OAKLAND, Calif. — John Danks doesn’t feel as bad now that Trevor Story has homered four times in his first three games for the Colorado Rockies.
He wasn’t in as good of a place on March 28 when Story blasted “a ball 500 feet” against him in a Cactus League contest in Scottsdale, Ariz. After that one, Danks joked he was worried the ball, one that actually traveled 449 feet, would have hit his rental car.
But Danks — who is scheduled to start in Friday’s home opener against the Cleveland Indians — has come around now that Story has continued his torrid run and is the first player in baseball history to homer in his first three games.
“It makes me feel a lot better,” Danks said. “He’s got some long ones, too. I wasn’t the only one.”
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Danks would love for his 2016 campaign to get started on similar terms, though he prefers cold weather. The left-hander said he’s flying back on Thursday ahead of his teammates, who close out a four-game series against the Oakland A’s that afternoon.
“I don’t enjoy the cold by any means,” Danks said. “Certainly on my day I want it to be as cold as possible. I feel like it’s more advantage pitcher the colder it is. I’m not real concerned about the cold to be honest. I hope it’s 20 degrees and sleeting.”
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Danks won’t wear anything heavier in the cold weather despite a forecast of 43 degrees with a 50 percent chance of snow, according to weather.com. He intends to wear a tank top under his jersey and short sleeves as always.
“There’s times I’ll go in the clubhouse and stand in front of the heater,” Danks said. “But for me in my experience, once I’m out on the field, your focus is so much on everything but the cold.
“You really don’t even notice it.”
Danks did notice that Story has hit four homers already in his first three contests after blasting six this spring. Two of Story’s first three traveled 436 and 428 feet.
“He looks like a player,” Danks said. “Physically, he looks like a strong guy, athletic guy. He has pop. Outside of that I don’t know a whole lot about him. But he’s off to a good start.”