Spring Training 2012: Day 4

Another early morning for me, as I arrived at the Astros complex at 8:30am. That is actually not early compared to when the players arrive. Shuttle busses pick the players up at 7am and arrives at the complex around 7:20. Being here four days now, I’ve pretty much got the hang of the daily routine and have adapted to it in order to accomplish our objectives for the trip.

Here’s how the days have typically gone: Get some footage of stretching and drills on the minor league side until about 10am, head over to the major league side for batting practice, head back to the minor league side to talk to players as they head in and out of lunch, then back over to the major league side to interview our former players after BP, then back to the minor league fields to talk to more players before the scrimmages.

At times during the scrimmages, coaches will be working with other guys on another field. Today, Stubby Clapp and Tom Lawless were working with Matt Duffy and Chan Jong Moon on fielding short hops and in-between hops.

Once the scrimmages end, that is the last opportunity for me to get my interviews before the players head to the locker rooms to shower, change and catch the vans back to the hotel.

Some interesting tidbits I learned today: George Springer used to participate in gymnastics, Tyler Burnett and I share the same favorite movie of “Blue Streak” with Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle, Jason Castro and Brandt Walker both went back to Stanford in the fall of 2010 to take the same class and were part of a group project together.

Tomorrow the Astros host the Detroit Tigers at 1pm while it’s a camp day for the minor leaguers. MLB Network is at Astros camp and will be filming their “30 Clubs in 30 Days” show. Dan Plesac was here Monday taping interviews.

MLB Network video crew:

It’s also the last day in Florida for me as I’ll be catching an 8:30pm flight back to Albany. With some time to kill, I’ll try to post a recap and pictures from the airport.

Here are a few more photos from Monday’s minor league action:

George Springer: