Ask Bob - The End Is Near
As a manager, how do you handle the last few games of spring training?
First and foremost, you try and get your guys out of spring training in one piece. Injuries late in camp are always a possibility and usually by this time, the team is pretty well set and you have it all figured out how everything fits together. You just want to be able to break camp with all those pieces in place so you can at least start the season with a full hand. Above and beyond that, you stretch out your starters and get them to go seven, eight, maybe even nine innings. You make sure that your double play combination up the middle has a chance to work together pretty regularly at the end of camp. If there's any matchups between pitchers and catchers that you want to explore, this is the time to do it here in the last week of camp. Usually by this time, though, everything is pretty well set and everybody is ready for the regular season to start. Friday's game is also a chance for the regulars to get some at-bats in a night game setting.
Bob