How to keep a hitter’s front side from flying open

One of the biggest mistakes hitters make at all levels is opening the front side up too soon on the swing.  Here are several phrases, all of which describe basically the same thing: “stepping in the bucket” “flying off the ball” “pulling your hip out” “pulling your head off the ball” “rotating away from the […]

Go back before you go forward

There are a ton of great sayings in baseball.  Some are specific to one area of the game and some transfer to many/all areas of the baseball.  Today’s video explains one that benefits virtually every area of the game.

A base running drill I bet you never did

I’m a firm believer that if you expect players to do something in a game, you had better practice it beforehand.  If a player screws something up that we never practiced then I consider it my fault not his.   Today’s video tip is a drill I’d bet rarely ever gets practiced.  As you will see, […]

Different position = different ready position

Here is a great picture I found online that shows three different position players in three different ready positions on the pitch. Third base.  Because the distance to the batter is shorter as a third baseman, a grounder has a better chance of getting to you more quickly.  Add the fact that batters tend to […]

Nervous feet

One of my new sayings this season is “nervous feet.”  Every now and then I will yell out between pitches, “nervous feet out there!”  By that I mean keep your feet moving and don’t let your body become still and lazy on defense.  Infielders who move their feet a lot (thus the term nervous feet) […]

Three pitching stats you need to be keeping

Traditional pitching statistics (hits, runs, earned runs, strikeouts, etc.) can be very misleading and often do not get to the bottom of why a pitcher succeeds or struggles during an outing.  Take earned runs for instance.  If a player gives up 10 runs and only 3 earned runs, does that mean the pitcher’s defense was […]

Need a summer camp?

FYI to any of you in the Philadelphia suburbs who are looking for a baseball camp from June 27-30 for your 8-12 year old … My camp that I run with a scout and former high school and college coach is still accepting players.  Click on the link below for more information!  Let me know […]

Warm up within 8

One of the challenges of being a relief pitcher is knowing how much to throw on any given day.  If you are not sure you will be throwing in a given game, how much do you throw before the game to get loose? Do you just play catch?  Do you throw a full bullpen session […]