Gas. Throw 'em off a little. |
He asked if there was anyone who'd throw, and I said I would. |
He wants me to load a little more on my back side, cock my hands. He wants me to be aggressive. He said if he sees me take another 2-0 fastball down the middle, he's going to strangle me. |
He was a big power hitter in his day, but he knows not everybody is the same. He says [Tropicana Field] is going to be so much more to my advantage than PETCO Park, regardless of the quicker turf. It's a good hitting park. |
Here it is, hit it, ... Everything was hard, hard, hard, so it was get it ready early. I was looking fastball every pitch. |
Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I can stop worrying about it. It's something I'm getting treated for every day. |
I was just trying to shorten up with two strikes and put the ball in play up the middle, ... If I get jammed, I get jammed. Close your eyes and luckily the bat hit the ball. Swing, hopefully hit it. |
I was taking grounders and [the back] got tight, then I started to hit and it got tighter and then I came in [for treatment] and it got even tighter. |
I went a long time without an at-bat, |
I'm excited. There's no guarantees or anything. |
I'm not going to be where I was (before I got hurt). But I'll get there. |
I'm not really in panic mode, but, really, this is it. I know this is the shot that I get right now, and I've got to really take it and run with it. It's kind of time to respond to be an everyday guy. If you don't get it done, you don't want to become a platoon player at 25, 26 years old. |
If a trainer asked me now how I felt, I'd say fine, send me out. |
If I was loose I would have had a better release point and I would have painted the corners. |
It gets all the kinks out early. Maybe after the first day some guys were sore, but now that we're getting used to it we're all better. The more live pitches you see the better. It's like we're already on the ninth day now. |