VIERA, Fla. — An hour before the sun rises, Matt Thornton is already on the table.
On a Monday in January, at the Fischer Institute in southern Phoenix, Thornton lies on a training table to begin his meticulous morning regimen. For the next hour, Brett Fischer stretches or massages Thornton’s arm, elbow, shoulder, hips, legs, back, or whatever else might be sore at the time. There’s an order to the treatment, a tangible consistency.
“I try to stay ahead of the curve,” Thornton said. “And I work out. I don’t miss workouts in the offseason.”
Thornton’s winters require a little more work now than they used to. At 38, he is in line to be the oldest player on the Washington Nationals’ roster and one of the oldest players ever to suit up for the franchise. Only five other players have taken the field for the Nationals after their 38th birthdays, and none of them had a critical role like Thornton, who is expected to work the seventh or eighth inning for a team considered the favorite to win the World Series.
The Nationals signed Thornton in August after he had been waived by the New York Yankees, and he went on to allow 10 hits in 11 1/3 scoreless innings over the final two months of the season. The 6-foot-6 left-hander only allowed one earned run with Washington all year: In the seventh inning of Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the San Francisco Giants.
In the clubhouse at Space Coast Stadium late last week, Thornton joked that he never knows which year will be his last, when that significant injury will occur or his body will finally give out on him. He sure doesn’t think it’s this year. His arduous offseason workout training program has helped make sure of that.
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“I’ve continued to have that fire and passion to work out in the offseason,” Thornton said. “I’ve seen guys that start coming toward the end and start lacking in the work ethic. And if that’s ever the case for me, I’ll hang it up. I enjoy the workouts. They suck at the time, but they pay dividends over the course of the season.”
After taking a few weeks off at the end of the season, Thornton starts heading to the Fischer Institute to receive daily treatments. A few weeks later, he begins his regular workout regimen, spending about four hours at the facility per day, seven days per week.
“It is extremely rare that he misses a day,” said Thornton’s trainer, Chip Gosewisch. “I don’t even know if he took a vacation this year.”
A typical morning workout goes something like this: By 6:30 a.m., Thornton is on the training table. At 7:30, he plays catch for 12 to 15 minutes. Then a five-minute break. Then the formal workout begins.
Thornton sticks to a pitching-specific workout plan designed by Gosewisch, who played baseball at Arizona State and spent two years in the Angels’ farm system. On Mondays, for example, Thornton works on his legs, going through a series of squat, press and lunge exercises designed to maximize his explosiveness. On other days, he targets his arms, back and various other muscle groups.
“It’s building the important pieces for chucking the ball 60 feet, six inches. That’s what the focus is,” Thornton said. “It’s not me being able to go out and run seven miles in 45 minutes or something like that. It’s about me throwing the baseball.”
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The weightlifting portion of the workout takes about an hour. A hurdle routine, to strengthen the hips, follows. Then stretching, hand-eye coordination exercises, and, perhaps most importantly, core exercises.
Gosewisch describes pitching as a transfer of energy, beginning in the legs and traveling to the arm, which makes the core a critical transfer point.
“It’s the leaky hose analogy,” Gosewisch said. “In Arizona, you leave a hose out there in the summer, in that sun and heat, and the hose will dry up and crack and start getting little leaks, so the water pressure that comes out the end isn’t as efficient. Now, if you’ve got a brand-new hose and you hook it up, and you turn that on, you’re getting a lot more efficient flow out of that hose.”
With that in mind, Thornton does four different core exercises every day during the offseason, strengthening the muscles from every possible angle. Then he goes through a series of agility drills and, finally, running.
The entire process, from preventative treatment to the final stride, goes from before dawn to just before lunchtime.
“I’m bringing a snack, bringing some drinks and stuff like that,” Thornton said. “I enjoy it.”
Thornton has been working out at the Fischer Institute for six years. This past winter, he regularly worked out with another Nationals pitcher: Max Scherzer, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract in late January.
“He keeps up with the young bucks,” Scherzer said with a smile. “He doesn’t sit there and complain about being 40 years old. He’s there, going out and still working as hard as everyone else. That shows you how much heart he has for wanting to compete out there.”
Thornton is entering his 12th major-league season and 18th year of professional baseball. He has played with five big-league teams and pitched against three current major-league managers: Detroit’s Brad Ausmus, Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash and St. Louis’ Mike Matheny. He even faced current bullpen coach Matt LeCroy once, striking him out in 2005.
Thornton’s workouts have changed noticeably in the years since. When he turned 32 or 33, he realized he could no longer do what his 22-year-old self could do. Today, he works through the same workouts as other pitchers but with slight modifications, like less weight or a longer break between exercises.
Given his age, Thornton knows there are times when he has to take his foot off the gas pedal and let his body rest. He admits that’s easier said than done. “I have a hard time not working out,” he said.
Manager Matt Williams understands that feeling all too well, having gone through the same process late in his own playing career. But he said Thornton’s success stems from a self-control and body awareness that only comes with time.
“For Matt, what I think he understands is himself,” Williams said. “He knows what he can do and can’t do on an everyday basis to go out there and compete and get guys out. It doesn’t hurt that he throws the ball at 97 mph, from the left side. That does not hurt. But that being said, he understands himself first and foremost.”
Only 25 players over the age of 38 participated in a major-league game in 2014, and this year, Thornton will in all likelihood join that group. His determination has helped him get to this point, but his offseason training regimen will help him get through the upcoming season.
“I’m not trying to build strength through the season; I’m just trying to maintain what my offseason was,” Thornton said. “Everyone’s got their own place, and everyone’s got their own ideas and stuff. Everyone’s different, so it’s just about finding what works for you.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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