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“I’d be charging a ground ball and bend over, oh my God it’s like a knife going through my back,” he said.

On several occasions Betts looked visibly fatigued while taking ground balls.

“Like, how do I attack ground balls? How does he attack ground balls? … Or whether we should dive or not dive knowing the other guy’s gonna be there.”

“We’ve had guys out here for almost two weeks working on ground balls, going full bore. We’re not trying to let up at all.”

The rhythms of these practice fields are comforting and familiar: pitchers cover first base, infielders take ground balls, hitters take swings off an actual pitcher after a winter of working out in the batting cage.