{"id":458509,"date":"2025-12-19T20:41:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/458509\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T20:41:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T20:41:32","slug":"what-should-vibes-at-spring-training-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/458509\/","title":{"rendered":"What should vibes at spring training be?"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Arizona Diamondbacks players spend their offseasons all over the world, going to play ball to Latin America, sticking around out at Salt River Fields and some getting married in Mexico.<\/p>\n

Corbin Carroll and Andrew Saalfrank credited a large group continuing to work together at the complex, as Arizona has the advantage of training in its home metropolitan area.<\/p>\n

The club has gotten off to slow starts in each of the past two seasons and fallen short of the postseason in the final weekend. Spring training is still more than a month out, but several players explained the vibe they are hoping to walk into after the club came within a series of making the postseason last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with how close we were last year, despite some of the challenges or expectations, not that we put on ourselves but maybe that people were putting on us, to come that close, I think it\u2019s just fuel to the fire,\u201d Saalfrank told Arizona Sports at a holiday shopping event with kids<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna fuel that hunger a little bit more to do what we need to do in the offseason to prepare and play our baseball. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s to necessarily beat other teams, but it\u2019s to play our best brand of baseball. If we\u2019re able to do that, I think we have a good enough group of guys that we\u2019re gonna win a (expletive) ton of games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brandyn Garcia added: \u201cI think that we ended the year so close, so I think it\u2019s gonna be more of like an aggressive vibe. \u2026 This year, let\u2019s make it non-negotiable. Like, let\u2019s not take it to the last series. Let\u2019s clinch early, let\u2019s get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diamondbacks leadership, especially manager Torey Lovullo, have pointed to slow starts as something that has to improve, so there could be some changes made in spring training to address it.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks play in the ever-daunting NL West due to the presence of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the rest of the division is in a state of uncertainty. That includes Arizona, which has fielded calls for star Ketel Marte, has a bullpen to round out and reportedly kicked the tires on Alex Bregman.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres have not been super active this offseason, although the Padres re-signed starter Michael King on Thursday.<\/p>\n

There is a lot left to do this winter for the Diamondbacks\u2019 roster, but the players present this week were clear about the culture they expect to harness in spring. Even if external expectations are lower, their style of play from the final months of last year was something to build on.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we wanted to make playoffs and the last series didn\u2019t go the way we wanted, but the fact that we were however many games out at the All-Star break and got as close as we did, I like the momentum that we have coming into spring training,\u201d Ryan Thompson told Arizona Sports. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see what the team does and the players we end up having in camp. It\u2019s gonna be a fun ride because you\u2019ll see it, whether or not we have the superstars on our team, or we have the 2023 guys that weren\u2019t supposed to do anything, we perform regardless because of the culture that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA fresh opportunity, and like Ryan said, it doesn\u2019t matter if our team looks great on paper or a group of guys that are gonna be doubted,\u201d Carroll added. \u201cI just feel the culture that we have in place right now, it\u2019s the same goal regardless of who we\u2019re taking out on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

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How did Jordan Lawlar like center field?<\/p>\n

Lawlar is back from the Dominican Republic, where he received his first professional reps in center field. He spent most of his time on the infield , playing three games in center field, but it was a test for a young and athletic player looking to stick in MLB.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed the switch-up,\u201d Lawlar told Arizona Sports. \u201cIt was cool to kind of go back. It\u2019s something I played in high school a little bit, and then when I was younger I used to play center on Saturdays in the pool play games, and then I would go to shortstop for bracket play on Sundays. I never professionally played there, so I love new challenges, opportunities.<\/p>\n

He said he did not quite get the same chances to go make plays like Blaze Alexander last season, when Alexander robbed a home run, made a diving catch and threw out a runner in his first few games playing outfield.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks have some figuring out to do in terms of how the roster fits, which will be impacted by moves yet to be made, but Lawlar proving he can be viable in the outfield only helps put pieces together.<\/p>\n

Brandyn Garcia set on making the leap<\/p>\n

Garcia joined the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline from Seattle for Josh Naylor, when the 6-foot-4 lefty was two games into his MLB career.<\/p>\n

He made 14 big league appearances last year, showing promise with an upper 90s mph heater and sweeper that drew 47% whiffs.<\/p>\n

Entering his first offseason with Arizona, Garcia\u2019s goal is simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally want to establish myself. I want to make it so there is no doubts from anybody around, myself included,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n

Follow @alexjweiner<\/a><\/p>\n

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