Yasmani Grandal making most of time in camp

PEORIA, Ariz. — Catcher Yasmani Grandal is still in camp and he’s enjoying every minute of it.

Grandal was an early cut during his first big league camp last season with the Cincinnati Reds. While the San Diego Padres have experienced catchers like Nick Hundley and John Baker to work with, the 53rd-ranked prospect in Baseball America’s Top 100 discussed how those guys have helped him improve during his first camp with the Padres.

MT: How’d you feel this spring went compared to last year?
YG: I loved it. It was much better than last year. To that point it was good. I got a lot of playing time, a lot of at-bats. Last year I only had 11 so that wasn’t too fun. Being able to stay until the end, that’s one of the things that I liked the most. I’m looking forward to starting the season now.

Last year I got sent down in the first cut. I wasn’t surprised by that because it was my first spring training. It was fine but I just wanted to get rolling and get my at-bats in. This year it was more of a learning process to where I saw these older guys playing and the different things they did just to get ready for the game.

MT: How much have Hundley and Baker helped along the way?
YG: They’ve been there for me every step. Whatever questions I got, they answer. They’re outspoken. They’re always looking at you when you’re doing something and if you’re doing something wrong they’ll let you know. I can’t have any complains about them two. That’s why they made it in the big leagues, because they’re guys that look at the little things. It’s one of the things you’ve got to learn as a young guy, to look at the little things.

MT: What were you ultimately trying to accomplish here?
YG: I came in trying to learn about what the organization was doing, how they go about things and I think I got a pretty good feeling about that. I worked on every aspect of my game, like my catching and my hitting. Mostly on my catching more than my hitting because I knew my hitting would come along at some point. I think I made a lot of progress in my catching. I want to be known as a defensive guy not a hitter. I want hitting to be another plus.

I want to be like (Red Sox catcher) Jason Varitek, where he caught a couple of no-hitters and guys wanted to throw to him a lot. That’s why he stayed in there for so long. If you’re able to call a good game, guys are going to want to pitch to you. That’s what I want and that’s my main goal.
Everything I learned here is just going to be the little things that get me through the year. Especially not only me, but little things that I can get my pitchers through when we’re having a bad outing. If I can get them out of an inning by doing something, I made a point. That’s one of the things that I’ve wanted to learn here, is to see what I could do to help my pitcher out. That’s my main focus behind the plate.

MT: Players typically say the minor leagues helped them mature, do you feel the same way?
YG: I wasn’t able to play outside of Miami since I went there, and it was the only school I wanted to go to. Minor leagues is a new experience for me. Last year I had a lot of fun being by myself and living by myself. You definitely grow as a man and experience how to take care of yourself. You learn how to be a little more time consuming.

My main goal is to make it to the big leagues and not only that, my main goal is to have a career as a big leaguer. I don’t want to have a career as a minor leaguer. My main goal is to get to wherever I’m going, having a good season and let everything else take care of itself. You can’t really think about whether they’re going to move you up or not.


(utsandiego.com)