'Instant feedback' a boon for Fowler at camp

ST. LOUIS -- Faced with the uncertainty of how long baseball’s shutdown would be and where he’d be able to get in work, Dexter Fowler pondered what equipment he could use to stay ready for the season from his backyard in Las Vegas. He thought about getting an inflatable batting cage, but instead, he settled on a Wiffle Ball machine that he set up in his yard.

This was no ordinary backyard Wiffle Ball game. The machine was set up 28 feet away from Fowler, and it darted golf-ball-sized balls over 100 mph at him. He used his regular bat, and the wind would create all kinds of movement on the ball heading toward the plate.

“[We said] let’s see if we can get a Wiffle Ball machine that can throw short distances, and we can play in the yard like little kids,” Fowler said. “It was good for my hand-eye coordination, and once you see pitches, the ball looks like it’s huge. So then, now it’s about timing and the arms and all that jazz.”

Fowler took the past five days off from workouts on the field because of back tightness he experienced in the Cardinals' first intrasquad game. After taking live batting practice Wednesday, he said he feels “a lot better” and will likely be back in the lineup for Thursday’s intrasquad game.

Once things began to open a little bit in Las Vegas, Fowler was able to get on the field for live batting practice and outfield work. He faced former Cardinals pitcher Chasen Shreve, as well as Mets righty Paul Sewald and a few Minor League pitchers.

Fowler said Summer Camp workouts could almost be better than Spring Training exhibition games, because hitters are able to get in multiple at-bats per day against one or two pitchers rather than a few per week during the start of exhibition games. It allows hitters to adjust and adapt on the fly.

“I’m talking to Yadi and Yadi’s talking to me, like, ‘Hey, you’re a tad bit late, you’re a little early,’” Fowler said. “I’m like, ‘OK, how was that?’ We’re getting feedback from each other, which is good playing each other, because you get that instant feedback. … You can take as many at-bats as you can in a shorter period of time.”

Piggyback starters could be ‘viable option’
Pitching coach Mike Maddux said that to start the season, the Cardinals could see two starters pitch in the first seven or eight innings of the game as pitchers build up their arm strength easing into the season. In the tandem-starter scenario, one pitcher could start the game, then the other would take over and cover the next three to four innings.

“We just might,” Maddux said. “That’s the template. You look at what we’re doing here. We’ve always got two starters each day, so we’re set up for it. That could be a viable option.”

For example, Wednesday’s live batting practice featured Dakota Hudson and Daniel Ponce de Leon alternating innings for four frames. The two offer different looks to hitters, with Hudson’s sinkerball and Ponce de Leon’s elevated fastball. Tuesday’s intrasquad featured Opening Day starter Jack Flaherty and lefty Austin Gomber.

Camp notes
• Seth Elledge and Rob Kaminsky threw live batting practice Wednesday, meaning all of the Cardinals pitchers cleared to work out at Busch Stadium have thrown live. Elledge, Kaminsky and Zack Thompson will likely head down to Springfield, Mo., in the coming days to join the Cards' alternate training site as the Opening Day roster comes into shape over the next week.

• Infielder Brad Miller was also back hitting and fielding Wednesday after missing five days with heel discomfort.

• Thursday’s intrasquad game is set for a 7 p.m. CT first pitch. Righty Adam Wainwright and lefty Kwang-Hyun Kim will start.

• Maddux said that he hit another hole-in-one golfing about three weeks after the season ended. He hit two holes-in-one before Game 5 of the National League Championship Series in October.

“It’s been a dry spell since,” Maddux said. “But yeah, had three in three weeks. Unbelievable.”