Every athlete has their own routine on game day to get themselves both mentally and physically ready to play. Some guys are very superstitious and go through the exact same routine for every game. They may wear the same clothes, or put on the right shoe first every time, whatever it takes to make an athlete feel confident and that he is prepared.

Travis Blackley is one such athlete who has his own unique game day ritual. Travis is a pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization and is currently pitching for their AAA affiliate the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Travis is from Australia and was originally drafted by the Mariners and had stints in the big leagues with both the mariners and the San Francisco Giants before making his way east to the Phillies organization. He has high hopes of returning to the big leagues one day and until that happens he is doing everything he can to have success at the minor league level. Listen to the following clip of an interview that we did with Travis about what he does on game day to get himself ready to hit the mound every night.

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BOYS WILL BE BOYS:

In this video, Chris is on his last day before his next start.  This is a day to recover and get ready to take the mound tomorrow.  His work routine…the conditioning, workouts, and bullpen…have allowed him to keep his body in shape and adjust some of the flaws he had with his delivery.

Now we get to talk with Chris’ roommate, Nick DeBarr, and find out some inside information about Chris.  Nick talks about Chris sleeping all day long and eating lots of hot pockets each day.  As with many minor league baseball players, Chris loves to play video games.  He is the man with the new Nintendo Wii.  Nick offers Chris some words of advice, telling him to keep working hard and “maybe” get some more sleep.  As all baseball players now, the journey is very long and difficult at times.  There are many highs and lows throughout the season, but ultimately the ones who succeed are the ones who keep their emotions on a straight line.  Never let your highs get to high or your lows get to low.  As Nicks says, “Stay the course.”

BULLPEN SESSION:

In this video, Chris is going through the one of the most important, yet underrated, aspects of pitcher: the Bullpen.  Pitching greats such as Greg Maddox and Roger Clemons worked out the kinks in their bullpen sessions.  Chris works on keeping his mechanics in order.  As his coach states, Chris has an unorthodox delivery which makes his timing all the more important.  If he loses his release point or his shoulder flies open, Chris will have a hard time getting out of trouble.  With that being said, Chris has decent stuff.  His fastball is consistently at 87-88 mph and tops out at 91 mph.  He has a good breaking ball and a decent change up.  His deceptive delivery makes it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball…one of the reason why Chris has been successful throughout his career.

Sportsgist.com gets to talk with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason down in Durham, North Carolina the day after his start. Just in case you forgot, Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch.

PITCHER’S FIELDING PRACTICE:

In this video, Chris is going through the monotonous routine of pitcher’s fielding practice.  All pitcher’s hate PFP (the baseball term for pitcher’s fielding practice), but they understand that repetition will only help them when they need to make a play.  Making the play could be the difference in winning the game or losing the game.  After PFPs, Chris gets to run around the outfield and shag some BP.  All pitchers’ think they’re Andrew Jones, but running down fly balls actually helps them in their recovery.  After BP, Chris runs a bit to get the blood circulating through the body and then it’s off to the showers.  He watches the game from the stands where he charts every pitch for his time and one inning from the opposing team.  He charts what pitch was thrown, the location, and speed of the pitches.  The life of a pitcher…gotta love it!!!

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING:

In this video, Chris is going through his off day workout routine. He will do his leg work out on the field with the strength coach and then will go inside to do his upper body lifts. His leg workout is a continuous circuit which will help Chris to develop strength in his legs and at the same time to work on his endurance, both key elements for a pitcher to be effective throughout a long season. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside with Chris, but you do hear his strength coach talk about the importance for a pitcher to focus more on his back and pulling exercise then his chest and pushing exercises.

Chris Mason is one of the top pitching prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.  It has been quite some journey for him as he gets closer to reaching his ultimate dream: making it to the big leagues!  He has coasted through the minors…dominating at every level he pitched at.  Chris began his first full season of minor league baseball in Visalia, CA.  He finished the season with a 12-10 record, which was very good considering it was his first full season of professional baseball.  The next year was Chris’ coming out party.  He pitched at the Double A level in Montgomery, AL and was voted the Southern League pitcher of the year and Co-MVP of the league.  He was 15-4 with a 2.57 ERA and 136 strikeouts. 

Chris is currently pitching in Triple A for the Durham Bulls.  Chris takes us through his gameday routine…from start to finish.  He tells us about when he wakes up, why he shaves his arms, and what happened during the game.  The video gives you a good idea about who Chris Mason is and how he prepares for his starts.  The video also shows what a great minor league baseball town Durham is.