Spring Training 2010: "I'm in the best shape of my life"

[camisadelgolf]

And anything else I eat.

[jmcclain19]

David Wright

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/...kfZdFbWqz1ANKN

Look closely at Wright and you see a much more defined body. His biceps are bigger. His forearms are bigger. He is stronger. This offseason he made a concentrated effort to get stronger, and you can see the difference in a big way.

To go yard, you have to go big.

...

“I noticed that when he took his shirt off the other day he looked more cut, he looked leaner.

[westofyou]

Big Papi

http://www.boston.com/sports/basebal..._mean_fig.html

Warning: This is the standard "Aging player reports to camp in great shape" story. Take it for what it's worth, which isn't much. If being in shape meant you could play baseball, Jack LaLanne would have been another Willie Mays.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — David Ortiz looked fairly good when he reported to the Complex today. He has clearly lost some weight since last season and appeared to be in shape. The Red Sox asked him to work hard and apparently he did.

"I thought he looked good," Terry Francona said. "Real good. ... He looks trim and he looks strong and he looks ready to go."

Now 34, Ortiz is in the final year of his contract and has something to prove. He has not hit 30 or more home runs since 2007 and his batting average has fallen off a cliff along with his OBP, which was an anemic .332 last season.

""I’m very excited about this season. I’m positive. My focus right now is to do some damage," Ortiz said.

Asked about his improved condition, Ortiz smiled. "You should see me naked," he said.

Thanks, anyway.

Joking aside, there is significance to Ortiz being in better condition given his importance to the lineup and he could mean in the postseason. It's certainly better than the alternative.

"Hopefully everything will start up different," Ortiz said. "I’m not a beginning guy. I’ll tell you that right now. I’m an end of the season guy. ... “I think people give up on me too early, too fast, start talking about age and all that kind of stuff."

[CarolinaRedleg]

And Twinkies.

And Doritos.

[jmcclain19]

Carl Crawford

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

To that end, Crawford spent his offseason working on core training and baserunning, particularly on his explosiveness taking off from first base. The result is a player who, like so many others this time of year, says he's in the best shape of his life.

[Homer Bailey]

Buster_ESPN Best line of the spring so far: Andrew Jones showed up in great shape, about 25 pounds lighter than last year. And he proclaimed to (cont).

Buster_ESPN others, "I am the best CFer you guys have in camp." To which Joey Cora replied, "You should be. Only pitchers and catchers have reported."

Buster's twitter.....

[Raisor]

Buster's twitter.....

That was great.

[jmcclain19]

Magglio Ordonez

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

"Last year was a rough year," Ordonez said. "Now it's in the past. Everything is new right now. I worked hard this offseason and I'm ready to go."

He worked out quite a bit.

Ordonez took up mountain biking this offseason, and he took on a program at a training facility near his home. The result was much more lower-body strength, and noticeably more mobility, something that became a detriment as he tried to move tentatively through right field last year.

"I feel quicker," Ordonez said. "I lifted a lot of weights."

[jmcclain19]

Jose Guillen

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Guillen looked fit and trim. Three years ago, when he reported after signing a three-year, $36 million contract, he admittedly was overweight. Not now.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not in the best shape for a long time in my career when I show up," he said.

One of his first actions in camp was to step on the scales.

"I always show up at 235 and I showed up at 215 so that's a good sign," he said. "Trust me, I'm ready to go. Hopefully this will be the year that a lot of people expected Jose Guillen to play and put up the numbers that I'm capable of having."

[jmcclain19]

Jason Bay - very tongue in cheek of course. But he said it - so it goes on the thread

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

In his first day in Mets camp Jason Bay acknowledged that so many players arrive in Spring Training with that I'm-in-the-best-shape-of-my-life routine, and then he added it really carries little weight.
"People don't care if you come in the best shape of your life or not," Bay said. "If you show up and produce, they don't care what you did in the offseason. It's all about production."

Then, looking quite fit, Bay smiled and said, "I'm in the best shape of my life, of course."

[nate]

Here's a league-wide summary from Fangraphs.

Excerpt:

Chris Lubanski

I had no idea who Chris Lubanski was before researching this post, and I’m kind of surprised. He was the fifth overall pick in the 2003 draft, and fared pretty well early in his minor league career. He struggled once reaching AAA, though, and the Royals never added him to the 40-man roster, even when teams could have picked him in the Rule 5 draft. In 2009 he knew he had something to prove, and showed up for camp in the best shape of his life.

At first, it looked like Lubanski’s off-season workouts paid off. Royals manager Trey Hillman called him the MVP of camp, though that didn’t earn him a spot on the big league roster, or even the 40-man. Then, a month into the season he tore his left hamstring, which kept him out until August. He hit poorly upon his return, getting into 12 games and getting just two hits. The Royals shut him down, ending his season. He caught on with the Blue Jays this off-season.

[jmcclain19]

Uh oh - Carlos Silva didn't get the memo, apparently

Last week, Lou Piniella pointed out that pitcher Carlos Silva came to camp not in the best shape.

Wednesday, Piniella said Silva is making progress.

"He's working hard," Piniella said. "I'm going to tell you what. Silva is a hard worker, there's no question about it. He might be a hard eater. I'm only joking. But no, he comes out here and works hard, he really does. I'm very encouraged from what I see."

[jmcclain19]

Pat the Bat

http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/ar...t=.jsp&c_id=tb

Now, coming off a quiet offseason, Burrell has AL experience, DH experience and a new hitting coach in Derek Shelton. Moreover, he is as motivated as ever, knowing his contract is up after this season.

And so Burrell reported to camp Monday, leaner than ever after an offseason of workouts at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Arizona. He has reason to believe he can revert back to his career norms, hitting close to 30 homers with an average above .250.

[jmcclain19]

Corey Hart

http://twitter.com/Haudricourt/status/8460247697

Believe it or not, Brewers RF Corey Hart has lost 22 pounds this winter. Didn't look like he had 22 to lose. Said he did "insanity" program

[jmcclain19]

Delmon Young

http://twitter.com/pgammo/status/9653077766

Delmon Young is in the shape of his life, looks 19, is figuring it out... A very bright man on the verge of The Breakout.