One of the milestone days of Spring Training is the first day of live batting practice. That’s when the pitching staff gets its work in with a batter actively trying to hit the ball. The Padres hit that fence post on Friday.
James Shields was the first to work off the mound to live hitters. The other three guaranteed members of the starting rotation, Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross and Ian Kennedy, also threw with live ammo for the first time.
It’s not going full game speed, but it’s also not just working on mechanics.
“You’re trying to get quality pitches, quality out, and throw quality strikes” said Kennedy. “For me it’s about getting the work, but also getting the little extra adrenaline.”
We saw an awful lot of swings and misses and foul balls. As happens every spring, the pitchers are further along than the hitters.
“We have the advantage right now because they don’t see a lot of live pitching,” said Kennedy. “It’s a lot different when someone is throwing like a real pitcher and not just laying it in there for BP.”
Much like batting practice, the guys on the mound throw from behind a protective L-screen, which takes a lot more adjusting than one might think.
“For me, it’s hard,” said Kennedy. “You’ve got that bar right there and I couldn’t tell if the catcher caught it in the center, down low … we’re not used to it. It’s having something right in front of us, you feel like you’re going to hit it or you can’t see because the bar is right there in the middle of your vision.”
Hey, at least they’re well-protected. Aren’t they?
“When a guy swings, you have no idea where the ball is going. Will (Venable) hit a ball today and I had no idea where it was going. I just flinched because I didn’t know if it was at me, first base, third base, whatever it was. It’s almost as dangerous to have it there as it is not having it there.”
On Saturday, manager Bud Black expects to have a preliminary plan for his Cactus League pitching rotation. Games get underway on Wednesday with the annual Charity match against the Mariners, where they won’t have to worry about any L-screens.
