What does Spring Training lingo actually mean?
While the first official Spring Training game will not take place until Feb. 21, all of your favorite pitchers and catchers have reported to Arizona and Florida, and full-squad workouts begin next week. With the return of baseball also comes the return of many familiar, yet sometimes vague terms associated with Spring Training. No other sport has such an extensive level of preseason preparation, and in turn, you're likely to see a lot of terms or phrases thrown around about what teams are up to as they begin their preparation for the 2019 season.
Here are the most common ones to keep an eye out for:
"He's in the best shape of his life"
Ah, yes. The true sign of spring. This cliche colloquialism has become so prevalent that players and managers can hardly say it with a straight face anymore. Take Red Sox manager Alex Cora, for example, who appears entirely aware that everyone wants to believe they are in peak physical condition when they arrive at Spring Training -- but still insists that one of his pitchers is actually in the best shape:
Alex Cora on #RedSox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez:
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) February 11, 2019
¡°Eddie looks great physically. Everybody¡¯s in the best shape if their life when they come to spring training. But he actually is in the best shape of his life. For the first time in a while he was able to have a normal offseason."
It's not just the players, either. Skippers themselves want to make sure we all know they're prepared to withstand the physical rigors of managing a full baseball season:
Mickey Callaway, who honestly looks pretty buff, said he is ¡°probably¡± in the best shape of his life. https://t.co/1tfGiWlSpB
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) February 8, 2019
We get it, Mickey -- you lift.
PFPs (pitchers' fielding practice)
Teams devote significant time in the early weeks of spring preparing their pitchers for the less-exciting parts of their jobs: Fielding ground balls, particularly bunts. It is arguably the least interesting baseball exercise to watch -- we'd all rather watch our favorite shortstops field grounders, or a big-time slugger take batting practice -- but its importance cannot be overstated. And sometimes, the spectacular can occur thanks to mindless hours of PFP work. It's worth it, we promise!
When pitchers' fielding practice pays off ... pic.twitter.com/Ehz15hgi1O
— MLB (@MLB) February 11, 2019
Split-squad
Once games get under way, you may look at the schedule and realize that your favorite team is actually playing more than one game -- in two different places. The more the merrier, right? This is only possible because during Spring Training, each team has literally every player in its organization in one place and thus can deploy different groups of players to play in multiple games at the same time. Usually, veteran players prefer to stay at the team's complex and play in the home game while a group of younger (and sometimes Minor League) players hop on a bus and head to the team's road game.
Though played with two separate mish-moshes of the big league roster, split-squad games do count as normal Spring Training games in the Cactus and Grapefruit League standings. They are different from "sim-games" (simulating game situations, often arranged for big league pitchers) or "B-games" (games played on the back fields between Minor Leaguers), which some of your favorite players may also participate in this spring.
"Working on a new pitch"
The months leading up to Opening Day are not only spent practicing what players already know, but also serve as the testing ground for pitchers to experiment with new additions to their repertoires.
Blurry photos and videos
The first few days of Spring Training are chock full of eager documentations of the fresh, yet familiar sights and sounds. However, the quality of these snapshots or quick clips is often compromised in favor of expediting the process of sharing the fact that baseball has finally returned after a long winter!
That¡¯s Michael Pineda pic.twitter.com/bqGlV4RBh2
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) February 12, 2019
No, it¡¯s not a good picture. But, yes, that¡¯s Aaron Judge, reporting early and doing some work at the minor league complex pic.twitter.com/wC459thQIT
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) February 11, 2019
Larry Rothschild #access #insider pic.twitter.com/0KJXZOXU8m
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) February 12, 2019
Didi Gregorius, Troy Tulowitzki taking grounders #Yankees pic.twitter.com/hCoBrj45Hv
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 11, 2019
Cubs pitchers starting to play catch. Missed hearing the pop of baseballs in gloves. Lester and Hamels on far right in gray pullovers. pic.twitter.com/QTAV7p7MM5
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) February 12, 2019
But honestly, can we blame them? We'll take a grainy image of
