While most Major League Baseball fans continue to freeze, the players annually spend their late February and March warming up for the upcoming season in Arizona and Florida. So far, each team's pitchers and catchers have made the trip south, and the position players are to follow in the coming days.
Dating back to the 1920s, teams have participated in spring training at locations other than their home ballparks. Back then, the New York Yankees held their camp in New Orleans, while in the 1940s the then−Brooklyn Dodgers traveled down to Havana, Cuba or the Dominican Republic. During World War II, teams were forced to stay close to their home−base, so in 1943, the Boston Red Sox held their spring training on — where else — the Tufts campus in Medford, Mass.
For veteran players, spring training is merely a time to prepare for the grind of a 162 game season. Experienced major league pitchers routinely throw bullpen sessions to get their arms back into shape, while hitters take batting practice to fine−tune their swings and then test them out in some 30 exhibition games played in March. Spring training statistics are meaningless for veterans. Albert Pujols, for example, hit just .293 with one homer in 75 at−bats, yet still cruised to his third National League MVP award. Kansas City Royals' ace Zack Greinke was torched for 47 hits and a 9.21 ERA in 28.1 innings, but proceeded to dominate the American League during the regular season en route to his first Cy Young crown.
But for first−year players and minor league prospects invited to big league facilities, spring training is the greatest opportunity they have to showcase their skills to the team's coaching staff and executives.
"Young players and prospects are definitely looking to open some eyes and impress the coaches, managers and talent evaluators at the big league level," Oakland Athletics outfielder prospect Michael Taylor told the Daily. "You want to show that you can handle the routine and the increased pressure to perform in a small sample size."
Last year, for example, young left−hander Brett Anderson convinced the prospect−happy Oakland Athletics that he was ready for a spot in their big league rotation by going 3−1 with a 2.83 ERA in 28.2 spring innings. Meanwhile, Texas Rangers' shortstop Elvis Andrus put a stranglehold on the position by batting .284 and putting his tremendous fielding skills on display. The Red Sox's Daniel Bard also made his mark during spring training, hurling 10.1 innings and allowing just five hits and three walks, while striking out 14.
Similar opportunities are available to young players each year. This spring, the No. 5 rotation spot is up for grabs at the San Francisco Giants' camp in Scottsdale, Ariz., where top prospect Madison Bumgarner has a chance to earn the job. Atlanta Braves fans, meanwhile, will have their eyes fixed on the outfield in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., where the No. 1−ranked position player prospect in baseball, Jason Heyward, will try to convince the organization that he's more worthy of playing right−field in the majors than the platoon of Matt Diaz and Eric Hinske.
Taylor — who is making his first appearance at a big league camp, as well as his first organized showing with the A's after being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in the Roy Halladay−Cliff Lee blockbuster this winter — will have to work hard to stand out amid a glut of outfielders that includes fellow offseason additions Coco Crisp and Jake Fox.
The 24−year−old excelled at Class−AA Reading last season, batting .333 with 15 homers and a .977 OPS, and held his own at Class−AAA Lehigh Valley, with a .282 average and five homers in 110 at−bats. Taylor is on the fast track to The Show and could speed up the process with an outstanding spring.
"I am eager to show the skills that I have and to prove that I can play at the highest level in my sport," Taylor said. "But at the same time, I have to remember that it's a small sample size, so it's a mix between me doing what I have to do to get ready for the year and also trying to perform at a level high enough that people making the decisions think I am ready to contribute in the majors sooner than later."
The same is true of every young player competing for a big league job this spring.
But perhaps the most−watched position battles this spring will be waged in the camps of the Yankees and Red Sox, where there are far more candidates than openings in the teams' respective starting rotations. Yankees' manager Joe Girardi must decide which of his promising youngsters — Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes — is more worthy of pitching every five days, and then weigh that choice against a veteran, such as Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre. The Red Sox, meanwhile, will have to ascertain whether Daisuke Matsuzaka is poised to rebound from an injury−plagued 2009 before handing back his rotation spot over Tim Wakefield, who could also be competing with Clay Buchholz to remain in the starting−five just a year after he earned his first trip to the All−Star Game.
Those position battles and the opportunities given to young prospects are the essence of spring training. A veteran's slump is easily attributable to a hitch in his swing or a kink in his pitching motion that will be corrected long before Opening Day. But for a player trying to earn his first major league job, a rough performance is not so easily written off.
Each year, breakout players and impact rookies abound in Major League Baseball. In many cases, spring training is when they come to light.
