As Cole Uvila heads into May, he starts to experience some challenges for the first time as a professional baseball player. The umpires of the Advanced-A Carolina League have tighter, more consistent strike zones, and the hitters, who are more experienced, are eager to take advantage of this fact.
“The batters are much more disciplined. They have a little bit more of an approach," Cole says. "There's a lot of free swingers the younger guys get. They're a little bit more free swingers. Now I'm facing guys 23, 24, 25 years old with some experience. They hunt pitches.”
All of these differences came to a head for Cole in early May, when he allows his first home run of the season and goes on to give up runs in five consecutive appearances.
He knows he has to make some changes -- he can know longer rely on simply throwing his fastball past people. So he goes to work to refine his game.
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