The Major League Baseball season started last week, although you wouldn’t know it by the way the Boston Red Sox have pratfalled into it. Here in Maine, the Portland Sea Dogs, the Double-A affiliate of the Red Sox, arrived in town this week, holding their annual Fan Fest at the Portland Expo on Wednesday before hitting the road for a season-opening series in New Jersey against the Somerset Patriots.

They’ll be back at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field for the home opener next Tuesday against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

For you and I, the season is new. For the Sea Dogs, and every other player making his way through the minor leagues, the start of the season is just the next step. It’s the time to see if all the offseason work made a difference.

Professional baseball is a year-round job. When you’re not playing games from March to September, you’re making sure your body is in shape to handle the rigors of the long season. For the Sea Dogs’ players, that means doing well enough to move on to Triple-A Worcester.

The Red Sox set up players with a specialized plan to follow in the offseason. There’s general things everyone can work on, said Brian Abraham, Boston’s director of player development.

“But I think definitely, as you get older and progress through the system, there are more individualized plans, certain focuses each player has. We’re very clear with that,” Abraham said. “For the most part, a lot of guys make gains … I think at this point it’s probably more the norm for guys to be in a better spot than in a worse spot, because they know that is required to make the next step in their career.”

For left-handed staring pitcher Hayden Mullins, the plan was a common one.

“Mine was gain weight, get as big as possible, and try to throw harder. I think that’s what it is for most smaller pitchers out here,” said Mullins, who added 13 pounds to his 6-foot frame and begins this season at 194 pounds.

Mullins hit the weight room, and his eating habits became what can only be called nutritious grazing.

“I actually found out that eating throughout different times in the day instead of eating just three big meals really helps. So I was snacking a lot in between meals. Eating a PB&J (peanut butter and jelly sandwich), anything with protein and carbs,” he said. ” I put on 13 pounds. I don’t know if that’s good weight or bad weight, but it’s weight.”

Mullins took a month off from throwing, the longest break of his professional career, then began once-a-week bullpen sessions and increased to twice a week in January. He doesn’t think his top velocity increased – his fastball is still in the mid-90s – but his average velocity has increased.

Aside from the dead period from mid-November to Jan. 1, when clubs aren’t allowed to contact players per the collective bargaining contract, Portland manager Chad Epperson and his coaching staff check in on how players are doing. Players can reach out to team officials or coaches anytime, though, and often do.

“It’s all individualized. We have performance team meetings with them. They know exactly what they’ve got to work on. Everything’s outlined for them,” Epperson said. “You look at a guy like (infielder) Marvin Alcantara. He’s coming in 11 pounds heavier, in a good way. What he’s been able to do is showing in spring training. These guys are really getting after it.”

Right-handed starting pitcher John Holobetz needed to work on his aerobic conditioning and, you guessed it, put on weight. His aerobic workouts included two sets of eight 60-yard tempo runs, as well as weight training.

“I gained about 10 pounds this offseason,” said Holobetz, who is now 6-3 and 190 pounds. “I added a couple pitches as well, so those are going good. I’m excited to get this season started.”

Fans are also excited to see the season begin. For the players, games are just the next step in the cycle.