There is no spring break for former BYU baseball player Adam Law.
Law is wrapping up his spring training stint with the Seattle Mariners in Arizona. Relaxation is certainly not on the agenda.
By 6:30 a.m. Law is eating breakfast at the practice facility, preparing for his soft tissue treatment a half hour later.
When 7:30 a.m. rolls around, Law attends a team meeting, and within a half-hour, he’s on the field for practice.
Having spent the offseason in Utah and mostly training indoors, Law said playing outside again was a bit of an adjustment.
“The depth perception when hitting and taking ground balls on grass and dirt instead of turf is a little bit different,” Law said. “It just takes a few days to get acclimated.”
Law gets a half-hour lunch break after four hours of practice and then starts warming up for the afternoon game.
“The game goes from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.,” Law said. “After the game, I will strength train and lift weights four days out of the week. Then I hit the showers and get home around 7 p.m.”
The rigorous training schedule is meant to separate the strong players from the weak as the Mariners look to narrow down the roster spots for their major and minor league teams.
Law was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was traded to the Mariners on July 1, 2016.
He has played for five minor league teams since getting drafted. He’s a career .294 hitter who has driven in 114 runs in 330 games.
Law has been honing his skills at shortstop this spring, even though he spent most of his time playing second or third base before he was traded.
“Right now I’m focusing on shortstop,” Law said. “I feel more comfortable at second and third base, or even the outfield, but the Mariners want me to focus on shortstop so I can add that to my repertoire.”
At the end of spring training the Mariners will decide who will make the major league roster, as well as five lower-level rosters, and Law is shooting to jump to triple-A, the highest level of minor league baseball, from the double-A team he played for last season.
“I don’t know for sure where I’ll end up,” Law said. “I’ll either go to double-A, which is in Arkansas, or I will go to triple-A, which is in Tacoma, Washington. Mariners don’t tell us or post finalized rosters until the last week of spring training, so it’s a little bit exciting.”
BYU baseball coach Mike Littlewood is confident in his former player’s ability to succeed.
“Adam Law is clearly our most consistent hitter,” Littlewood said during Law’s last season at BYU. “He is a plus-defender at third and is one of the better third basemen defensively I’ve ever coached.”
Law comes from a family of baseball players. His father Vance Law played in the pros and was the BYU baseball coach from 2000-2012. Adam Law’s grandfather, Vernon Law, won the Cy Young award for the Pittsburg Pirates in 1960. With baseball running through his blood, Adam Law is ready to make a name for himself this season.
“You know, things are going really well,” Adam Law said of his overall spring training experience. “It’s fun to be outside and playing games, and I just love playing baseball.”
