Camp: Day 2

The Barnstormers had a three-hour afternoon practice today, which is unusually long by spring training standards. They worked on cut-off drills, rundowns and took two sets of batting practice – one against live pitching, one against the coaching staff.

One thing people may not realize about the Atlantic League: Teams rarely get to work on fundamentals. In fact, this training session might be the only time the Barnstormers focus on these things all season. With 140 games in such a condensed schedule, there’s just not much chance to do anything except play each night.

Some observations:

*There’s not much news to report. P Sendy Rleal, P Jose Cabrera and INF Juan Francia still haven’t arrived and there’s no timetable for them to get their visas.

*1B Matt LeCroy has more big-league time than almost any player in team history, but he doesn’t have a big-league personality. He’s one of the most upbeat guys in camp. One minute he’s joking with Boots Day about what he’d do if he won powerball (LeCroy said he’d buy the ice cream truck that drives by the Lakeland complex). The next minute he’s claiming to need oxygen after running around the bases. The Barnstormers pick their ex-big leaguers carefully because they want them to fit. LeCroy seems like a great choice for this town and this team.

*P Franklin Mendible’s stuff is as good as advertised. He has above average velocity and a lot of late life to his pitches. The key, according to those watching him, is for Mendible to repeat his delivery and maintain his control. His story will be interesting to follow. Mendible is considered a project, but an exciting one.

*The level of play in the AL is going to be much higher. P Zack Parker said some of his friends from Double-A and Triple-A have tried to get into this league and there just haven’t been any openings. That’s a good sign for competition.

*The Barnstormers play their first exhibition against the Long Island Ducks Thursday at 10 a.m. Carl Everett is the biggest name on the Ducks at this point. He was nice enough to sign a bunch of autographs for two gentlemen who were waiting by the field today. Parker, Eric Ackerman, Ryan Cullen and Ross Peeples are among the guys expected to pitch Thursday.

*Also of note, Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya is at the complex on injury rehab.

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On the interview front:

*It was a pitchers day. Talked with Parker, Tim McClaskey and Mike Nannini. They are projected as the team’s top three pitchers. McClaskey is an interesting guy because he’s played forever, has veteran savvy and pinpoint location on the mound. Those types of pitchers tend to fare well in this league.

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Quote of the day

“Just from their track records and things they’ve done in the past, this is a damn good team,” manager Von Hayes said. “I could see these guys really coming together and taking the pressure off each other and really posting some runs. It’s just a matter of holding the other team.”

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In the paper

*The feature in the New Era (and late-night blog entry) will focus on 1B Ian Bladergroen — shown in the new uniforms above. He was a rising prospect with the Mets before he tore ligaments in his wrist. He has spent the past three seasons trying to regain the form he showed in Single-A in 2004.

Hayes compared Bladergroen’s swing to a former big-league All-Star (more on that later). Bladergroen believes he’s finally put the injuries behind him and is ready to go. As I’ve said before, my hunch is he has a big year.