Vincent Luther, Junior at Ridgewood High School in New Jersey, is having an excellent start to his 2023 baseball season. More than halfway through the spring, he has pitched 35.2 innings with a 1.18 ERA. His velocity is up 6 mph from 78 in July 2022 to 84+ mph since he started training with us last September, which gave us a good amount of time to work on several different areas.
How did he do it?
Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: Vincent Luther Velo is up 6 mph Since September (1.18 ERA)”
This week we’re sitting down with Dr. Casey Pierce, MD. He is a long time friend and one of my “go-to guys” when it comes to Tommy John repair. This is a must for athletes as well as parents in order to be better educated with the process. This week we discuss:
Welcome back to the “How to” series on pitching, where we will be diving into various pitches and speak about different grips, cues, tips, movement profiles, and even a top MLB comparison for reference when looking at a given pitch. Next up, how to throw a 4-seam fastball.
Continue reading “How to Throw a 4-seam Fastball (Grips, Cues, Types, etc.)”
The NCAA recently changed college baseball recruiting rules to slow the recruiting process for prospective student-athletes. Under the new rules, college coaches can’t communicate with a prospect, including inbound calls, until August 1st, prior to their Junior year. Additionally, no verbal offers or commitments will be made before that time. However, communication will be permitted while attending college camps held on campuses, but coaches are not allowed to discuss recruiting or make any verbal offers until the date listed above. Let’s review what these changes mean to you!
Continue reading “What Do the New College Baseball Recruiting Rules Mean to YOU?”
Use your legs. Use your lower half. Sounds great but, “what the heck does it mean”? Coaches often cue this as if it’s one single thing. In reality, a proper use of the lower half has 4 different but connected and sequential components. In Part 4 of this 4 part series on lower half pitching mechanics, we’ll take a closer look and break down what I refer to as the Block.
Continue reading “Lower Half Pitching Mechanics: Block — Simplified (Part 4 of 4)”
Michael Gillen, Freshman at Seton Hall University, is having a great start to his collegiate career. With 15 appearances and 22.2 innings pitched, he has a .40 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and velocity sitting at 91-93 mph. He initially began training with us back in the fall of 2019 as he was starting his sophomore year at Bergen Catholic high school (at the time according to PBR he was sitting 78-80). Fast forward… after graduation he joined the 12-week Summer Throwing Program in preparation for his collegiate career. When he started the summer program, his goals included cleaning up pitching mechanics, improving his velocity and overall pitching arsenal.
His summer program began with a 3 ½ hour initial assessment, which included the following: Continue reading “Athlete Highlight: Seton Hall Frosh Michael Gillen Sitting 91-93 mph w/ a 0.40 ERA”
My guest today is Ethan Newton, Assistant Coach at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). He joined (actually re-joined) the Knights last year after having spent over a year here at RPP as the Director of Hitting. Join us as we discuss:
Welcome back to the “How to” series on pitching, where we will be diving into various pitches and speak about different grips, cues, tips, movement profiles, and even a top MLB comparison for reference when looking at a given pitch. Next up, how to throw a splitter.
Continue reading “How to Throw a Splitter (Grips, Cues, Types, etc.)”
I raised two boys in the world of travel baseball. They don’t play anymore. But the memories are endless and I learned a few things along the way. If I could do it all over again, here are a few things I would have done differently.
Continue reading “5 Things I Would Have Done Differently with My Young Ball Players”
Baseball pitches come in three basic categories: fastballs, breaking balls, and off-speed / changeups. Each category, and each pitch within the category, are generally identified by their type of grip, velocity and movement profile also known as “break”. Pitchers generally throw many different types of baseball pitches, in addition to a fastball. Although, there are a few pitchers in the MLB that throw just about every type of pitch, starters generally throw 4-5 different variations, and relievers and closers throw 1-3 different ones. The primary purpose for the variations in pitching is to throw a batter’s timing off and induce an out: as in a strike out, a ground out, or a flyout.
Now, let’s review each category and the various baseball pitches:
