Mo Already Out On The Mound This Spring

He was in camp early, at least by his standards, when he showed up only a day after pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report.  A story early this past week said that he would be bucking his usual Spring Training trend and traveling to possibly pitch in some road games this year.  And to top of his spring surprise sundae, Mariano Rivera took the mound this morning to throw a 25-pitch bullpen session.  This is well ahead of his usual schedule in Spring Training, and a sign that if this is his last year, Mo is planning on going out on a high note.

So how did that first bullpen session go, you might wonder.  Here's what Gus Molina had to say:

"He's a machine.... Everything was down in the zone, in and out."

The dude just isn't human.  Steps on the mound for the first time and hits his spots.  It's almost a good thing that Mo is hanging them up after this season, because I'm running out of things to say about the guy.  My buddy Gary read another report this morning that said Mike Harkey stepped into the batter's box a few times without a bat to give Mo some perspective.  I think Gary summed it up best with the message he posted on my Facebook wall this morning, "You might as well just leave the bat in the dugout when you step up to face the G.O.A.T."

(I still don't remember where I first saw this, but courtesy of whoever was smart enough to put it together.)

Quotes via Chad at LoHud.