I Was Invited To Dodgers Spring Training

I was recently invited to pitch at

Dodger spring training camp but not for

the Dodgers against the Dodgers I was

part of Team Asian Breeze and the game

was on a backfield against some minor

Leaguers now I was originally told that

there was no video allowed during the

game so I didn't bring my Vlog camera or

any cameras but when I got there there's

a ton of people videoing with their

phones and some TV cameras out there so

what I've done is I've gathered all the

footage that I can from the day and I'm

going to walk you through what I was

thinking and how I saw the day through

my eyes so let's get into it now when I

first got to the complex I walked

through the same roads that the fans

walk through to get to the field so I

got to see a lot of Dodger fans on the

way there which is really cool so before

I even got to the field I stopped and

sign for 20 or 30 minutes for a lot of

the fans that were there there was

Dodger Bower jerseys there there was

Yokohama jerseys there there were Dodger

bobbleheads and Trevor Bower cards and

Trevor Bower bobbleheads and all sorts

of cool stuff so it was really cool to

see that from the fans and there's

hundreds of people out there normally

for a backfield game in spring training

there's like 10 people maybe 15 people

most of those being family of people

that are playing or maybe a couple

Scouts for the organization but there

were hundreds of Dodger fans out there

so it was cool to see everyone come out

to support me and to watch me Pitch I

appreciate each and every one of you

thank you for the support made the day a

lot of fun so after signing for 20 or 30

minutes I went to warm up for the game

eventually got over to the bullpen and

this was right next to the walkway for

the fans so there's a bunch of people

lined up watching my Bullpen felt pretty

cool it actually reminded me of pitching

in Seattle where the bullpen is right

next to the stands and the fans can just

look straight at you and you're on the

same eye level with them pretty cool

feeling I always like warming up in

Seattle because of that so it made the

uh warm-up process a little bit more fun

also it's was really cool to see so many

of the young Dodger minor Leaguers come

out to watch the game normally in spring

training for a backfield game if you're

not playing you don't go to it you go

you get your warm-ups done you get your

throwing done for the day you get your

recovery done and you go home only the

people that are playing in the game

would show up but there is definitely

more people there at the game than we're

playing they just came out to watch I

got to see my friend Alex vessia I got

to give him a hug and talk to him a

little bit he actually ended up pitching

in the game which is pretty cool I I got

to see Ronan cop who trains with me in

the offseason got to see some of the

Dodger players that I know and actually

a cool thing happened on my way from the

bullpen on the first base side to the

third base Dugout before the game I

actually saw one of the players I faced

in the cape a couple years back I was

pitching there in the summer he was

playing for Brewster at the time uh now

he's playing for the Dodgers which is

pretty cool to see and I asked him what

pitches do you want to face today what

pitch you want to strike out oner fair

play and he said fast balls but none of

that slid step BS so I made sure to look

at his number he's number 35 and I put

in my head okay number 35 wants all the

slide steps actually have four new slide

steps I have a quick pitch I have a mid

leg kick a full leg kick and a pause leg

kick so I made sure to whip all those

out against him and I actually faced him

in the first inning so we'll get to that

about in a second but let's see how the

first inning went I'll walk you through

what pitches I threw and what I was

thinking in the moment first pitch of

the game My catcher calls cutter which

is awesome I'm not just going to give

you a first pitch lazy fast ball down

the middle to hit fact that a brand new

catcher called cutter first pitch I was

like right on board with

him but I did miss a little bit High

which makes it at 1 and0 so going into

the game I really just didn't want to

walk people I wanted to make sure I was

throwing strikes this is my first actual

game action this spring now most of

these guys have already been throwing

live BP and they've been throwing on

mounds and cleats and had some game

action a lot of the hitters have already

faced live pitching and been playing

games I've just been throwing in my gym

in shoes against Eric so I wasn't sure

exactly how I was going to go so that's

why my goal was just make sure to throw

strikes throw my best stuff over the

plate and force the guys to swing so I'm

behind one and0 in the count so I'm

going to throw a fast ball make sure I

get back into the count but I mixed in

one of my new leg kicks this is the

Quick Pitch and before I take a step

back like I normally would I slide my

left foot forward and just go straight

into my delivery so this is intended to

mess with the hitter's timing a little

bit it's 1 I think he's probably looking

for a fast ball so I decided to mix in a

little wrinkle on the timing and

unfortunately I missed below the zone so

now we're two and0 which means I need to

throw a strike oh fall tanks so I go

back to my normal leg kick I throw a

fast ball middle of the plate and he

pulls it way foul luckily for me not a

homer so we're back to two in one now I

didn't know this at the time but the

slowest fast ball I threw on the day was

96 I was sitting 97 998 I touched 99

three times if I would have known that I

probably would have thrown more fast

balls I figured in the moment I was

probably throwing like 95 96 I felt

pretty good but I didn't think I was

throwing quite that hard the fact that

he got the head out on 97 and pulled 97

foul is a good indication of where he's

at timing wise so when I saw that I

decided to throw a cutter to one and I

didn't really think I had to be too fine

with it I just needed to throw it for a

strike and I figured it' be a rollover

or a ground ball Maybe a swing and miss

something along those

lines now that pitch was middle but to

his credit he took a 2-1 cutter and got

a solid line drive hit just a single but

not the best start to the day I'm not

worried about it though at this point

just figured I'd get the next guy maybe

roll a double play I did have a lefty

coming up which means my splitter is in

play really good ground ball pitch so

maybe I can roll a double play here

first pitch fast ball up and in get a

swing Miss which means this fat is off

to a good start now pitching in Japan I

did pick up a slide step which makes it

a lot harder to steal off me in the

middle it's a bad actually looked over

at the runner on first base and said hey

are you fast and he's like no I'm not

which I think he was lying to me because

he is leading off so he's got to be

somewhat quick second Pitch 01 I tried

to land a curveball but I ended up

bouncing it a little bit so we're 1-1 it

was a good pitch just not at the right

time maybe if I throw it 02 he swings

but not 01 so we're 1-1 now I need to

get ahead I got to get to one two give

myself a chance of a strikeout here so I

decided to throw a split I threw it

middle middle probably a pitch that

could get hit but he was out in front of

it swung over the top of it so we get to

one two and it gave me a good idea

throw that pitch again so I did but I

threw it a little bit too low and he

didn't swing at it but that's okay that

sets up the next pitch perfectly so if I

think about the sequence I've just gone

fast ball up and in he swung and missed

a splitter up and in that he swung at

thinking it was a fast ball and then it

died to go middle middle he was over the

top of it and out in front of it I then

threw a splitter that started at the

bottom of the zone and broke below the

zone that he didn't swing at so now it's

time for a fast ball at the bottom of

the zone that he thinks is the splitter

but it doesn't break and it catches the

bottom of the zone for strike three wo

now as soon as I let go of that pitch I

said yep because I knew I had executed

it before the ball even got to the plate

I knew as a strike the Umpire rang him

up so we're in a good spot here get our

first out of the inning double play

right now ends the inning but I'm not

going for double plays I'm here to

strike people out and I'm here to

entertain the fans so third hitter we

got a righty at the plate which means

I'm going to go with my normal righty

setup fast balls away Cutters away

sliders off the plate start with the

first pitch fast ball away strike come

back with a second Pitch cutter strike

so get to O2 real quick now it's time

for the nasty wipe out slider now I had

really good feel for all my pitches on

this day except for my slider and as you

can see I bounced that nowhere close to

the plate hitter doesn't even budge just

a really bad pitch also really hard

pitch for my catcher to block he did a

great job of keeping in front of him but

can't expect much more than that and the

runner advances to second base this is

where it got kind of interesting now

normally with a man on second base you'd

go through multiple signs with the

catcher but this is just an exhibition

game and I'm just here to have some fun

so I told my catcher to give only one

sign so the guy at second base probably

could have been relaying to The Hitter

exactly what pitch was coming which I

didn't care about cuz I was already

planning on telling the hitters

everything that I was throwing in future

Innings now this is a funny moment of

the game something that most of the fans

probably missed a couple picked up on it

cuz I could hear him saying oo when I

did it the runner's bouncing off a

second base trying to get me to pay

attention to him trying to fake like

he's going to steal the third so I just

looked at him and I gave him a little

head tilt like yeah go ahead go to third

do it what do you think go try he didn't

try to steal third at least until later

in the inning but that was just a little

bit of fun I was having with the runner

I honestly would have liked him to steal

third then he can't relay signs from

second and also puts a little bit more

pressure on me cuz now I can't even give

up a ball in play and I like that type

of situation it would have been one out

man on Third and I would have had to

strike two people out to get out of the

inning unfortunately though he didn't

take the bait so back to focusing on the

hitter we're in a one-w count I decided

to go with a slider I wanted to throw a

better one just get it slightly out of

the Zone maybe get a swing in a onew

count I have another pitch to waste and

if I miss with the slider I know I have

the comeback two scene that he'll freeze

on because just like the splitter he

sees the sliders break out of the Zone

if you see something that looks like

those he's going to read ball and the

ball's going to break back into the zone

so this is really a free pitch and if I

don't get him on this pitch I'll get him

on the next pitch I just can't throw

this one for a strike because he might

have a chance of hitting it so I didn't

get the slider close enough to the plate

to get a swing which means time for The

Comeback two seam and I absolutely

dotted this pitch this is a strike I

don't know what the empire was looking

at maybe I froze him too I mean just

look at the catcher GL it literally

doesn't move I just dot it and he set it

up as a strike right on the black

Perfect Pitch but we don't get the call

I kind of threw my head back and laughed

I heard someone say welcome to the real

world and I thought at the time that it

was someone from the Dodgers Dugout what

I found out later is it was actually

Eric Sim chirping me from the crowd real

life son it's different ball game either

way we don't get the call so now it's 3

and two and now I have to throw a strike

so we go fast ball in got a foul ball

off his foot now it's time for an off

speed pitch I decided to go with the

splitter and that was a nasty splitter I

didn't get it quite low enough for a

swinging Miss but but I had to throw it

for a strike and my poor catcher got hit

which not good I felt bad that stings

right on the inner thigh GH not

comfortable so now it's 3-2 the runner

tried to steal third on that foul ball

so now he's jumping off of the base

again so I give him another one a little

head tilt like hey go for it I actually

said to him go for it take third and

he's like nah and then I turned and

threw the pitch come back two seam right

at the bottom of the Zone this one

though I will say was about a ball width

below the Zone this one was definitely

lower than the two two pitch I thought

the two two was a strike but this one

was definitely a ball so good call by

the Umpire unfortunately we get a walk I

think if this was in the zone he

probably takes it I could have thrown a

little bit higher but now we're in a

little bit of trouble first and second

one out double play still gets me out of

it but not ideal so

far so we got the four hitter at the

plate he's a righty normally I'm going

Cutters away sliders away in this

situation but the catcher called

splitter and I was like you know what

it's pretty good today let me try it

let's see if we can get a little roll

over ball breaks in on him he's not

expecting it roll over to third double

play that was my thought ran a little

bit off the inside part of the plate for

ball one but still a pretty good pitch

and now it sets up all the stuff

breaking away from him so I can

definitely use that Miss so 1 I decided

to throw a for seamer at the top of the

Zone he actually gets the barrel to it

pretty well but pops it up so definitely

an

out or maybe not uh

okay Bases Loaded one out um how are we

going to wiggle out of this one that's

what I thought as soon as that ball

dropped and then I turned to see my

friend number 35 stepping into the box

and this is actually perfect if there's

guys on first and second with two two

outs I couldn't have given him slide

steps but with Bases Loaded I can go out

of the windup which means all four of my

leg kicks are in play and he already

told me that he doesn't like him so

guess what he's getting all the slide

steps first pitch we go with regular leg

kick let him get his timing that I'm

going to disrupt later cutter down and

in borderline pitch I think he caught

the black get the call from the Umpire

01 so now these guys timing with my

normal leg kick I decided to go with the

slide step fast ball but I pulled it

down so we're one in one I did see it

reaction afterwards and kind of gave a

little head tilt and was like shaking

his head at me so I know I have him

right where I want him one one I know he

didn't react well to the first pitch

cutter down and in so I decided to go

with the Quick Pitch cut her in and we

get the strike call maybe the timing's

throwing him off a little bit cuz he

didn't swing at this he hasn't swung at

any of them but we got him right where

we want him it's one and two timing's

messed up he's thinking about it easy

strike out from here so I go back to my

normal leg kick I throw a splitter it's

nasty he swings right over the top of it

out in front of it and we get the much

needed strikeout perfect sequence two

Cutters running in on him he sees the

exact same trajectory and thinks the

ball's going to run in but it Dives the

other way and we get the strike out

flawlessly executed now I'm almost out

of this Jam base is loaded we got a

righty at the

plate I decided to have a little bit of

fun definitely wouldn't want the hitter

to know in this situation what pitch is

coming because it could cost me a lot of

runs right wrong just tell the hitter

what's coming I signaled fast ball for

those of you who don't know this signal

with the glove means fast ball so I just

told him what pitch was coming I think

he might have thought thought that I was

lying to him like I was going to Signal

fast ball and throw something else I

don't know but it was like my best

against your best let's see who

wins and turns out I won ground ball the

second so that's inning number one got

into a little bit of a jam got my feet

wet but now I'm locked in on game mode I

can start having a little bit more fun

so in between the first and the second

inning I had the pleasure of talking to

the king of Joo himself Eric Sim sir sir

sir you hit 99 three times the first

inning how'd you feel about that man if

I would known that I was throwing that

hard I would have just thrown one extra

hard and hit 100 I've never hit a 100

it's one thing I still have to do in my

baseball career before I'm done playing

I just want you to know that I don't

actually try against you I'm glad you

were here to see that so you know that I

have that when I want it but I just

chill at like 91 against you is that

what it is so you've been taking easy on

me is that what you're saying I think

you're capping bro you're just feeling

really good if we do 10 it to like 10 we

do 10 games and I actually try to get

you outut this is the B you'll get shut

the [ __ ] up now before the I was made

aware that some of the Dodger hitters

were salivating at facing me they

thought they were going to hit a homer

off me they're like oh he only throws

9192 Marty mush got a hit off him we're

going to take him yard we're going to do

his sword celebration they were out to

embarrass me but what I think they don't

understand is when I'm throwing on

YouTube I'm not giving it everything I'm

throwing in shoes indoors just making

content the difference between making

content and throwing a game is massive I

average like 91 93 indoors I'll ramp it

up to like 94 95 sometimes but I didn't

didn't throw a pitch below 96 this

entire game and that's what the

difference is when you throw in a game

it's about getting outs you're in an

environment in cleats outside if you're

watching on YouTube thinking like oh a

blogger got a hit off of him you just

don't know baseball it's just different

making content pitching a game two

different things and I wanted Eric to

know that I wanted him to know that when

I face him the only reason he stands a

chance is cuz I let him stay close for

the purpose of content anyway let's get

to inning number two so we got a lefty

leading off the inning I want to have a

little bit of fun which means I want to

strike everybody out that's the goal for

this inning just send a message to all

these hitters like I got it I'm better

then in the third in we can get to

joking around a little bit more so first

pitch fast ball we get a strike I throw

a nasty curveball 2900 RPMs Banger for

strike two and now he's completely

confused hasn't swung the bat seen two

different shapes I can go fast ball

above the Zone I can go splitter below

the Zone I have a lot of different

options here so I decided to go with

another curveball but just bounce it

this time I go with the slide step

curveball in the dirt and I get a little

bit of a budge out of the hitter but not

a full swing which means I know what to

go to next he's now seen a fast ball and

he's seen a curve ball down he didn't

swing at the fast ball he didn't swing

at the curveball but it is two strikes

so you throw something that looks like

the fast ball and the curveball that's

going to be a strike but that has a

different movement profile so what is

that time for the

splitter and it was a borderline strike

so we did have to swing to protect but

is in a perfect location strike out

number one now we got a righty we go

with the quick pitch cutter I just

pulled a little bit off the plate so we

fall behind one and0 and we hear Eric

yelling ball from the

stands now I heard Eric yelling on the

mound and I was yelling back at him but

I guess there was too many fans there

making too much noise so he couldn't

really hear me but I heard him saying

slow I heard him saying ball I heard him

saying hit a ball 450 he was rooting for

the hitters can you believe that so I

guess by dominating the hitters I also

dominated Eric which you know happens

all the time keep trying Eric so after

the Quick Pitch cutter away I decided to

go with the slid step fast ball disrupt

the timing a little bit and we get a

hard hit ground ball to third a really

nice play by my third baseman a hard hit

one hopper nice backhanded stab good

throw to first very nice play overall

very quick two outs but not a strike out

so I need another strike out here so

it's time to whip out my fourth leg kick

the midle kick pause and you can see the

effect it has on the hitter here as soon

as I pause he's in the middle of his

load and he has to stop his load and

then when I start he has to restart

again so that disrupts his timing it

gets him thinking a little bit I throw

him a fast ball middle middle and fouls

it off would he have been on time for it

if I had gone normal maybe it's hard to

tell on these things cuz you don't get

two pitches to compare to but that's the

effect of messing with some timing

hitters end up missing pitches a little

bit more often because they're a little

bit uncomfortable they're out of rhythm

so that's why I do it so at this point

I'm feeling pretty good I give him the

fastball sign let him know exactly what

pitch is coming and he fouls it out so

after telling him what was coming and

having him fou it off I was like hey

what pitch do you want to hit you tell

me what pitch you want I'll throw it and

he goes goes you do you man I was like

all right well if you don't want to know

I'll just throw you a nasty splitter see

what you do with it and that's what

happens

so but we get our third strike out and

that's the end of the second and now I'm

rolling I'm locked in command wise I'm

locked in vwise locked in movement wise

third inning is going to be a lot of fun

so in between the second and third Eric

actually came to hang out in the Dugout

and he uh did a little midgame interview

which I'm super in on by the way I think

that should happen more often in the big

leagues be great for Content great for

the fans I would love it I'd give some

Banger midgame interviews like this one

what is your game plan you're obviously

two innings five case uh so what is the

game plan going to the third inning you

know I think uh I'm either going to call

every pitch from the mountain like

signal it I'm going let the fans call

the pitches I haven't decided yet maybe

a mix of both I'm going to try to hit

100 so I mean 993 ttimes the first

inning it's not good enough you just

don't want it enough I I need some

adrenaline I've had none all day maybe

some pre-workout a SL what do you mean

you don't have what do you mean look at

those people that showed up now no

disrespect to the fans that were there

it was a great environment for a

backfield game but compared to Yokohama

where there's 33,000 people chanting and

playing drums and singing the entire

game it was hard to have adrenaline on a

back field I was just out there having

fun like I told Eric so let's have some

extra fun in the third let's start off

with signaling every pitch that's coming

to the hitters give them a

chance so I signal first pitch fast ball

throw it right down the middle little

strike

one 01 I signal slider I throw it down

in the way it was probably the best

slider I threw all day but it wasn't

close enough to get a swing and after

this pitch he said give me a fast ball I

said okay if you really want a fast ball

this is the one I'm going to try to hit

100 on you know it's coming I know it's

coming let's see who wins so I give him

the fast ball sign I throw it as hard as

I can it was 99.1 on the gun and he

didn't even

swing I mean you know a fast Ball's

coming I guess good on him for not

swinging at a pitch that wasn't where he

wanted to hit it I don't know I thought

he was going to swing I was super

surprised so after the fast ball down

the way I give him the splitter sign and

this is usually a perfect sequence

because the hitter had just seen a fast

ball that starts down now they're going

to see a splitter that starts off a

little bit above it looks more hitable

and then Dives out of the Zone usually

you get a swing and miss here but he

does know it's coming so if I don't

throw this right below the Zone where

he's forced to swing cuz it might be a

borderline pitch probably not going to

get a

swing all right now even though he did

know it's coming and that's a big

advantage in that situation that was

still a good take so I told him I said

hey good take he's like thank you give