BASEBALL IS BACK: Pitchers and Catchers Report 2016

We did it Cleveland fans! We made it through the cold, baseball-less waters of the off-season dead sea to the other side! Baseball is back! And pitchers and catchers report right now! Naturally, I have a collection of Hammy calls playing as I write this, which is making it very difficult to act like an adult right now, but that’s okay! Because it’s back! The first step in making our way to the glorious land of October baseball starts on Wednesday, February 17th, in Goodyear, Arizona. The first Best-Day-Ever in a line of Best-Day-Evers to come. The ground in Cleveland is covered with snow, but Wednesday morning I can promise you in every Cleveland Indians fan’s mind it will be Spring time and baseball season. Hold on to your feelings boys and girls…

As the excitement starts to build around Progressive Field, players make their way to spring training with the mindset of a fresh start, a new season and a new hunger for their main goal: the post season. Yan Gomes said during a recent town hall meeting that he’s excited to get this year going, and he’s not alone. It’s a baseball fan’s Christmas, calling all their boys by name to their spring training destinations. On Cookie, on Perez, on Soto and Kluber! Go Thatcher, Allen, Crockpot and Gomer! (Yes, I just did that…) It’s no secret that this off season has been incredibly boring, leaving fans to make quiet free agent signings seem interesting and writers grasping at straws, so the fact that the season is coming up fast might make few Hammy disciples lose their minds.

On a serious note, this is also the start for players to showcase themselves and what they can bring to the table for the Indians and/or higher minor levels. The same can be said for players signed to minor league deals during the off-season with invites to spring. Names like Michael Clevinger and Joe Thatcher come to mind. It’s an exciting time across the board. Going into spring there is a lot to look forward to, like how the Indians plan to build their bullpen, who will finish off the back end of the starting rotation and who will separate themselves from the pack offensively and defensively to add promise to the regular season. Granted, not much that happens during spring training really says anything about what happens in a real game situation, but as far as setting a tone for what to expect on the 25-man, it’s a good way to get a feel for that setup.

Before you know it, spring training games will be upon us and even crazier, Opening Day! It’s a wonderful time of year, if you can ignore the snow, and something to be pumped about. So for all of the Cleveland Indians fans reading this, grab your jerseys and crank up the volume on those Tom Hamilton YouTube videos! Baseball is coming back into our lives! (editors note: it’s no Tom Hamilton, but you can watch a video of Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis taking grounders from 2/17/2016 below)

Make sure to keep up with BurningRiverBaseball throughout all of spring training for updates and info leading into the coming 2016 season!