Ryan Vogelsong Prepares To Pitch For Pirates
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) -- Ryan Vogelsong threw a simulated five-inning game at Pirate City, saying he's in a good place and anxious to just be a part of the Pirates' rotation in two weeks.
"It will definitely be a lot easier on me, especially physically," Vogelsong said. "It took its toll on me probably both physically and mentally bouncing back and forth (last year in San Francisco). It's going to be good, I'm excited. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a good year I think."
The 11-year MLB veteran threw 79 pitches, ten hitters retired in three pitches or less and was clocked on the radar gun at 96 miles-per-hour Sunday morning.
"It felt great, I was commanding the ball, commanding all of my pitches," Vogelsong said. "I'm really happy with it."
The 38 year-old pitcher had no issue with a simulated game at 10:30 in the morning with the only major leaguers Matt Joyce, Francisco Cervelli, Sean Rodriguez and Jung Ho Kang. None of the runners ran out contact and the only obvious run was a Joyce homer, on a pitch Vogelsong said he wouldn't have thrown him if not for working on something.
"It's a lot less 'spotlighty,' you can come out here and do some stuff you normally wouldn't do and you don't have to explain it," Vogelsong said. "It gives you a chance to do that (work on things) and not have to answer to you guys about it. It's good, you can have some guys on base and create some situations to work on some stuff. Good day's work overall, really."
Vogelsong signed with the Bucs as a free agent in December after going 9-11 and a 4.67 ERA with the Giants in 2014. The one-time Pirate says he enjoys working with pitching coach Ray Searage and Cervelli.
"It's simple stuff and it's up to me now to repeat it," Vogelsong said of the adjustments he's making to his delivery. "That's all I'm really trying to do. I'm getting good results, so it makes it a lot easier going forward. We're going in a real, real good direction right now and I'm excited about it."
