Scottsdale stadium is broken up in to 3 fields. The main stadium, the full sized practice field, and the infield only portion behind the Charros Lodge.
During the early parts of camp (before actual games) it’s like a big game of musical chairs, except no one loses a seat. Pitchers are lumped in to 3 different groups and they rotate throughout each of the fields.
The main stadium was used for “after the pitch” drills. For example, there would be different scenarios and the pitcher would have to field the ball/throw to the correct base. They might have to practice checking a runner on 2nd, etc.
The practice field was used primarily for bunting and it was probably the most entertaining portion of the day for me. The reason is, every pitcher had to partake in bunting drills, SPs & RPs. You got to see Lopez, Romo, and Affeldt slap on a helmet and get in the box. Sure it was only bunting, but it proved to be a cool opportunity to see them in a role you may never see in a live game.
As the twitter world has stated today, Wilson and Lincecum did not partake in practice for precautionary reasons. Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of seeing Wilson taking hacks. He was even prepared for it, but alas it didn’t happen.
I couldn’t tell what was going on over at the infield section since it’s hidden.
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The other side of camp is obviously the catchers at this point. There are currently 6 on the ST roster. GRP A - Posey, Whiteside, Stewart GRP B - Joseph, Hector Sanchez, & Williams.
They participate on the infield scenario drills with the pitchers and instead of bunting they spend time with Bill Hayes and do pop ups. They would use a pitching machine I like to call “poppa” and let ‘em fly. First couple rounds are just, “see ball, catch ball.” It progresses to starting in the squat and waiting an increasing number of second before hunting for the ball. Lastly, Bill would fire off two at a time and they had to successfully catch both.
The day ends with a little coach’s BP in the main yard.
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As I tweeted earlier, the other position players I saw working out were, DeRosa, Sanchez, Panda, and Fontenot. This was basically some conditioning drills and sprints with a couple of the guys hitting the cages.
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