Prado working to put injury-filled 2017 behind him
JUPITER — There was no crowd noise, just birds chirping in the trees next to a back field at the Marlins’ spring training complex. Manager Don Mattingly was calling balls and strikes from behind the batting cage.
For third baseman Martin Prado and shortstop JT Riddle, the would-be starting left side of the Marlins’ infield, 30 minutes of batting practice against live pitching Tuesday morning was the closest they have been to game action since July when both had surgery.
It was an important step in the goal of both players to be ready for Opening Day on March 29 against the Chicago Cubs.
“That’s what I’m aiming for. I’ve been thinking about that my whole offseason,” Prado said after alternating several at-bats with Riddle against relievers Brad Ziegler and Nick Wittgren. “We’re still a couple weeks away. Hopefully, God will just give me the opportunity to be in another Opening Day.”
Rust was evident, though Prado hit an opposite-field drive against Ziegler in his first turn that would have gone for extra bases.
But this exercise was about health and progressing toward readiness for real games.
Call it the Rehab Series. Prado is returning from arthroscopic knee surgery. Riddle had his non-throwing shoulder repaired.
Wittgren, who had surgery in September to remove bone spurs and loose bodies from his right elbow, had faced hitters before this spring but not yet in a game.
“I am so excited right now. I feel so much better,” said Wittgren, who embraced the moment as if he were pitching in the AllStar Game. “I haven’t actually been in a game in eight months. You get the adrenaline rush, getting back out there. It’s just competitiveness. When I get on the mound and I see them [batters]
out there I want to get them out, no matter who it is.”
The emotions run deeper for Prado. The veteran team leader is trying to return to form after a virtual lost season.
After signing a threeyear, $40 million contract, Prado played in only 37 games in an injury-plagued 2017. Before the knee injury, there were two lengthy stints on the disabled list with hamstring strains, beginning when he was hurt in March during the World Baseball Classic.
“I used to play and not worry about any injuries,” said Prado, 34, “When this happened it was one after another after another. I was just disappointed. I felt shame about myself, and everything was negative.”
Prado hurt the knee while making a throw on the run. That has been fixed.
Perhaps more concerning with a player in his 30s is that he injured the same hamstring twice in the span of three months.
He acknowledges it was on his mind last season and remains a psychological barrier he must get past as he amps up to game speed.
“It was always in my mind running to get a double; I was thinking about my hamstring. And that’s the worst thing you can do,” Prado said. “You have to trust the process that you’re ready to play. You have to just go and be yourself and play hard and not be thinking I’m going to get hurt again.
“That’s the mental work that I’m trying to get into and not think about when I’m running, to not think about my hamstring.”
Prado has put in the painstaking work to strengthen his legs. Tuesday was the first step in getting his swing back in sync against live pitching.
“I was in game-mode situations you can’t get with a [pitching] machine,” Prado said. “Live BP, you get more reality of the game. They were mixing pitches. So I feel really good.”