Adam Jones knows it's coming. So does everybody else. But Jones' ability to lay off the off-speed pitch that starts over the plate and winds up well outside will go a long way in determining what kind of numbers the Orioles' center fielder puts up this season.
"That's the nastiest pitch to hit, a slider that starts at the plate and ends up down and away," Jones said. "It's the hardest pitch to hit and it's impossible to lay off. I've gotten my fair dose of them this spring. I tried to lay off a lot of them and I think I stayed off most. Of course, I'm going to swing at some, but I'm just trying to use my eyes and let my eyes tell me what's going on rather than my body."
Jones enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2009, going to the All-Star game and winning a Gold Glove. But he slumped badly in the second half, hitting .222 after the All-Star break with a .290 on-base percentage. A big reason is pitchers got him to expand his strike zone by throwing a steady diet of high fastballs and off-speed pitches in the dirt or off the plate.
"The second half last year, a lot of pitchers made the adjustments on me. I was a pitch behind them," Jones acknowledged. "In the first half, I was a pitch ahead of them. They had good plans. They made the adjustments quicker than I did. But I came in this spring just trying to figure out what they're trying to do to me and not trying to really do too much. They're not just going to lay it in there for me. I just have to be a little more selective and don't miss the pitch I am supposed to hit."
- Jeff Zrebiec