Delighted 4th of July weekend!
The objective here is to offer some live or semi-live observations throughout this first exercise. Keep examining back for updates.
Its good to be back and I hope everybody remains healthy so we can see this thing through.
Were back at Citizens Bank Park on this picture-perfect Friday morning for the start (or restart) of Phillies training school– three weeks of workouts and intrasquad games before the 60-game sprint-to-October starts later this month.
I began the early morning in the garden, where I whipped up a fresh five-gallon batch of animal repellent. Red pepper flakes, cayenne, chili powder, dish detergent, milk, a few eggs, a whole head of garlic. Fill with water and let that things sit in the sun and get all funkalicious. Spray some around the garden every night. Ensured to keep the deer away. Selected a zuke and a summertime squash on my method out the door and headed for the ballpark– with a quick stop at Wawa for a 16-ounce cup of rocket fuel.
Happy Baseball!
Here we go:
9:45 a.m.– I explored CBP. Had my temperature taken through a face imaging gadget. 98.2. I signed a waiver. Excellent to go.
9:50 a.m.– Arrived in press box. Same fantastic view of Center City. Field is green and beautiful.
10 a.m.– Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer shows up in press box. He is wearing shorts. Because he hasnt gotten much sun, legs are quite unathletic and he has obviously been taking the quarantine seriously.
10:04 a.m.– The grounds crew has ended up prepping the field. The ball bags are on the field.
10:05 a.m.– There is some action in the checking out dugout. A coach has popped his go out. For spacing factors, both clubhouses are being made use of..
10:15 a.m.– A grounds team member is nailing the rubber spike scraper to the mound..
10:16 a.m.– Black Smoke Rising by Greta Van Fleet is using the PA system. Hmm.
10:17 a.m.– Catching coach/bullpen catcher Bob Stumpo is going out to the pen with a big devices bag.
10:26 a.m.– Joe Girardi emerges briefly on the field. Hes in shorts and a T-shirt, huge cup of Joe in his hand. Yes, he is masked.
10:27 a.m.– The grounds crew is putting down tarps around the batting cage.
10:29 a.m.– Good to see Brookie.
10:30 a.m.– Robert Palmers Addicted to Love is playing. Ah, the 80s.
10:40 a.m.– Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez and Zach Eflin pop out of the dugout. Appears like theyre heading to the concourse for some conditioning work. The concourse is being utilized as a work location to ease overcrowding in the weight room.
10:45 a.m. — The view from colleague John Airport …
Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins strolling to the auxiliary locker space.
Bryce is still using that JT Realmuto shirsey #Phillies pic.twitter.com/eBoGDml9Ad— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) July 3, 2020.
10:50 a.m.– Grounds team is watering the infield dirt. Mesmerizing and unwinding. Anybody whos ever done it knows what Im discussing..
10:53 a.m.– Just discovered– just one flag flying in center field. Destiny and Stripes. No championship flags, state or city flag.
10:54 a.m.– Andrew McCutchen just walked from the stands down into the dugout. He is masked. Looks like hes invested some time in the weight room.
11:04 a.m.– J.T. Realmuto and Andrew Knapp have actually taken the field and are chilling out their hoses.
11:06 a.m.– Several coaches– Dusty Wathan, Juan Castro, Bobby Meacham, Mike Calitri– are on the field playing catch. Distanced and masked. Not all gamers are using masks, but they are distanced.
11:07 a.m.– Just saw a fist bump. Call the cops.
11:15 p.m.– Batting practice commences. McCutchen, Realmuto and Knapp in the first group. Wathan is pitching. Jukebox Hero is playing over the PA..
11:20 a.m.– McCutchen strikes one into the left field seats.
11:22 a.m.– Realmuto hits one out to right-center.
11:23 a.m.– Jake Arrieta is strolling through the outfield. Hes doing some stretching. Hes using a muscle t-shirt and looks prepared to dent some skulls.
11:27 a.m.– Realmuto powers two in a row into the left field seats. Line drives..
11:35 a.m.– First round of BP is complete. Requirement fare.
11:36 a.m.– Realmuto and Knapp are putting the equipment on. Appears like Arrieta is preparing to toss a pen.
11:40 a.m.– Realmuto and Knapp are doing getting drills with the help of a pitching machine. Taking low strikes..
11:42 a.m.– McCutchen is long tossing. Interested to see how he relocates outfield drills, if they are on the docket.
11:43 a.m.– Realmuto and Knapp headed to the bullpen to capture Arrieta and Im uncertain who the other guy is. Players are not wearing numbers.
11:45 a.m.– Arrieta certainly set to toss a bullpen.
11:46 a.m.– McCutchen headed to left field for drills.
11:54 a.m.– McCutchen is taking fly balls in. He looks a lot better than he performed in March. Still spotting a slight drawback in his giddyup, but he seems on the ideal course with 3 weeks to prepare.
Midday– Phil Gosselin in the cage taking some hacks.
12:01 p.m.– Really could use a za.
12:03 p.m.– Adam Morgan and Vinny Velo are playing catch. There are additional catchers here.
12:12 p.m. — Some new artwork in the press box. Pretty cool..
12:14 p.m.– Adam Morgan and Vinny Velo are tossing in the bullpen. A Josh Harrison sighting. Appears Like Zach Eflin might be preparing to throw a pen.
12:16 p.m.– Rhys Hoskins appears for BP. Lotta hair.
12:17 p.m.– Phil Gosselin puts on very first basemans mitt and takes ground balls at the position. Kinda intriguing.
12:20 p.m.– Now playing: Pour Some Sugar on Me. One swelling or 2?
12:21 p.m.– Coaches/staff are wearing masks. Many gamers are not, at least on the field while doing drills. They are wearing them when they head to the concourse for conditioning, and so on. Theres a great deal of action going on behind the scenes..
12:26 p.m.– Bryce Harper is in the batting cage. Hes wearing his No. 10 Realmuto T-shirt.
12:32 p.m.– Harper hits 3 bombs in 5 swings, one the opposite method.
Then Bryce Harper begins crushing it #Phillies pic.twitter.com/4WJoKTqW6u— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) July 3, 2020.
12:35 p.m.– Segura is hitting with a mask on. One of the couple of players wearing one on the field.
12:54 p.m.– Roman Quinn sighting. Hes headed up to the concourse with a bat in his hands.
12:55 p.m.– Hoskins, Segura and Josh Harrison getting in some infield work. Segura is at third.
1 p.m.– Things seem to be unwinding, a minimum of in the early session. Intending to talk with a few of the participants in a little while. Well call this a wrap for now. Thanks for following along. Delighted baseball, pleased gardening, remain safe. And, Breen, get some sun on those legs.
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10:04 a.m.– The premises team has actually finished prepping the field. 10:26 a.m.– Joe Girardi emerges briefly on the field. 10:53 a.m.– Just noticed– only one flag flying in center field. 11:06 a.m.– Several coaches– Dusty Wathan, Juan Castro, Bobby Meacham, Mike Calitri– are on the field playing catch. 11:54 a.m.– McCutchen is taking fly balls in.
