The Meeting Room
We have Detroit in town for a two game set starting tonight. To prepare, our entire pitching staff meets together before the start of every series to go through the lineup we're about to face. We just finished our meeting about the Tigers. They have a tough lineup from top to bottom. Guillen, Polanco, Ordonez and Sheffield are always tough outs. We have a meeting room, it's like a board room with a big table in the middle. Our pitching coach, Mike Butcher, sits at the head of the table and leads the discussion. We go through every player on the roster, watch video of them and talk about their tendencies and strengths. While the video is playing, Mike reads the scouting report. These meetings usually last around 30 minutes. As a pitcher, what you really want to know is who's hot and what each guy has been doing lately. Polanco, for instance is hitting the ball extremely well and several of their guys have played really well against us in the past. These meetings give you a sense of players you may want to pitch around and just as importantly, who to really go after.
