Gavin Floyd’s first Cactus League trip to the mound resulted in two hitless innings Monday against the Dodgers, with Xavier Paul standing as the only baserunner after being hit by a pitch to open the second.
Floyd’s defense looked as good as his raw stuff. Apparently, the pitcher’s fielding practice leading up to game action paid off, as Floyd made a perfect throw to shortstop Alexei Ramirez on Trayvon Robinson’s grounder back to the mound to start a double play after Paul reached.
“That’s what we do here, so I was happy not to mess it up,” Floyd said of the comebacker. “There are ones where you are just like, ‘Oh, no,’ and duck. I went down like a goalie on that one to just block it.
“Obviously, two innings is very small compared to where you want to be season ready, but I felt good. I just went out there and it feels like a year since I’ve been out there. Everything went well. It’s just building stamina.”