Today we co-hosted a Baseball Performance Lab in conjunction with Complete Game at Athletic Movement Protocol in Syosset, NY and it was quite a day.
The unique event featured both position players and pitchers. The players ranged from high school to college age.
Upon arrival, players were tested on their cognitive abilities by using the Right Eye Sports Vision EyeQ which you can watch a tutorial on below. It is as sophisticated as it sounds and several Major League organizations have adopted this training device which literally trains an athletes eyes to react quicker.
After that, they went through a series of dynamic stretching with Coach T.J. Lopez before taking their hacks. With the help of Diamond Kinetics and Rapsodo Hitting, the players were measured on every aspect of their swing and the result of the swing.
Below are some metrics regarding the top performers:
Nick Dagnello (Smithtown East 2020) : 100.7 exit velocity
Teddy Mouhlas (Manhasset 2021) : 85.6 exit velocity
PJ Daniels (Syosset 2020) : 82.9 exit velocity
After the hitters took their hacks, it was the pitcher’s turn. They had the opportunity to learn from Anthony Yacco, who is a high-level pitching instructor. He was drafted out of Mahopac HS in 1999 and played three seasons in the San Francisco Giants system. He has learned from Dr. Tom House, who is regarded as the “Godfather of modern mechanics” and “The Throwing Doctor.”
Yacco blew everyone’s minds with his ability to diagnose and immediately implement corrective measures for the pitches. The results were astounding. One pitcher saw in increase in velocity of 8 MPH within the bullpen session by simply lengthening his stride and another pitcher gained 7 MPH by picking up his tempo.
Jai Sharma was 81-84 while topping at 86.5 MPH pic.twitter.com/j6Af2ztTJR
Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 2, 2020
Here’s the max velocities.
Jai Sharma (Smithtown East 2020) : 86.5
Teddy Mouhlas (Manhasset 2021): 85
Matt Hynes (Farmingdale 2021): 80
James Ecock (Island Trees 2020): 77
We plan on doing these more frequently. It was a very different type of event, as we had no college coaches there but chose to video tape it and post to social media so colleges can follow along. Also, with the amount of information provided to the players, it is something we suggest you attend next time.