Johnny Almaraz

Richie is about two weeks from throwing off the mound. Pauly is a little behind him, probably a month away.

Richie is about two weeks from throwing off the mound. Pauly is a little behind him, probably a month away.

I'm a more traditional baseball person. We're going to give the kids free rein to play the traditional style of read more

I'm a more traditional baseball person. We're going to give the kids free rein to play the traditional style of baseball.

We're going to challenge Homer. Homer's going to dictate where we send him.

We're going to challenge Homer. Homer's going to dictate where we send him.

We're going to individualize every single program for every guy in the system. That'll be the big positive. And of read more

We're going to individualize every single program for every guy in the system. That'll be the big positive. And of course, the take-a-strike, we've modified that, that's no longer going to exist. Pitch counts will exist, but it's not one blanket program. If it needs to exist for a certain individual, it will. If it doesn't for another, it won't.

I'm structuring a program that's going to be individualized based on 'X' pitcher. We're going to create an inning threshold, read more

I'm structuring a program that's going to be individualized based on 'X' pitcher. We're going to create an inning threshold, a pitch count based on that certain pitcher. There may be some guys that have a 100 pitch count or he may have an 80 or 75 pitch count. It all depends on the person's strength, arm action and mechanics. All of that will play a role in our decision making.