Notes: Game afoot for Tracy
02/26/2006
TUCSON, Ariz. -- You won't see Chad Tracy on the television show "Dancing with the Stars" anytime soon, but the Diamondbacks third baseman spent a lot of time this winter practicing his footwork.
After a 2005 season that saw him bounce between first base and right field, Tracy is returning to third base, his position in the Minor Leagues and the one he played when he first came to the big leagues in 2004. He committed 25 errors there that year, most of which came on throws across the diamond.
"I did a lot of agility drills pretty much every day," Tracy said.
The jump-rope work and agility ladders that he did were to improve his footwork not so much in fielding the ball -- that was never the issue -- but rather for his throws.
"I'm taking a smaller stride when I throw," he said. "Before, when I would stride too long, my arm would get out behind me."
Another thing he'll try and do differently this year is to only focus on the first baseman's chest after he fields a ball.
"I would check the runner out," he said. "There's no point to even looking at the runner. You have that clock ticking in your brain to know how much time you have. I've had a year to reflect on third base now and what my mistakes were, and now you look back on it and you say, 'How do I make that mistake over and over and over again?' But I feel good now. It's going to be good."
Tracy collected 27 homers while hitting .285 last year, as he played two positions that were new to him, at least at the big league level.
"It'd be scary to see the kind of numbers he could put up when he's in a position that he's comfortable with and is in there for the whole season," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said.
Speaking of Tracy: The Diamondbacks have had discussions with Tracy's agent, Alan Nero, about a multiyear contract, and one way or another, the talks should wrap up by Thursday when Cactus League games begin.
"I think, at some point, it's time to turn our attention back to the game, so [negotiations] can't go on forever," Byrnes said. "You never know. Deals don't work for a lot of reasons, so until you have a deal, you don't assume you will."
There is no real urgency on either side to get a deal done, as Tracy is not even eligible for arbitration until after next year.
Good news: Reliever Brandon Medders' session of catch went well on Sunday, and it appears he will not need to see team physician Michael Lee about his tweaked scapula.
Meanwhile, fellow pitcher Terry Mulholland (back) will throw a batting practice session for the first time on Monday.
Tedious: Melvin will try and break up the routine of camp on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday will be the final time that pitchers face hitters in live batting practice, and the team will spend two days doing fundamentals and other types of drills.
"After you go through this format a couple of days, guys are ready to get out there and start playing games," Melvin said. "This is no fun for the hitters right now. Right about now, they're looking forward to playing games."
Eye catching: Two pitchers have stood out to Byrnes as he's watched the first week-plus of workouts.
"Russ Ortiz and El Duque (Orlando Hernandez)," he said. "Obviously, I'm probably watching them as closely as everyone because they're important to our success. They've both come in here and looked good."
Still waiting: The team is still waiting for the arrival of pitcher Tony Pena, who has had visa problems and is the only player not in camp.
Pena was not a candidate to make the big-league roster and could still be ready to start the Minor League season on time.
"He could be behind, but there'll probably be time to catch up," Byrnes said.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
TUCSON, Ariz. -- You won't see Chad Tracy on the television show "Dancing with the Stars" anytime soon, but the Diamondbacks third baseman spent a lot of time this winter practicing his footwork.
After a 2005 season that saw him bounce between first base and right field, Tracy is returning to third base, his position in the Minor Leagues and the one he played when he first came to the big leagues in 2004. He committed 25 errors there that year, most of which came on throws across the diamond.
"I did a lot of agility drills pretty much every day," Tracy said.
The jump-rope work and agility ladders that he did were to improve his footwork not so much in fielding the ball -- that was never the issue -- but rather for his throws.
"I'm taking a smaller stride when I throw," he said. "Before, when I would stride too long, my arm would get out behind me."
Another thing he'll try and do differently this year is to only focus on the first baseman's chest after he fields a ball.
"I would check the runner out," he said. "There's no point to even looking at the runner. You have that clock ticking in your brain to know how much time you have. I've had a year to reflect on third base now and what my mistakes were, and now you look back on it and you say, 'How do I make that mistake over and over and over again?' But I feel good now. It's going to be good."
Tracy collected 27 homers while hitting .285 last year, as he played two positions that were new to him, at least at the big league level.
"It'd be scary to see the kind of numbers he could put up when he's in a position that he's comfortable with and is in there for the whole season," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said.
Speaking of Tracy: The Diamondbacks have had discussions with Tracy's agent, Alan Nero, about a multiyear contract, and one way or another, the talks should wrap up by Thursday when Cactus League games begin.
"I think, at some point, it's time to turn our attention back to the game, so [negotiations] can't go on forever," Byrnes said. "You never know. Deals don't work for a lot of reasons, so until you have a deal, you don't assume you will."
There is no real urgency on either side to get a deal done, as Tracy is not even eligible for arbitration until after next year.
Good news: Reliever Brandon Medders' session of catch went well on Sunday, and it appears he will not need to see team physician Michael Lee about his tweaked scapula.
Meanwhile, fellow pitcher Terry Mulholland (back) will throw a batting practice session for the first time on Monday.
Tedious: Melvin will try and break up the routine of camp on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday will be the final time that pitchers face hitters in live batting practice, and the team will spend two days doing fundamentals and other types of drills.
"After you go through this format a couple of days, guys are ready to get out there and start playing games," Melvin said. "This is no fun for the hitters right now. Right about now, they're looking forward to playing games."
Eye catching: Two pitchers have stood out to Byrnes as he's watched the first week-plus of workouts.
"Russ Ortiz and El Duque (Orlando Hernandez)," he said. "Obviously, I'm probably watching them as closely as everyone because they're important to our success. They've both come in here and looked good."
Still waiting: The team is still waiting for the arrival of pitcher Tony Pena, who has had visa problems and is the only player not in camp.
Pena was not a candidate to make the big-league roster and could still be ready to start the Minor League season on time.
"He could be behind, but there'll probably be time to catch up," Byrnes said.
Source: http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/
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