Play Ball Kid Baseball Development Podcast

Baseball players have shared the importance of strong forearms and grip strength for years. But recently, Daryl & Adam Moreau have taken it to the next level by developing the Flex Pro Grip, that allows specialized protocols to measure and improve each joint in each finger. They spent the last year working with the San Diego Padres organization and they join us to share some of what they have discovered in those trials. Discover how their device trains the 3 flexors muscles that are responsible for keeping our UCL safe, how different finger strength should influence your pitch design and where arm care and performance are headed in the coming years. 

Rick Strickland is the Cubs AA hitting coach and the owner of Train Right Academy in St Louis. He has coached travel teams and was a former Yankee draft pick. When Rick Strickland broke his hand in his Junior year of college at Austin Peay, he was Top 10 in the nation in Batting Avg. and Stolen Bases. It was a blow missing the season, but like he tells his players when one door closes, another opens. He got a chance to play in the Cape Cod League with some amazing talent. “I played with great players and future Hall of Famers. Frank Thomas, Mo Vaugh, Tim Salmon, Jeff Kent, and Denny Neagle. Playing with top talent elevates your game and your mind” Rick came back and tore it up his Senior year leading the team to its first winning season in a decade and helping turn the program around. “The leadership, that’s what really stays with me. What the team and I helped do for the program was immense.” Rick’s standout play caught the attention of the Yankees, who drafted him. After spending time in their farm system, Rick brought his passion for player development and innovation to coaching. Rick is driven by improving players and helping them battle through challenges – mental and physical. “If you want to hit hard or throw hard, you have to train hard. You have to push your past what you think you can do to achieve more.” Baseball is a game of speed and power. What you do in the gym, will show on the field. His obsession with making improvements and player feedback took him down the technology path, where he has been a pioneer. He worked in early-stage development with Blast Motion, Rapsodo, Diamond Kinetics, and Uplift. A true student of the game, Rick grew up in Chicago as a two-way guy – a player AND a sports reporter. “Starting at 6 years old, I played constantly, but I also had to give my uncle complete recaps of the Cubs and White Sox games. I was his ESPN. What was the score? How did they get their runs? I had to tell him the story behind the game.” After years of playing, coaching, and “reporting,” Rick can readily spot the story behind each player’s swing and throw. For him, and the CRTR staff, understanding how a player moves in training and practice is key to unlocking how they will perform on the field. Their collective job is to make players better. With over 375 college commits, 78 professional players, and 2 All-Stars in Andrew Benitendi and Jake Odorizzi, Coach Strickland’s obsession with player development is the centerpiece of every training program.

Steve Janssen is becoming the new manager of the German Baseball National Team. His assignment officially starts on January 1st, 2019. He also will be responsible for the German U23 National Team. Coach Janssen worked as pitching coach in the Chicago Cubs organization during the 2018 season. Between 2013 and 2017 he was the manager of the Netherlands. Between 2003 and 2012 he worked as pitching coach for the Netherlands on multiple occasions. With the Dutch team he won the 2011 Baseball World Cup in Panama and led the team to back-to-back European Championships in 2014 and 2016. He also was successful as club coach with Neptunus Rotterdam. He has spent the last few years exploring the concepts of Natural Motor Preferences to innovate baseball player development and injury prevention. This episode should help you understand some of the key differences that explain why some cues are amazing for some players but disastrous for others. You can learn more at his website https://www.baseballactionid.com.

Coach Jacob Tobin is the head coach at SUNY Ulster, a JUCO in the Hudson Valley area of New York. He is the founder of the recruiting account @BUncommitted on Twitter, where he shares videos of student athletes with over 530 coaches and professional scouts.  Jake Tobin was born and raised in the Greenwich Village Section of New York City. Jake played high school baseball at Dwight High School where he is currently the head coach. As a Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Jake was an All-Conference selection. He played college baseball at St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn. Jake has served in many roles in scholastic and collegiate sports. He began his coaching career in the Hamptons League as a volunteer assistant for the Sag Harbor Whalers. Since then he has served as assistant coaches for St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn, University of Connecticut Avery Point and Saint Peter’s College. Currently Jake is also the head coach of the Sag Harbor Whalers of the Hamptons league where he has coached numerous drafted players. Jake also founded a baseball analytics team of college interns to collect, analyze, and distribute graph’s charts and reports to players and coaches. While a coach at University of Connecticut Avery Point Jake founded a baseball recruiting platform called @BUncommited. The platform was created for his Junior College players during the pandemic. Jake’s platform has helped over 300 kids find college placement. Jacob lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Emily, his daughter Mia and their two bulldogs Otto and Mays.

Marcelo Alfonsin, is the Astros Dominican League Manager and Field Coordinator. He is also the pitching coach for the Argentinian National Team that recently competed in the World Baseball Classic qualifier in Panama. Marcelo grew up playing baseball in Argentina, that as you can imagine does not have a lot of baseball players and has worked his way to be a Manager in the Houston Astros Organization. If you are a fan of the underdog story, you will not want to miss this episode.