Position Players Report

With today being the official reporting day for position players, it was a very short practice. Nothing happened on the main field at all except for the catchers taking batting practice. Without much baseball action to photograph.....I just tried to catch a few closeups in and around the dugout area.

I don't know if it is true, but I was told that Dave Roberts was the only player not in camp. He was supposed to get here later today. I find it interesting........theoretically, Roberts and Durham should be fighting for their jobs this spring. However, Durham was one of the few position players to wait until today to report and Roberts still wasn't here by the end of practice today. Not the way I would play it if I was fighting for a job. Of course, I'm not making $5-7 million either.

The pitchers did practice fielding the bunt on the practice field. They also had sliding practice. I wasn't able to get any photos while peering through the fence, but if you have never seen Major League pitchers practice sliding you have missed something that is both funny and tragic at the same time. It's a good thing they practiced sliding on long padded mats set on the outfield grass....or someone could have been killed.

There should be a lot more activity tomorrow. I read in the paper that the pitchers did not throw bullpen sessions today in order to "save their arms". That in all likelihood means that there will be live batting practice tomorrow with the pitchers throwing to the batters. That seems a little early.......but when you consider the first Spring Training game is only 9 days away...I guess it isn't.