Blue Jays' Wells hires trainer for season
Toronto Blue Jays centre-fielder Vernon Wells made an off-season investment he hopes will pay off when the pennant race heats up.
He got in shape.
After missing 54 games last season because of hamstring problems and other injuries, Wells hired Noah Scott, a certified strength and conditioning coach who has worked with Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez.
Scott put Wells through workouts at a gym near the player's home in Arlington, Texas, doing "exercises you don't think about doing, stretches you've never heard of," Wells said. "My body is in a better place than it ever has been.
"It'll allow everything else to fall into place."
Wells started flexing his muscles right away at the Bobby Mattick Training Center in Dunedin, Fla., hitting a few home runs in batting practice "without even trying," he said. "I think that was a big issue early on.
"I didn't want to lose weight because you think, if you lose weight, you lose power. But I've gotten stronger at the same time, so it's probably weight that I could afford to lose."
'It's a pretty penny'
Scott will be with Wells during spring training, live in Toronto, conduct morning workouts with Wells before Blue Jays home games and accompany him on some long road trips.
Wells will pay Scott out of his $1.5-million US salary this season — Wells also gets an $8.5-million US bonus payment from the seven-year, $126-million US contract extension he signed in December 2006.
"It's a pretty penny," Wells said with a smile while declining to reveal what it will cost him.
"But it's a matter of investing in your body. We invest in so many different things.
"One of the most important things you can invest in is your body, especially in the position that I'm in. It was a pretty easy decision on my part.
"I've never done so much work in an off-season as I did this off-season. I haven't been big on working out during the season.
"But that's going to change this year. Hopefully, when we get into August, I'll still be as strong as I was on opening day."