"Pretty much the whole year I was a two-pitch pitcher," said Kazmir, who noted he had success at the beginning of the season due to exceptional location. "It's tough to face these Major League hitters with just two pitches. They know what they're doing. They watch my video and they can adjust as much as they can. So it's nice to have that third pitch in there. [It] feels like an equalizer."
With the slider back in his arsenal, Kazmir plans to mix up his pitches a lot more this season.
"I'm not going to be limited on how much I can throw [the slider]," Kazmir said. "These guys particularly didn't see too much of my slider. ... I'll see how they're reacting and go from there."
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DRB Notes
- Defending AL Champs including the Rays are have gone 11-17 on opening day since 1980.
- The Rays have had just one game started by a pitcher over the age of 30 since June 2006. Jae Seo started on 5/24/07, his 30th birthday. It would be his last major league start.
- B.J. Upton DH'd in an extended spring training game today(0-4). He will start the season opener for the Charlotte Stone Crabs on Thursday in centerfield. He will DH on Friday and be back in centerfield on for the Stone Crabs on Saturday.
- Jason Isringhausen pitched one inning in today's extended ST game.