Been throwing since November. Hitting since October. Back still in a lot of pain. Arm feels ok. Got a JUGS gun so I don't have readings from my ****ty gun that range from 62 to 87.

my arm hurts thinking about this

Actually taking my offseason throwing program with periodic video review seriously this year. Sat 75-76 today and touched 78. Hoping to be 79-81 this year; in hindsight I was throwing a lot softer than this in the past. 79-81 would be plus velocity for the division I pitch in.

Time for a 2012 thread or just take the year out of this one and keep it?

Threw my first bullpen today for the new team. Teammates said I was throwing way harder than I was last year when I pitched against them 3 times. Located fastball well, slider really coming along, and my change is again very good if I can command it. Can't wait for ball to start.

Guys which would you choose: best player on an awful team or worst player on a good team? Rec league. Assume ABs are the same on either. Less pitching and time in the field on good team.

I go where I get the most innings, personally.

new team, let's see if i can throw strikes this year.

Yeah I picked the bad team so I could pitch more. First practice today, will probably unseat the starting SS as well. He's got a good arm but no range and boots the ball all over. Team looks to be pretty bad overall though. Lots of playing time at good positions will help I guess.

Any baseball players here that have a Euro passport?

Where are you playing this year?

Playing with the Tigers this year in Schwaz, Austria. It's about an hour and a half west of Salzburg, where they have some big poker events every year.

Should be a fun summer, I've never been to Austria.

Cool. My friend is still crushing it in Switzerland. I think I told you about him: Former HS/Juco standout here in the US, probably would have been drafted in the first 10 rounds, 6'4" 240 catcher with plus power and a plus arm. Decided he hated baseball and moved to Switzerland to be with his girlfriend. Became a lumberjack.

Joined some Swiss pro ball on a lark and is now bashing HR for the national team on a regular basis. He says the competition isn't very good, but he's having fun playing ball, which I think is all he cares about.

Cool, ya, I know the Swiss national team coach. I'll be right next door to Switzerland. What is your friend's name?

Cool. Seth.

Threw a bullpen today to one of the catchers on my new team. He did a great job receiving; gonna request him to catch my games.

Had great command of my two-seam fastball to both sides of the plate. My curve ball is a good show-me pitch that I plan on using for first pitch strikes to certain hitters. Slider will remain the out pitch for 2012; had a lot of depth and movement but didn't have great command of it this time. Changeup should be consistent enough against lefties. Throwing harder than I have since college; would love to get my velocity back to 81-83 in 2013.

Can't wait for the year to start. About 8 bullpens left.

Swing was awesome too. Really happy with where I'm at skill-wise.

I recorded my bullpen last week, http://youtu.be/O5V7PIZ18Q8
mainly for personal reasons to get a better look at my mechanics and pitch movement.

Living in Bangkok sucks for baseball, really hard to find a place to throw. Only 2 more weeks in Thailand before I leave for the season, really looking forward to playing.

Had our first team practice today. Went 2-for-3 in a short intrasquad game off our #2 and a new guy, only recording an out when I blistered a ~330 foot fly/liner (fliner in the future) to LCF where our CF tracked it, talked a ton of **** while running it down, and laid out to catch it. Fair enough.

Then threw to about 18-20 batters in groups of 4-6. I'm way ahead of most rec players since I actually train in the offseason, so I don't take this to mean much, but my slider was pretty good and my fastball was coming in pretty hard.

3 more practices, 6 more bullpens until opening day!

Do you throw your two-seam fastball often? Looks pretty good if you can get it in there.

ya, i'd say about 70-80% while mixing in a curve and splitter.

This year I'd like to use a 4-seam a little more to give myself a better fast to righties on the outside corners. Or maybe work on a cutter. 2-seamers can be pretty hittable when thrown outside to righties.

Only 1 week left here in Bangkok then will have a week of practicing with the new team until opening day, I'm pretty excited now, looking forward to some good Austrian beer!

Yeah I throw exclusively a 2sFB, I can't command a 4sFB for the life of me. I throw a fastball/slider/curve/change and against right-handed batters the sign for the slider (3 generally) is also just a cut fastball to the outside corner if there are less than 2 strikes. I can't reliably throw my slider for strikes, but it's my main strikeout pitch, so I just cut my fastball a bit to keep it outside.

I threw strikes tonight! 2/3 IP, 1 HBP on a curve that just didn't take the break, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Runs. Woot.

Nice work. Season officially started already? Jealous.

Mine starts Apr 28th apparently. Threw 20 pitches off a mound today, didn't locate fastball all that well, did locate all my other stuff. Whatever. Throwing to batters Saturday, probably 80 pitches or so.

yeah, we start first week of april here so this was game number two. was cold as **** and raining warming up last night and then just as we were about to start, the sun came out.

in worse news, my batting avg equals my ERA. 0 for 5 with a walk. pretty tough pitching we've faced so far. other team's closer last night threw at least 85.