FORT MYERS, Fla. - Kevin Gregg stayed back in camp today after pitching yesterday in a minor league game at Twin Lakes Park.
Gregg faced five batters yesterday, allowing two hits, striking out two and hitting a batter. He threw 23 pitches, 16 for strikes.
Gregg made an adjustment in his mechanics earlier in camp, leaning forward as he delivered the ball rather than staying back. He wasn't happy with the results - he gave up eight earned runs (nine total) in two appearances over 1 1/3 innings - but he hasn't made a full return to his old delivery. He's just closer to duplicating it.
"It's kind of a combination of both," he said. "I kind of went back to where I was originally and made a little bit of an adjustment. I sat down with Goose (Mark Connor) and Rick (Adair), and (it was) just, 'Hey, this is the way I like to feel, this is what I like to see.'
"We're trying to get to know each other. When you start off with a new pitching coach every year, everybody is trying to figure each other out, get a good line of verbiage that we both understand and can communicate to each other to make it through a whole season. I feel like we're in a good spot and we understand each other.
"My hands and my feet, everything was kind of getting spread out, and we were basically trying to compact everything back up. You've seen me pitch the first couple of times. I'm pretty compact. It was small leg lift, keep my hands pretty close to my body and throw. There's not a lot of extra movement. We've made an adjustment. I was leaning forward, but I overcompensated and had too much separation between my hands and my body and my feet. There were too many moving parts to control, so we kind of moved them back and we're able to balance it out a little bit better.
"I've been down throwing a couple of good innings, the two innings last time and the one yesterday. I felt good. Good results, locating the ball better. That's all I try to do, get in a good rhythm, get in a good place. Results in spring training aren't a big deal. I'm not worried about it. In fact, I don't think I've ever pitched good in Florida during spring training. Once the season starts, I'm ready for it."
Gregg isn't sure when he'll pitch again or whether he'll face minor league competition.
"I have to talk to Goose and talk to Buck (Showalter)," he said. "My next one might be at one of those games, too. I think they're not really worried about it. They know what I can do. I think that's the whole point of sending me down there. I've been doing it long enough where they know what I can do. They're not real worried about it."
Meanwhile, shortstop Manny Machado, the third overall pick in last year's draft, was included on today's travel roster. He's down on the field stretching before batting practice.
That's quite a surprise.
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