In the minor leagues, previous to 2008, I took a lot of pitches. I prided myself on on-base percentage. I made sure that I made the pitcher work.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
After I hit a home run I had a habit of running the bases with my head down. I figured the pitcher already felt bad enough without me showing him up rounding the bases.
In my own case I have frequently faced the pitcher when I had no desire whatever to hit. I wanted to get a base on balls.
The reason I think I'm a good pitcher is I locate my fastball and I change speeds. Period. That's what you do to pitch. That's what pitchers have to do to win games.
I wanted to make a lot of good pitches.
I'm a huge advocate of pitching. You have to have good pitching as the solid core, the foundation. It keeps you in every game.
This day and age, you look at baseball as a whole, and not just the pitchers' side of it. You have the weight programs, you have the technology, and as a pitcher, you need to keep up.
I study pitchers. I visualize pitches. That gives me a better chance every time I step into the box. That doesn't mean I'm going to get a hit every game, but that's one of the reasons I've come a long way as a hitter.
I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.
Any time you can go out there and throw 12 pitches in any inning, you give your team some momentum coming in and get some confidence out on the mound.
I pitched and I played the outfield.