SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — While family and friends have been shoveling snow and dancing through the rain drops, with even more snow and more rain, Chad Zurat has been basking in the southwest sunshine and warm temperatures since March 6 as he gears up for his first full season as a Colorado Rockies farmhand.
To be accurate, rest and recreation are enjoyed in the late afternoons and evenings.
Right now, mornings and early afternoons are devoted to working on fundamentals and and games against other minor league teams or bullpen or conditioning sessions during extended spring training.
Zurat, who was a standout pitcher for Clearfield Area High School, Clearfield American Legion Post 6 and Penn State Behrend teams, will be returning to the short-season Class A Northwest League, but the National League organization has shifted its franchise from southeastern Washington to southwestern Idaho.
His Tri-City Dust Devils cap has been replaced by a Boise Hawks cap.
He is one of 10 active pitchers currently on the Hawks roster that will expand with the conclusion of the Major League Draft in early June.
The 6-2, 215-pound right-hander was signed last July and appeared in 10 games for the Dust Devils, winning his only decision.
In 21 innings, all as a reliever, he gave up 36 hits and 23 runs, 19 earned.
While his 8.14 ERA was very high, his strikeout-to-walk ratio was excellent at 19-5. He also hit three batters.
Zurat will be much better prepared for his role this summer after hours and hours of improving his pitches in bullpen sessions as well as working on defensive fundamentals and conditioning.
Pitchers and catchers reported the first week of spring training.
“We did a lot of work getting to know the signs between catcher and pitcher,” Zurat said. “The pitchers worked on defense, too. Our pitchers don’t start hitting until the Class AA level.”
Position players checked in the following week, so team defense was emphasized more.
“We began to throw live against our own hitters,” Zurat said. “The week after that, we started playing games against other teams.
“We would practice in the morning and play normal nine-inning games in the afternoon. Pitchers would throw a certain amount of innings or have a pitch count.”
Extended spring training began for the short-season league and rookie league teams in early April after players assigned to full-season Class AAA, AA and A teams departed camp.
For the last month, the daily routine of practice and exhibition games has continued except for Sundays, an off day, and Thursdays, a camp day for practice and intra-squad scrimmages.
Games on the other days have been against a number of teams representing Cactus League organizations Arizona, Cincinnati, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee and San Francisco from the National League and the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Kansas City, the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland, Seattle and Texas from the American League.
Zurat relies mostly on a fastball, and he was throwing in the high 80s and low 90s early on.
“I’ve been sticking with my two-seamer,” he said. “It’s got a lot of movement to it.
“We’ve had a lot of dominant fastball outings, making sure we can control the fastball down in the strike zone. They want us working both sides of the plate. They want to make sure you have the right timing and are able to work inside and outside whenever you want.
“If you are able to locate the fastball well, it’ll help with locating all your other pitches as well.”
On days he doesn’t pitch, Zurat’s schedule includes running, throwing, defense and conditioning sessions.
“One day we worked on fielding bunts and bunt coverages and making sure you do the small things right in game situations,” Zurat said.
“If you’re throwing when everybody else is running, you’re gonna run the next day. They have a program with our personal trainers where we were going to two full body lifts a week, depending on when we’re pitching.”
Zurat and the Hawks work out with the Rockies’ Grand Junction, Colo., team that plays in the short-season Pioneer Rookie League.
Home games are played one of four practice fields at the complex the Rockies share with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Zurat has been impressive in his last five appearances, including a pair of three-inning stints.
He turned in a pair of scoreless three-inning outings two weeks ago.
Last week, he started and threw two innings Wednesday with no hits and no walks and came back Saturday with a six-pitch inning, according to his father.
“He’d never had a pitching coach, and now he‘s topping out at 94 and averaging 91 or 92,” Tom Zurat said. “His movement and location are much better than in the past. The game he started he got six groundball outs.
“He throws bullpens on days he doesn’t pitch. Everybody goes out when the game starts and they watch two innings before they work out. Their pitching coach gets a lot more involved with them during games.”
Zurat will have another month of extended spring training before the Hawks head north to prepare for their league opener Thursday, June 18, at home against the Tri-City Dust Devils, now a San Diego farm club.