Toronto.BlueJays.MLB.com

By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com

New Blue Jay Miguel Batista works out Saturday at Spring Training. (Scott Martin/AP)

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Finally, Miguel Batista has more answers than questions. The right-hander, who signed a three-year deal with Toronto this winter, is beginning a new stage of his career. He makes no secret of his efforts to learn from more experienced pitchers -- but now, he's finally more of a teacher than a pupil.

That became evident on Saturday, the mandatory reporting date for Toronto's pitchers and catchers. Batista is still trying to place names with faces, but he wasn't shy about jumping right in to tutor a young teammate.

"Young players usually talk to you about some difficulties they have with pitches, how to make an adjustment," he said. "I did it when I was younger and I still do it now when I'm getting older. I used to talk to (Curt) Schilling a lot about the game. He's the master of the mind game. People may not know that about him, but he's very deep when it comes to the mental part of the game."

Just being around Schilling made Batista better, and he's trying to pass that on to younger guns. At one point on Saturday, the ex-Diamondback squatted in a catcher's stance, providing a target for Bruce Chen. The southpaw was working on adding movement to his fastball, and his veteran teammate had plenty in the way of advice.

"This is like a disease. You've got symptoms. When your fastball doesn't move, it's because you tighten your wrist too much and you're thinking about throwing it too much," Batista said later. "With a young kid and a new pitch, you have to start from scratch. It's hard for a young kid to relax and let the ball fly. He looked me at one point and said: 'How do you know so much?'

"I said, 'I'm old.' I was in the same situation he is," he continued. "You learn to relax. You have to be your own pitching coach."