Jordan's Journey Continues

[Note from What the Heck:  Jordan Comadena, a catcher in the Astros minor league organization, is going to guest blog for us throughout the season about life in the minor leagues.  If you missed it, his first entry is here.]

This is my second entry of what will be a season long journey with a minor league baseball player.

The calendar reads January 25 and that means I am one month away from getting to Kissimmee Florida.  The Astros minor league pitchers and catchers don’t officially report until March 3 but I always like to get to camp early and get into my routine.  I hate feeling rushed in anything that I do, so settling in to spring training is no different.  Getting down there early allows me to get used to being outside again and seeing the ball against the sky.  Obviously Florida provides a much different atmosphere than being trapped indoors in a batting cage all winter.  There really is a transition period that you have to work through when you get back to being outside.  I will use my time there to take as many fly balls, ground balls and catch as many bullpens as I can.  There will be other players trickling in all week leading up to the report date so it is nice to get a jump start on catching some bullpens and getting used to seeing a variety of different stuff.  Another highlight is getting to take batting practice on the field and actually seeing where the balls you are hitting are going.  I really like to feel as game ready as I can on the first day of camp.  I find it extremely beneficial, especially coming from a cold weather climate, to get to camp early and get settled in.

In addition to preparing physically for the season, this time of the year is also used to finalize all your equipment needs for the start of the year.  Players all over the country are keeping in touch with their agents and finalizing what exactly they will need.  It’s always exciting to get new equipment whether it’s shipped to your offseason home or directly to the spring training facility.  It is like another Christmas morning in a way; new shoes, cleats, bats, batting gloves, fielding gloves and for me, catchers gear.  All the new gear really makes me want to get to camp and get going.

These next 4 weeks will go very quickly in anticipation of spring training 2012.  I plan on continuing to make the most of every day.

Jordan Comadena