The new manager’s ‘Washington Drills’ has infielders taking ground balls from their knees daily to sharpen the way they use their hands
The Angels’ Livan Soto fields a grounder hit by Colorado’s Sam Hilliard during the second inning of a spring training game, Friday, March 8, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. TEMPE, Ariz. — Ehire Adrianza was a 30-year-old who had played professional baseball for more than 14 years, including parts of eight years in the majors, when he first worked with Ron Washington with the Atlanta Braves in 2021.
Although they’ve been refined over the years, the drills involve a four-minute sequence that starts with the player on his knees. A coach – Washington himself or else infield coach Ryan Goins – kneeling about 10 feet away first tosses a ball underhand to the player. They do balls right in front, then on the glove side, then on the backhand side. It progresses to using a fungo bat.“The only thing the infielder should be concerned with is the last hop,” Washington said.
Also, having perfect hand position means that when the ball isn’t caught, it will drop right in front of him instead of bouncing away. “It helps to make sure I’m catching the ball in the part of the glove I want to catch it,” Neto said. “It’s helped me out big time.” “Everybody has a cage routine,” Goins said. “Everybody should have a defense routine. My goal is to have this infield be the best infield in the league. You aren’t going to do that with a day of work here and a day of work there… There’s the scientific, sport science of ‘don’t do too much.’ That ain’t who we are. You can have all the off days you want. We’re going to outwork you.”
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