Boston Dave,
The whole Montero signing bonus is still something of a mystery.
At first it was reported that he signed for $2million. But then when they actually finalized the deal the yankees decreased it to $1.6 million. No one ever explained why (with Cash in charge who’d expect anything else). But that led to some rumors that he was perhaps older than 16, etc, etc none of which have been substantiated.
I honestly don’t know much about Salcedo other than what I’ve read in BA, etc. He’s supposed to be a 5 tool shortstop with a great deal of power (sounds similar to montero in the sense of playing a premium defensive position while having considerable power I guess). He’s also supposed to be very big so I don’t know if he can stick at short long term.
The numbers being thrown around for this kid are really eye opening. To put it in perspective the highest bonus every for an international signing (non-japanese/ taiwaneese) was Willy Mo Pena back in ’99. The yanks coughed up 2.3 million (I know – impossible to believe but true). 2 years ago the giants gave Angel Villalona $2.1. I think montero’s may be third highest.
For Salcedo to get twice as much as Villalona is something. I don’t know how much of this is Boras and how much is his talent. You do get the sense that he is an elite level talent for that age on the Villalona/ Montero level.
I think its a very strong sign of his talent that Shapiro is in on the bidding at those dollars. Cleveland does a great job scouting but usually doesn’t spend anywhere near this much on an international signee.
I hope the yankees can sign him. They need more power hitting prospects.
What got into Moose all of the sudden?
Great Joba faced people who aren’t even gonna be in the lineups.But every other pitcher faced great hitters.Guess they wanna make Joba look good,
You don’t really understand how ST works, do you?
They put players in groups. The groupings can be for a bunch of different reasons. It isn’t a big deal.
Its about getting the work in. That’s all that matters.
Perhaps they don’t want somebody with Joba’s stuff to face the better players this early in camp. If its not harnessed yet, guys could get hurt.
If Moose hits somebody, nobody gets hurt. If Joba hits somebody, they are out for awhile.
what’s up with moose? cracking jokes? pitching well?
how long will it last? i do hope he has a good year and i pray he gets finally gets a ring. good, bad or ugly, i have always liked him.
moose has a twin in that guy luke on american idol, btw.
That’s it Joe. Keep running them. Hard work never killed anyone.
>Phil Hughes sat slumped in his chair. He’s working out with Andy Pettitte in the morning and doing the running in the afternoon. By the end of the day, he can barely move.
[syntax error on previous post]
“Phil Hughes sat slumped in his chair. He’s working out with Andy Pettitte in the morning and doing the running in the afternoon. By the end of the day, he can barely move.”
Am I nuts, or is it a little crazy that a pro athlete at his age would be so totally gassed after a day of working out. Aren’t these modern athletes supposed to stay in shape year-round? This is like an image out of some Ring Lardner story from the 1920s, where guys would come into ST completely out of shape.
John,
The point wasn’t that Hughes is out of shape…it’s that he’s doing 2 workouts per day, and really pushing himself.
He’s doing part of the Pettitte/Clemens “Navy Seal” workout before practice with Andy in addition to all of the team drills and running.
I’m not surprised he’s tired after all that.
I’m real curious how Boston’s spring training is going. Anyone know any good links to get the lowdown?
apparently roger misremembered about that casneco party he definatly wasnt at:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo....._was_.html
that does it for me, hes a cheater and a liar and i hope he gets convicted of perjury