Kuroda enjoys an easy first day
VERO BEACH, Fla. -- For Hiroki Kuroda, his first day of camp with the Dodgers felt like an instant.
The two-plus hours that constituted the Dodgers’ first workout of spring training Friday morning would’ve been classified as a warmup by the Hiroshima Carp, the Japanese club that employed Kuroda for the previous 11 seasons. Training with the Carp frequently lasted seven hours and resumed when players were done eating dinner.
“It’s not like we’re in the military,” Kuroda said. “I like this better.”
With 20-some reporters from his home country lining the fence behind catcher Russell Martin, Kuroda threw a 30-pitch bullpen session, which, again, was brief, relative to what he did in the past.
Until this spring, 100-pitch bullpen sessions on the opening day of camp were the norm. When a reporter commented that it wasn’t uncommon for him to throw 200 pitches in a side session, he responded, “I’ve done 300.”
“But,” Kuroda said, “I don’t see that happening here.”
Said pitching coach Rick Honeycutt: “I’m guaranteeing that it won’t.”
One of Honeycutt’s primary tasks this spring will be to keep Kuroda comfortable while preparing him for the changes that he will face in the majors.
Kuroda, who signed a $35.3-million free-agent contract during the off-season, will go from being part of a rotation that included six pitchers to one with five, and a schedule with 144 games to one with 162. Spring training itself is different in Japan, where teams practice more than three weeks without playing any games, thereby making marathon side sessions possible.
Kuroda said he was open to change. Throwing less and lifting more weights, he said, “might help me get through a longer season. It’s a little scary, but I’ll give it a try.”
Manager Joe Torre, mobbed for autographs walking between practice fields, said he had no problems with fans allowed to be so near the players and coaches.
“You know what’s great?” Torre asked. “How personal this place is.”
The new manager started the day with an introductory team meeting.
Reliever Scott Proctor, who played under Torre with the New York Yankees, said the players responded to the new manager. “A guy like him, with his reputation, commands respect,” Proctor said.
Asked if the players might be intimidated by him, Torre replied, “I hope not. My wife accuses me of having that look. She says my daughter has it too.”
Wilfredo Diaz, a 21-year-old left-hander in the Dodgers’ system, told Vero Beach police that he was robbed at gunpoint by four men wearing black ski masks on a dirt path that leads into Dodgertown. According to the incident report that was filed, Diaz was walking back from a nearby gas station when he encountered the men and was ordered to get on the ground. When he obliged, he was kicked in his right side and forced to give the men all of his money, around $10. Spring training coordinator Craig Callan said the Dodgers would work with local authorities to increase security and surveillance.
--