Ludy to stay put in Florida

CLEARWATER, Fla. — When the Phillies camp breaks today, players from the organization will disperse to Philadelphia, Allenton, Reading and Williamsport in Pennsylvania as well as Lakewood, N.J.
Josh Ludy will stay put, and he’s thrilled.
The 2008 Jay County High School graduate will begin his first full season as a professional baseball player with the Clearwater Threshers, the Phillies’ Class A Advanced affiliate.
“That’s where I was hoping to go,” said Ludy, who played a half-season with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws in 2012 after finishing his college career at Baylor University. “It’s one step up from where I was last year, so it’s a step in the right direction.”
Clearwater, which plays host to spring training for the Philadelphia Phillies, is located on the western coast of Florida about 20 miles west of Tampa. The Threshers went 72-60 last season, barely missing the playoffs as they finished a game behind the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League’s north division with a 36-30 record in the second half of the season.
Chris Truby, who played four seasons in Major League Baseball with Houston, Montreal, Detroit and Tampa Bay, manages the squad that will open its season on the road Thursday against the Dunedin Blue Jays. Clearwater will play its home opener at Bright House Field a day later.
The Florida State League includes affiliates from Toronto, Detroit, New York Yankees, Milwaukee, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Miami, St. Louis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. After traveling all over the Midwest and Atlantic coast last season with Lakewood, Ludy is happy to be in a league in which all of the teams are located in the same general area.
“That’s definitely one of the things I’m really looking forward to,” he said. “The shortest trip that we had in Lakewood is about the longest trip here. Your off days are actually off days instead of travel days, which will definitely be really nice once the season gets going.”
Ludy, whom the Phillies selected in the eighth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft, saw action in 32 games for the BlueClaws, hitting .271 with 29 hits in 107 at bats. He finished with 12 RBIs, nine runs, 11 doubles and one home run.
That effort came after a dominant senior season at Baylor for which he was voted the Big 12 Player of the Year and selected as a unanimous All-American. He finished eighth in the country with 71 RBIs while hitting .362 with 16 home runs. He led Baylor to a regional title before the Bears fell to Arkansas in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ludy spent a month in the instructional league in Florida following the end of Lakewood’s season, and worked out in Waco through the winter. He reported for spring training in late February, where he said he’s especially worked on honing his defensive skills.
“I think I’m going to see improvement, especially defensively,” said Ludy. “We’ve got some really good catching guys who have helped quite a bit. Especially throwing-wise, I think I’m better.”
To improve those skills Ludy has focused on footwork and transfer drills in an effort to make quicker throws down to second base. He also works on receiving and blocking pitches on a daily basis.
The daily schedule in spring training started with conditioning at 6 a.m. followed by hitting at 8 a.m. Days of home games included stretching, long toss, infield practice and fundamentals before batting practice, warm ups and then a game. When the team was on the road it would take batting practice before traveling to play.
Ludy also had the opportunity to catch a Major League bullpen session. He caught for relief pitchers Mike Adams, Michael Stutes and Aaron Cook, and had a former Cy Young Award winner throwing alongside him.
“(Roy) Doc Halladay was throwing in the pen right beside me and (Carlos) Ruiz was catching him, so that was pretty cool to see,” Ludy said. “It was a cool experience.”
The Clearwater squad is slated to play an intrasquad game against Lakewood today and then move in to the main clubhouse at Bright House Stadium.
The Threshers have an off day Sunday, and then two days of workouts sandwiched around an intrasquad game with the Phillies’ extended spring training team before opening the season Thursday.
The 22-year-old Ludy will be one of four catchers to start the season on the Clearwater roster.
He hasn’t set any statistical goals or a time frame for when he’d like to make the move up to the Class 2A Reading Fightin’ Phils. He just wants to keep improving his game.
“Honestly I try not to think about that kind of stuff,” said Ludy. “That’s kind of out of my control. I just try to control what I can control and go about my own business and if it happens, it happens.
“I obviously just want to come out and try to get better each day and try to soak up as much as I can from the coaches and just try to do everything I can to get to the next level.”[[In-content Ad]]