Hello again baseball fans. It’s time for round two from
Jupiter. Full squad workouts have been underway for a little more than a week
now with all the position players joining the pitchers on the 19^th.
The feel around camp has been very positive so far. Everyone is excited about
the team this year and what is in store for the Cardinals.

Just to give you guys an idea of what a typical day is like
for me during spring training, I am going to give you a full rundown of my day:

6:00 am: Wake up (hardest part of the day)

6:15: Leave for Roger Dean Stadium (still half asleep while
I listen to Jon rap whatever song he has on in the car. He won’t be trying out
for American Idol anytime soon)

6:30: Arrive at stadium (proceed straight to the coffee
dispenser)

7:00: Ride the stationary bike and stretch

7:15: Batting cage for some early hitting

7:45: Breakfast time

8:00: Weight room

8:45: Crossword puzzle to kill a half hour (keeps my brain
sharp as well)

9:15: Team meeting

9:30: Team stretch

9:50: Play catch

10:00: Break into position groups (infielders, outfielders,
catchers, and pitchers)

10:30: Team Defense (Bunt coverages, cut offs and relays,
pick offs, etc)

11:00: Break into offensive groups

–         
Our offensive groups rotate between different stations
that include batting practice, bunting, offensive signs, situations, base
running, and live hitting against our pitchers.

We usually finish up by 12:30-1:00 pm depending on how many
stations we have that day and how long each station is. After we are done with
the offensive work I usually get some extra defensive work in either at second
base or third base (whichever one I did not work on in the morning).

1:00(ish): Lunch time

My day starts a little earlier than most because I prefer to
get my workout in before practice as opposed to after. A lot of the players
work out after we finish for the day so it is usually less crowded in the
morning. Finishing at one in the afternoon leaves a lot of time to kill in the
afternoons so I spend most of this downtime comfortably planted on my couch
catching up on some of my favorite TV shows (Modern Family, House,
Californication, and How I Met Your Mother to name a few) or playing video games.
On days that might be a little longer than others this naturally becomes
naptime.

The video games of choice this year have been FIFA Soccer
2011 and NBA Jam. We just had a 5 team, 2-on-2 FIFA tournament on Thursday that
I can proudly say was dominated by my teammate (Adam Ottavino) and myself. And
when I say dominated I mean we outscored our opponents 9-1. No big deal. We
attribute our win to the countless late night hours of practice we had in
Memphis during the 2010 season.

>> With all the excitement coming out of Cardinals camp I have
overlooked one piece of disheartening news: the injury to All-Star pitcher Adam
Wainwright. We lost Adam for the season after his first live batting practice
session and had Tommy John (ligament replacement surgery in the
elbow) today. Adam is a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. He has been
one of the toughest pitchers and fiercest competitors in the big leagues over
the last few years. You can’t truly replace his combination of talent and
character but the challenge has now been presented for a pitcher or multiple
pitchers to step up and fill the void left by Adam. We all wish him the best
and hope for a speedy recovery.

We kick off our Grapefruit League season against
the Marlins today (Monday Feb. 28^th). It’s time for us hitters to
beat up on some other pitchers that aren’t wearing Cardinal red, or in some
cases to stop getting our bats broken or being struck out by our own teammates.
Either way, it is always exciting when you get to put on that uniform and step
out on that field to compete- whether it’s in spring training or the playoffs.
Tomorrow will mark the first live game action and a big step towards winning
the Grapefruit League Championship haha…I mean the World Series.