MESA, Arizona — One of the rituals for major league baseball players every spring is to pose for team and media photographers. These shots get used in a variety of ways; you’re probably most used to seeing them on player pages on various websites, or in the pitcher previews I do here at BCB.
If you think this kind of work is easy, think again. The players had to report to Sloan Park before dawn Monday to begin the shoot at 7 a.m. That was before a full day of meetings, both with manager Joe Maddon and chairman Tom Ricketts, as well as the first full-squad workout, some of which I showed you here Monday. (If you were wondering who the guy with the really long beard was in the last video on that post, I’ve got him identified in the gallery above.)
Enjoy this selection of photos from the shoot, taken by Gregory Shamus of Getty Images and Jayne Kamin-Oncea of USA Today Sports. I’ve got most of the regulars and rotation covered here, though for some reason there weren’t any photos of Javier Baez to be found. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of Javy as the season goes forward!