The Astros organization was kind enough to allow six of us blogger types access to sit down and ask a few questions of Brad Mills, Bud Norris and J.D. Martinez. It went very well and we have every reason to believe that we will be invited back from time to time.
BRAD MILLS
I asked Mills about how closely the organization watches those players who participate in winter ball. As examples, I used Sergio Perez who pitched 65 innings in winter ball after a full regular season at OKC and Aneury Rodriguez who probably pitched about 50 innings between the regular season, playoffs and the Caribbean Series this winter. He responded, "We keep a pretty good eye on especially the guys that are closer to the major leagues like Aneury. We didn't have any problem with him throwing down there." Since Aneury was healthy going into the off-season, he went on to say, "We wanted him to go down there and continue to throw and work on some things." They didn't watch Sergio Perez as much because he's not as close to the majors.
Mills also talked about Jose Altuve's workload over the winter as Altuve approached 900 plate appearances. He seemed a little annoyed that Altuve worked so hard over the winter, and with a hint of exasperation, he said that Altuve would be getting to Kissimmee early (he was scheduled to arrive on the 13th). I have a feeling that Brad Mills will be instructing the staff at Kissimmee to sit on Altuve until he gets there.
I also asked Mills about Brian Bogusevic. Since he clearly did well hitting against lefties in winter ball (hitting .271), I wanted to know if Mills would play him against left-handed pitchers if he wins a roster spot. In response, he said, "My thinking on that is definitely give him the opportunity to start out ... It would be my wish that I'd put him in the line-up and he'd hit .480 against both righties and lefties." He went on to offer the usual caveat that if a right-hander needs some AB's and the situation is right, he would sit Bogey from time to time, but overall I was encouraged by his assurances.
BUD NORRIS
I asked Bud about any coaches or managers in the minor leagues who he found to be particularly helpful in his development. "Everybody gives you a little tidbit here and there. You take a little bit from each and every one." At Tri-City Don Alexander helped him with his mechanics (Alexander will be the pitching coach at Lancaster this year). He credits Stan Boroski at AA for helping him with his slider. "The slider I still throw today as one of my bread and butters has been the slider I got in AA." And, of course, Bud enjoyed the chance to sit and talk with Burt Hooten (AAA pitching coach) about old school baseball. "With Burt, you had a real opportunity to understand what the old game was and how it was played."
Bud also had encouraging words about RHP Jarred Cosart with whom he's worked out this winter, "I think he has a good head on his shoulders. He has a huge bright side." On Cosart's disappointment on not getting an invite to the big league camp, Bud said, "It's good to see that people want it. It's good to see that they have that burning desire."
J.D. MARTINEZ
I asked J.D. the same question about coaches or managers that had helped him along the way. "I was fortunate. Every major league coach and manager I had was ... really good. It speaks volumes for the organization. He singled out Stubby Clapp (currently Tri-City manager), Rodney Linares (who will manage at Lancaster in 2012), Tom Lawless (now a roving infield instructor) and "Johnny Mo" (John Moses, formerly the hitting coach at Corpus, who is no longer in the organization). "Each one of them I picked something that they helped me with along the way ... Everyone has thrown me one or two things that I still use today. Give equal credit to all those guys."
J.D. showed phenomenal honesty and candor in all of his answers to us. He spoke of early doubts and how he got past those, struggling to keep weight on through the season, how he handles left field at MMP (giving full credit to Dave Clark for repetition after repetition of practice), and his unorthodox batting stance which he was tempted to change because "I feel like I look goofy when I hit." As one of the other bloggers pointed out, there was another Astro with a goofy batting stance a while back; that batting stance got him a statue outside Minute Maid Park.
Next Up ~ Some Final Thoughts on Fan Fest
