SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Spring Training officially kicked off this week, as pitchers and catchers reported to Boise’s facility in Scottsdale. And the emphasis should be on “pitchers”, because, as it turns out, Boise has a lot of them. 32 have been invited to Spring Training by our count, though with the roster not yet officially announced, it’s hard to know if everyone is accounted for.There was some confusion over one pitcher in particular, when former Spuds prospect Jeremy Donahue walked onto the field, because as far as anyone knew, he played for the El Paso Chilis. Reporters asked him if he was sure he was in the right place, wondering whether maybe his previous Spring experiences with Boise had led him to forget which team he played for now. As it turned out, Boise and El Paso had made a trade that hadn’t been announced yet, bringing him back to the Spuds organization. This was confirmed when another player involved in the trade, Triple-A catcher Yoshitoki Samurakami, also showed up to the Spring Training facility.
Some other familiar faces were also in attendance. Robin Cooper, Kent Montoya, and most of last year’s staff are naturally returning. They were seen doing some light throwing with Spuds’ starting catcher, Randy Bader.
A healthy Amayas Moelling was also spotted, which is notable, because he hasn’t been seen on a pitcher’s mound since he was injured last June. And he still hasn’t been seen on one, since he elected not to participate in any throwing exercises. To be fair, he wasn’t really dressed to do so — he was wearing a danshiki, a kind of traditional Namibian coat, custom-emblazoned with his name and uniform number on the back. It seems he was more concerned with the photo ops on his first day in camp.
There were also some new faces. Joel Crawford was happy to see his old teammate, Andrés Salinas, from their days playing in San Antonio. And veteran Ernesto Ramos was also seen giving some of the younger pitchers a tutorial on how he grips his circle-change. Take notes, kids, because that’s some million-dollar advice.
Around 10:30 am, there was a roar of excitement from outside the facility, in the parking lot, when Luis Rojas stepped out of a black Range Rover. A popular BBA veteran and fan favorite, Rojas brings a following anywhere he goes, and they were here to greet him on his first day at Spring camp. He spent about 30 minutes signing autographs, and not just for fans either. A few players also joined the queue to meet the pitcher they had long admired.
Luis Núñez was first in line. “Rojas comes from my country,” he said. “I watched him on TV growing up in Guatemala. Now to be sharing the field with him is an honor.”
Finally, one of the most exciting surprises was one of the catchers in attendance. The organization’s #3 prospect, 20-year-old John “Doghouse” McMuttray was at the facility for his first big league Spring Training. His professionalism was on full display — he politely spoke to reporters, but didn’t seem overwhelmed by the hype surrounding him. Then, following his media session, he immediately got to work catching bullpens, directing pitchers 10 years older than him like he’d been doing it his whole life.
“That kid’s gonna be a team captain someday,” said pitcher Bill Keefe. “The way he works with pitchers, I don’t know where he gets all this knowledge.”
Spring Training will ramp up even further this week, when the rest of the squad arrives to get set to play the first games this weekend. Boise expects to have a lot of position players in camp, as several roster spots are expected to be up for grabs. At this point, we couldn’t even come close to predicting who makes the final 27-man for Opening Day, so in the meantime, we’ll just enjoy watching the battles play out.