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Hello Columbus Sports Fans!

As basketball season wraps up in Columbus, we are all chomping at the bit for spring. The weather should gradually get warmer which means baseball season in right around the corner. For those of you who do not know me, I am a left-handed pitcher drafted by the Detroit Tigers organization out of Ohio State in June, 2008. I will be writing articles throughout the spring and summer about the experiences of Minor League Baseball and news in the Detroit Tigers organization. 

Spring Training- I reported to Lakeland, Florida on March 8th, so I've been down here practicing everyday for the past few weeks. The first week was just pitchers and catchers, but we have now progressed to games against teams such as the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, and Washington Nationals, who are all within a close proximity. Today was actually the first day of cuts for the organization. Three guys I knew personally were asked to empty out their lockers and potentially end their baseball careers. One important thing that I've learned in my short tenure as a professional baseball player is that this is a business, and the people running the organizations don't care about hurting players' feelings.

Tigers' Expectations- Even though many of you readers are probably Reds and Indians fans, there is a quiet buzz hovering over the Tigers' organization. On paper, they should be one the best teams in MLB. However, on paper the past couple of years the Yankees should have won at least 100 games, easy! The biggest concern in Detroit this year, besides the auto companies, will be the pitching. Five players including Curtis Granderson and Maglio Ordonez returned from the World Baseball Classic and were immediately thrown into Spring Training action. Joel Zumaya threw in a minor league game yesterday with my team. The most exciting part was the manager put me in charge of the radar gun. Sitting ten feet behind the catcher, I clocked Zumaya's fastball consistently in the mid-90's and topping out at 97. What impressed me the most was how effortless he looked when he pitched. Afterward, he came over to me and we chatted for a couple minutes about his one inning outing. The last round of cuts for all organizations should be sometime this week and then we'll be ready to kick off the 2009 baseball season.

Buckeye Baseball- I wanted to give a shout-out to my former teammates at Ohio State. They defeated Penn State yesterday for the 20th win of the season, improving their record to 20-3. Earlier this week they took down the No.4 ranked Miami Hurricanes. The buckeyes should be ranked in the top 15 in the country when the new polls come out.  

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, or contact me about any of my articles. I would love to be in contact with other sports fans around Columbus. Thanks for reading!

Tags: detroit tigers, minor league baseball, ohio state baseball