The Excitement of Spring Training

Does It Matter?

Spring training has officially begun and baseball fans around the country, and the world, rejoice with the idea of what might be. It’s Tabula Rasa, a clean slate, for every team. The prognosticating is in full force and we are finally getting to see what all the off season work has produced. But what is spring training really about. Is it a scouting mission? Is it a tryout? Is it preparation for the upcoming season? Does it even really matter?

While we are watching “real” games and players are on the field playing actual baseball games, the question I have to ask is what does it all mean? We see teams play well and win. They keep score and there's a record. But half the time though the games are played by players who won’t even make the Major League roster. So why is so much stock put into these games and why do we as fans get so invested in Spring performances?

Each team has a strategy for how they manage these sessions. But beyond playing the games and getting reps in, upper management and coaching staff’s use the time to see what they have on their rosters. We will see young players jockeying for position on the roster or depth chart; resulting in lots of playing time in live game situations for unknowns or little knowns so coaching staffs can evaluate talent. These games are valuable for this purpose and can generate excitement and buzz around certain players if they perform well. When we watch these games and we see our teams Double A players doing well against another teams Single A players, do we realize what it is or do we just see the player performing? It's like watching a college player versus a high school-er. The talent level doesn't match. As fans, we just see a good performance and clamor to see more.

We hear comments like “So and So looked great on the mound yesterday” or “Did you see that at bat?” I even fall for this myself as we have seen a stand out for the Red Sox so far in Mark Contreras. Contreras is a career .121 hitter, but has played well this spring. So when I look at those numbers, why am I so excited by this player? If you have been listening to Unraveling the Red Sox I have mentioned wanting to see who this years Jackie Bradley Jr. is going to be. It's one of those thing that happens each spring, but players can have standout springs and then fade into obscurity, never able to recapture that time and place. Even when a young player shows a certain kind of promise, more often then not, fans get surprised when they are sent to the minors and don’t make the roster. Spring Training is a mirage of talent and potential. A story that has played out time and time again.

For veterans, Spring Training is the opportunity to get back into a routine. To warm their bodies up mechanically and get ready for the long grind ahead. They look at these games in a completely different manner then the players trying to win that last spot on the bench or get the promotion from AA to AAA. They know where they'll be once the real season begins. Veterans are eased into the games and the lineups look nothing like they will on Opening Day. So what can we really learn about our team.

In my opinion, Spring Training should be an exercise. Nothing to be excited about and we should take zero stock in the way a player performs—the good or the bad. Because once the real season starts, the game and the way its played is totally different from what we see in Florida or Arizona.

By Mike Carreiro