Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

What does Spring Training lingo actually mean?

By Jordan Shusterman

While the first official Spring Training game will not take place until Feb. 21, all of your favorite pitchers and catchers have reported to Arizona and Florida, and full-squad workouts begin next week. With the return of baseball also comes the return of many familiar, yet sometimes vague terms associated with Spring Training. No other sport has such an extensive level of preseason preparation, and in turn, you're likely to see a lot of terms or phrases thrown around about what teams are up to as they begin their preparation for the 2019 season.
Here are the most common ones to keep an eye out for:
"He's in the best shape of his life"
Ah, yes. The true sign of spring. This cliche colloquialism has become so prevalent that players and managers can hardly say it with a straight face anymore. Take Red Sox manager Alex Cora, for example, who appears entirely aware that everyone wants to believe they are in peak physical condition when they arrive at Spring Training -- but still insists that one of his pitchers is actually in the best shape: 

It's not just the players, either. Skippers themselves want to make sure we all know they're prepared to withstand the physical rigors of managing a full baseball season:

We get it, Mickey -- you lift.
PFPs (pitchers' fielding practice)
Teams devote significant time in the early weeks of spring preparing their pitchers for the less-exciting parts of their jobs: Fielding ground balls, particularly bunts. It is arguably the least interesting baseball exercise to watch -- we'd all rather watch our favorite shortstops field grounders, or a big-time slugger take batting practice -- but its importance cannot be overstated. And sometimes, the spectacular can occur thanks to mindless hours of PFP work. It's worth it, we promise!

Split-squad
Once games get under way, you may look at the schedule and realize that your favorite team is actually playing more than one game -- in two different places. The more the merrier, right? This is only possible because during Spring Training, each team has literally every player in its organization in one place and thus can deploy different groups of players to play in multiple games at the same time. Usually, veteran players prefer to stay at the team's complex and play in the home game while a group of younger (and sometimes Minor League) players hop on a bus and head to the team's road game.
Though played with two separate mish-moshes of the big league roster, split-squad games do count as normal Spring Training games in the Cactus and Grapefruit League standings. They are different from "sim-games" (simulating game situations, often arranged for big league pitchers) or "B-games" (games played on the back fields between Minor Leaguers), which some of your favorite players may also participate in this spring.
"Working on a new pitch"
The months leading up to Opening Day are not only spent practicing what players already know, but also serve as the testing ground for pitchers to experiment with new additions to their repertoires. Jameson Taillon is working on an upgraded slider. Kyle Freeland is considering using his new-and-improved two-seamer more often. Aaron Nola is contemplating becoming a full-time knuckleballer. OK, that last one isn't true, but you get the idea -- now is the time to test these fancy fresh new pitches out!
Blurry photos and videos
The first few days of Spring Training are chock full of eager documentations of the fresh, yet familiar sights and sounds. However, the quality of these snapshots or quick clips is often compromised in favor of expediting the process of sharing the fact that baseball has finally returned after a long winter! 

But honestly, can we blame them? We'll take a grainy image of Mike Trout in the batting cage from 100 yards away in a heartbeat. Spring has sprung, and baseball is here. Welcome back!

Up Next
What do you get when you combine a block party and a baseball league?
Related
Baseball's coffee drinking, board game playing oddball is coming home for one more year
Tyler Glasnow pulled an Ozzie Smith and backflipped to celebrate the start of Spring Training
Let these early Spring Training sights and sounds get you excited for baseball season
BarberJordan
When baseball's biggest stars need a haircut, they come to José 'Jordan' López
By Matt Monagan •
beephero
Competition, joy and a little pain: Beep Baseball is a world of freedom for blind athletes
By Eric Chesterton •
AP_702417634020
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one of the best baseball card collections in the world thanks to one man
By Michael Clair •
NYC
Where to live in New York if you've just come into $324 million
By Matt Monagan •