42.18 Finding the Sweet Spot with Carlomaria Donadoni - April 21st

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42.18 Finding the Sweet Spot with Carlomaria Donadoni - April 21st

Post by crobillard » Sat Apr 04, 2020 10:35 am

I've never done this blogging thing before. The team told me that doing this would allow me to connect with some fans. I guess that's cool, but I don't know why anyone would read my rumblings about baseball. I suppose I don't have a normal job and people are interested in the inner workings of it all, but it's not that exciting. Baseball players don't have a ton of time to themselves due to the frequency of games, so they usually need an establish some kind of support system. The team is great with having the hotels we are staying at on the road take care of the laundry and shopping. I haven't experienced that before. McLaughlin in Winnipeg would have never done that for us. I loved my time in Winnipeg, but coach isn't the most friendly guy to be around.

My time in the majors so far has just made me realize how much I need to work on still. This could be going better. I'm not sure I envisioned only getting ten hits in my first 52 at bats. Five of those hits have been doubles and three of them have been homeruns though, so not all is bad. I've also walked seven times on top of that. Juan Carlos said he was going to drop me in the order, so I really need to step it up. The issue is that I'm just striking out too much right now. 152 strikeout pace is ridiculous. I'm working with Dave Rodriguez on getting back to fundamentals and just getting my bat on the ball.

Will has been telling me that my fielding has been good and what the team expected, but that game against the Cougars last Sunday was a nightmare for me. The second I took the field I felt uncomfortable. First pitch, Thealer got his bat on the ball, routine ground out and I watched Collins bobble it and I lost it. I was totally out of the game from that moment on. I swear Machiavelli is a mind reader, next ball is solid contact right at me. I picked it up like I've done hundreds of thousands of times now, but I choked on whether to go for the double play and overthrew it to first in the most awkward moment I've had since getting rejected on the field when I asked my high school crush to prom. Thankfully, Kim was all over it and Thealer didn't test Kim's good arm. I'm sure if it was Machiavelli there, he would have blown past us both.

I wont share what Chandler Hall said to me afterwards, but I would have hated to be at the plate in that moment. He struck out the next three batters. All fastballs. By the way, I just want to touch on how impressed I am with him. He's an incredibly intense person and so competitive, but I've never met anyone so fierce and so compassionate at the same time. I'll share some stories about him another time, but he's the one that helped me get set up with a place in Red Deer when I was called up. I was just going to room with Jerry Bell at this apartment, but Chandler worked with an agent when he got called up a couple years ago and helped me nail down my new beautiful home.

Red Deer has been amazing too. I thought I would get recognized more, but everyone is just hustling to work there all the time. I rarely get stopped on the street. This weekend my girlfriend and I went out to dinner and I didn't get stopped at all. I wondered if people just didn't recognize me, but I could never do that in Edmonton. I would get swarmed. I don't mind really, but I don't want her to feel overwhelmed by it all.

Anyways, I have a meeting with coach so I need to wrap this up. Hopefully the rest of the month goes better. I really want to fill in for Fernando Cruz the way fans want me to. He had a big season last year. Huge shoes to fill.

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