Phillies.mlb.com
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Two starts into his Spring Training preparation, Brett Myers is miffed.
The perfectionist vented on Wednesday after a four-walk performance against the Blue Jays in which he surrendered two runs over 2 2/3 innings.
"I felt uncomfortable out there," Myers said. "I guess you go through that during Spring Training. I hate it. It irritates me when I can't feel exactly what I'm doing wrong to correct it."
Myers was upset about his mechanics. He focused on separating his hands during his bullpen sessions, and felt he was doing that later than normal as he started his windup. Because he was late, his pitches were up.
"Usually, when I miss, it's going to be down," Myers said. "But I was missing up."
Myers didn't feel right despite tossing two scoreless innings.
"I don't know how I was getting outs," he said. "It was one of the things where I was like, 'Oh, my God, I hope it goes there [to a fielder].'"
In particular, Myers has also been adjusting to pitching at 215 pounds, which is 25 pounds less than he was at the end of the 2006 season. He shed the weight in the offseason.
"I felt that I knew how to pitch at 240," Myers said. "Now, it's like learning my body all over again."
Myers knows it's early and he knows he'll continue to progress leading up to Opening Day. For now, he must be patient, which tends to be difficult for him.
"It's one of those things where you expect to jump right back into midseason form in your first couple of starts," Myers said. "It's frustrating, because you know you're not there and you know you can be what you were during the season."