GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The results were not exactly what Jake Peavy was hoping for, but as far as the right-hander was concerned on Saturday, get back to him once "they turn the lights on.''
Pitching in a minor-league game against the Reds, Peavy allowed seven runs on 12 hits in seven innings of work in what was his heavy-lifting day, as Peavy put in a spring-high 112 pitches.
It was the 112 pitches that stood out for him.
"I mean I'm ready to go into a season,'' Peavy said. "Obviously, still things to work on, but the biggest thing about spring training is getting to where you can get up and down seven times. I'm ready to go eight, nine, whatever it may be.''
Peavy said that his biggest problem was locating against right-handed hitters, but not a big enough concern to lose sleep over. If it's a problem on April 7 - his 2010 scheduled debut - then it's something to talk about.
"Spring training games in general are tough, but this [pitching in a minor-league game] is extremely tough,'' Peavy said. "You know me, I'm a very passionate and kind of just going full boar, and I couldn't be that person [Saturday]. I'm not sure how that would come off in something like this. I don't want to upset anybody and they would probably commit me to a hospital.
"Tune in on about April 7 and you'll get a little better idea [of my real emotion].''
Peavy was looking forward to April 7 for other reasons, as well.
"I'm excited to start this chapter in my career,'' Peavy added. "Last year was just getting our feet wet and I feel like I owed it to the organization, to the fans, to my teammates to get out there, but this is a fresh start. I'm a part of something that we hope is going to be special and I believe in the group we have assembled. We feel like we can accomplish some cool things and that starts with winning the Central, and we feel like we have the group that can make that happen.''