Cain still feels like he’s playing ‘catch-up’
Restart is latest challenge for veteran
In so many ways, this has been one of the most challenging years of Lorenzo Cain’s life, if not most challenging.
First, there’s the baseball part. Unhappy with his performance in 2019, other than winning a long overdue Gold Glove, the Milwaukee Brewers’ veteran centerfielder showed up early in Arizona for spring training, having shed several pounds through hard work and better eating, including eliminating his favorite night-time snack, ice cream.
Then, with the start of the season within sight, camps were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic and Cain retreated for a three-month stay back home in Oklahoma. Now, more than a week into summer camp at Miller Park, Cain said, “I’m still playing catch-up.”
“We’ve been getting after it for a week or so now so it’s basically been no breaks,” Cain said during a Zoom session with reporters Sunday morning. “We’ve been doing a lot of running early on, so we have to get through the soreness and hopefully get rid of it as soon as possible and start building up for the games.
“The body is coming along. I’m very close but still not where I was at in spring training before everything got shut down. Just trying to find every
thing with my swing and get my legs underneath me. Still have a ways to go but I’m headed in the right direction.”
Cain, who turned 34 in April, tried to do as much individual work as possible while home during the shutdown. But perhaps you’ve heard he has three young sons, Cameron, Jayden and Landyn, who kept dad busy while having him on hand for the first time ever in the spring and early summer.
“The prep work was definitely not the same, not being able to use weights, work out at a gym and have the things I’m used to having,” said Cain, who struggled to a .260 batting average and .325 on-base percentage in 148 games last season.
“It was definitely tough for me. Not being able to hit much during the quarantine was tough but I tried to go to the (hitting) cage and basically hit off a tee for three months, and tried to run out on the land I have in Oklahoma.
“I just tried to stay busy and stay in
Lorenzo Cain did as much as he could to stay in shape during baseball’s shutdown but his three sons kept him busy.
the best shape I could for those few months. Definitely not in the shape I was in when I got to spring training, but I’m trying to get back there. The legs, the swing, just trying to get it all back to where it was.”
As for getting to spend unexpected time with his sons, Cain said, “They kept me busy every day, chasing them around, going outside and playing catch. They got used to their dad being home for the summer. That was definitely weird for me because I don’t think I’ve been home for the summer since I was 18.
“We tried to enjoy it as much as possible, and just take advantage of spending time with my family. We had a blast but it’s back to work now. I’m trying to play catch-up with everything and hopefully once we get started, everyone is back to their old routine.”
Players barely had arrived in camp when they started facing live pitching in batting practice sessions. One of the first teammates Cain had to face was hard-throwing Brandon Woodruff, and he laughed about that uncomfortable experience.
“I basically went from hitting off a tee to facing ‘Big Woo’ in live pitching. It didn’t go well for me,” Cain said with a big smile. “It was tough but that’s what we have to do to play catch-up. To go from hitting off the tee to facing 98 (mph), it’s definitely been a grind but we’re all in the same boat.
“Some guys had better situations (back home) than others. Maybe they could work out while they were home or maybe they could hit in a cage, but that wasn’t the case for me. I’m sure that wasn’t the case for a lot of guys.”
Though Cain used the phrase “playing catch-up” often during his chat with reporters, manager Craig Counsell thinks the eight-year major-league veteran was being modest about his progress in the first week-plus of summer camp.
“He’s doing great,” Counsell said. “I feel like he’s energized. He has been really adamant about (getting) ‘at-bats, at-bats,’ and timing and rhythm at the plate. He was one of the first guys to get to Milwaukee and do some extra work and some off-site things. So, he’s in a good spot.
“Plate appearance-wise, he’s probably leading the pack for us right now. So, you won’t see him out there (Sunday). We’re giving him the day off, a couple days to rest up and get the legs back. But I think he’s in a really good spot right now as we sit at about 12 days to go. He has a good set of plate appearances under his belt and now he can use the next seven or eight games to fine-tune things and be in a good spot for the first game.”
The second consideration for Cain has been the pandemic itself. Like everyone else, he’s trying to adjust to the seemingly endless number of protocol changes, on and off the field, while keeping in mind he has wife Jenny and his three sons with him in Milwaukee as well.
“It’s a tough situation,” he said. “Wearing a mask, getting tested as much as we do, trying to social distance as much as we can and not having fans in the stands or anyone around is definitely weird but it’s just something we’ve all got to deal with right now. Hopefully, it’s only going to be this season and everything will be back to normal next year.
“For the most part, my kids are pretty healthy. That makes it a little bit easier, having no underlying conditions or anything. We’re just trying to do what we’re told as far as washing your hands and wearing masks. When you go out in public, make sure you’re doing the right thing, keeping your distance.”
Last, and certainly not least, Cain has spent a lot of time thinking about the summer of social unrest in the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis after a policeman knelt on his neck for eight-plus minutes. As an African-American who has seen racial injustice from a personal perspective, Cain felt compelled to step forward and give his honest and frank opinion, including participating in a round table on MLB Network Radio with other Black athletes.
“You see it all over the country. Everybody’s standing up,” Cain said. “There’s been a lot of rioting. There’s been a lot going on over the last few months, but with me and a few guys on the team, we’ve been holding Zoom calls about the issue at hand. We’re all coming together, talking about it.
“I’m educating them, I’m educating myself on everything that’s going on. We all just want things to change, want things to get better. Everybody wants to be treated equally at the end of the day. For me, that’s where the respect factor comes in. The loss of respect for each other, that’s the thing that’s really going around right now.
“I feel like we can get back to that, respecting each other, finding ways to love each other and I feel like at the end of the day things will change and hopefully everything gets better and we all learn and grow from this. My main goal is for people to understand what’s going on and not only look at it from one side, look at it from both sides and grow, learn and hopefully everything just gets better.’’