A Game of Adjustments

Although it has just been a few days since my last post, a lot has happened. We left Salem-Keizer with a 1-7 record to come home for three games with the Yakima Bears (the Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate). We were also met with the arrival of our new manager, Casey Kopitzke, who joined the team after our first eight games after a tragedy within his family. Casey has been great so far, encouraging the guys and giving some stability to the team with his presence.

We had a very good series against Yakima as a team, and I have also started to play better. Our first game I was the DH and recorded my first ever RBI on a sacrifice fly and it also turned out to be the game-winning RBI as we ended up winning 3-2. The next night I played third base and had a decent game, drawing two walks (we won on a walk-off hit by Greg Rohan in the bottom of the 10th inning!) and tonight I had my first multi-hit game going 2-4 with a single and a double. We also won two of the three games and now are 3-8.

Baseball is always referred to as a game of adjustments and this is especially true with each level closer to the big leagues. I never anticipated the adjustment from college to pro-ball would be easy and knew that I had a lot to learn, but it would be an understatement to say that I have been humbled by having only one hit in my first seventeen at-bats. I have been used to having success at the college level and never expected to hit as well as I did at Miami, but the main adjustment has come as a hitter. Gone are the days when most pitchers throw 86-88 mph fastballs as guys now routinely throw 91-93 and higher. Pitchers throw both inside and outside more consistently (as opposed to mostly outside in college) and also have better off-speed pitches as well. The adjustment takes time for everyone, but the quicker you can adjust the better.

Imagine any habit that you have had for days, months, or even years. You may always answer the phone the same way or have the same breakfast everyday or whatever it may be, but these habits become second nature. We never really think about how we answer the phone, and I never thought too much about whether there was a better way to field a ground ball or swing a bat. When I arrived in Boise, I began to work with our interim manager Frankie Font and our hitting coach Ricardo Medina to change my approach both offensively and defensively. The changes we made (and are still working on) will definitely benefit in the long-run, but the trick is to also have some success now as well. I have been making changes in my swing that will help me hit for more power and "hit like a 6'3" guy as Medina always tells me. Medina is never afraid to tell me if I'm "hitting like Valdez" (our lightning-fast centerfielder who basically tries to just put the ball in play and beat the ball to first)!

I'm starting to really like the guys on the team and have started learning a little Korean courtesy of Jae-Hoon Ha and Spanish from some of the Latin players (Bellakaye, means home run and there is a 0% chance I spelled it right). We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning at 7 A.M. for the bus to Tri-City.

Boise Hawks #37,

JP

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I'm trying not to steal too much from Bill Simmons and Mark "the Shark" Titus but I'm also going to attempt to add a YouTube video at the end of every post. I'll try to keep them baseball related and hopefully they are entertaining...

Josh Womack does a few other bat tricks before a Long Beach Armada game