Ahead Of The Curve with Jonathan Gelnar

By Jonathan Gelnar, bleavSports Baseball

Ahead Of The Curve with Jonathan Gelnar episodes

August 15, 2025 Best of 2019: CJ Gillman, Tyler Gillum, Matt Talarico, Ryan Folmar, James Vilade.
AOTC Officially Retired.
So for episode 1, we're joined by Air Force Assistant Coach CJ Gillman, South Mountain Assistant Coach Tyler Gillum, Wright, Stealbases.com and Wright State Assistant coach Matt Talarico, ORU Head Coach Ryan Folmar and Oklahoma State's James Vilade.
CJ Gillman on getting one percent better in BP every day AND we even touch on bunting…(1:30-32:36)
Tyler Gillum on the Growth Toolbox, infield play, and a little bit of green light special (32:40-56:00)
Matt Talarico on all things base running (56:06-1:17)
Ryan Folmar on building culture in your program (1:17-1:25)
James Vilade on a coaches number one job. (1:25-1:34)
1 hr 36 min
August 08, 2025 Best of 2021: Robin Lund
Bio
Born in Northern Alberta, Canada in an area where there is very little baseball, his parents let him move to Lewiston, ID when he was in the 9th grade and live with a host family and play high school baseball. He then played at Spokane Falls Community College and Whitworth University
After playing he coached at Spokane Falls CC for 4 years working with hitters and outfielders and also serving as the S&C coach. During that time, he got His Master’s degree in Exercise Science from Eastern Washington University. Robin then got out of coaching and pursued a PhD and While working on it, he was Ed Cheff’s S&C coach at Lewis Clark State College. Robin completed his degree in 2002 and landed a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Kinesiology in cedar falls Iowa. After 18 years, he got back into coaching and became the volunteer assistant for the University of Northern Iowa softball team in the Fall of 2018 and then in January of 2019 he took a job at the university of Iowa, where he started as the hitting coach and then became the pitching coach in the Fall of 2020.
On the show, we go over player assessments, developing motor learning plans, and blending the art and science of coaching.
Time stamps
3:50 - Player Assessments
16:00- Blending art and science of coaching
18:30- Motor Learning Plans for pitchers
25:27- Motor learning plans for hitters
33:30- Using in game data for pitchers
37:00- Using in game data for hitters
43:30- Gameplanning
45:00- Pre-pitch routines
46:45- Post Game reports
50:30- Simplifying data
55:30- Quick Hitters
Resources
Motus Sleeve
Trent Otis
Google sheets/Pivot tables
Functional Movement Screen
Frans Bosch
1 hr 3 min
August 01, 2025 Best of 2019: Peter Fatse
iTunes
Stitcher
Google
Spotify
During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Peter Fatse, MiLB Hitting Coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. Peter shares a wealth of information about how to execute decision training, ways to remain competitive during training, the importance of building an adjustable swing, and techniques to implement individualized training for players.
Episode Highlights:
How did Peter Fatse get involved in baseball coaching?
What should we focus on in the off-season?
What questions does he ask players to address deeper learning?
What does an average week of training look like?
How do we train an adjustable swing?
What are some ways that he trains for decision training?
How do they like to compete during training?
What are the things that Peter looks for that he thinks that really good players do?
How does Peter issue a plan that maximizes individual development in a team environment?
Is there something that Peter Fatse has learned lately that has him really excited?
What is something that his players do in training that they love?
What is something that Peter believes that other coaches may disagree with?
What are things done during Peter’s training that would stand out to people?
What are some of Peter Fatse’s favorite books and resources that have benefited his coaching?
3 Key Points:
Be honest about your weaknesses, strengths, and areas of development.
Adjustability swings are a trait of elite hitters.
Stay open-minded to learn from various other people.
Tweetable Quotes:
“We have a lot of information. But you have to be hungry to apply it and you have to be hungry to learn and dig in for yourself, because, ultimately, it is your career.” – Peter Fatse (02:49)
“Make a realistic evaluation of your previous year and really take the time to look and say, ‘what are the attributes that I possess that right now are strengths for me?’” – Peter Fatse (04:06)
“When I think about competitive design, there are two ways that we as hitters compete, the internal and the external.” – Peter Fatse (21:48)
“When I have guys in the training center, one of the first questions I will ask is, ‘are you right-handed or left-handed?’” – Peter Fatse (30:05)
“A lot of the times, the drill passages, from a bat path perspective would change depending upon their dominant hand and then ultimately, how the barrel created early excerration.” – Peter Fatse (30:10)
“Be able to utilize bat and ball information to create a plan, because the ball, ultimately, is going to give us the best depiction of what is happening.” – Peter Fatse (32:57)
“Every player’s career is extremely important, especially to myself and the rest of the staff.” – Peter Fatse (34:26)
“I think you want to kind of look to layer on stress so that when a guy gets to the game, the idea is more about execution and they are not worried about being prepared anymore.” – Peter Fatse (40:45)
Resources Mentioned:
Ahead of the Curve Podcast
Twitter: @AOTC_podcast
Peter Fatse: Twitter Instagram
55 min
July 25, 2025 Best of 2021: Justin Haire
2021:
Justin Haire is in his sixth season as head coach of the Campbell University Fighting Camels and his 13th as a member of the Campbell baseball coaching staff. After spending seven seasons as recruiting coordinator, assistant coach, and eventually associate head coach under former skipper Greg Goff, Haire was named the 10th head coach of Campbell baseball (senior college era) on June 6, 2014. Haire has coached dozens of all-conference players, over 20 all-region players, seven conference players of the year, two region players of the year, and 15 All-Americans. Haire has recruited or coached every baseball All-American in Campbell history. and He is one of four head coaches in program history to reach triple-digit wins.
1 hr 37 min
July 18, 2025 Best of 2021: Jack Leggett
Quotes
Surround yourself with people, treat them right. Work as hard as you want them to work. Care as much as you wan them to care and you've got a chance to have a really good program
Sloppiness and lack of discipline turns into losing.
If I'm asking my players to be disciplined, then i better be disciplined. I cant ask my players to do something I'm not doing myself.
If you cant hustle, I cant play you.
Being able to communicate with your players is one of the best assets of being a good coach
Even though times have changed and kids have changed a little bit, they’re still the same. If have high expectations for them, you’re gonna get it.
Contact
Jackleggett.com
59 min
July 11, 2025 Best of 2017: Travis Hergert
Quotes
You want to get kids ultra competitive? Throw a radar gun up and watch them go crazy
If you're going to be a NIACC Trojan, you've got to earn it. There wont be anything handed to you.
Our guys make goals and standards. Then we print it off and we tape it to every single locker so they see it every single day. Now they see those goals and standards everyday and they hold each other accountable
We want to teach our guys about servant leadership. It's not about you all of the time. So using our popularity as a platform in our community in order to create some good
The World Series' and the championships and the wins are all a byproduct of what our beliefs are. We have to do things better, we have to work smarter and we have to develop a culture of development that is built around the player
Resources
Rapsodo
Motus sleeve
Driveline
Brian Cain
Randy Sullivan
Austin Wasserman
Dallas Baptist University
Minnesota volleyball
Contact Info
Twitter
@coachherg
1 hr 18 min
July 04, 2025 Best of 2018: Greg Brown
Quotes
I think my why when I first started was winning ballgames and now all of my focus is on impacting young men.
We raise pitch counts by swinging
I often get asked, "what's you're two strike approach?" we don't have one
I don't have a staff that works for me, i have a staff that works with me
You never know what you can learn about your players until you start asking the right questions.
We want to manage our drills so we can get maximum volume, maximum variances with attention to the individuals within the context of practice.
Resources
Eugene Bleecker
Craig Wallenbrock
Lind google drive
Pitching Ninja
Phone calls and conversations
The obstacle is the way by Ryan Holliday
Legacy by James Kerr
Jon Gordon
1 hr 11 min
June 27, 2025 Best of 2019: Chase Lambin
During this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I interviewed Chase Lambin, Hitting Coach in the Texas Rangers organization. Coach Lambin shares information about hitting, pushing players to be their own coaches, learning from everybody, creating a proper teaching environment, and how to deliver data to players without overwhelming them. Episode Highlights: How did Chase Lambin get involved in baseball and as a coach? What are some learned lessons Chase has acquired? What does the off-season look like for Chase Lambin Where does he start in the process of coaching? How does Chase relate to and get to know his players better? What does Chase Lambin say to players to access their confidence? How does he help players make better decisions? What are some different competitions that he uses with players? How does he balance individual training needs within the team setting while trying to win games? How can we filter data to players to be the most beneficial to them? Is there anything that Chase Lambin believes that other coaches might disagree with? What are some things that he works on with players on a regular basis? What are some of his favorite books and resources? Play baseball with joy. It is what we do, not who we are. 3 Key Points: As a coach, be a “mentern” - a combination of a mentor and an intern. Every swing is like a snowflake. Each one is different for the situation and the moment. Chase Lambin wants his players to be their own best coaches. Tweetable Quotes: “I have a list of goals for the off-season, and all of it involves learning and growing. First off, I have to make up for lost time with my wife and kids because I think pro ball can be a bit of a grind and it puts a strain on a family.” – Chase Lambin (03:57) “Everybody has something to offer. Whether it be a first-year pro player, a college kid, a 10-year big league veteran, or a coach that has coached for 40 years.” – Chase Lambin (04:47) “There is no right and wrong. There is what does and does not work. I really don’t subscribe to absolutes.” – Chase Lambin (07:55) “We are more psychologists than we are mechanic. I usually start with a lot of questions that have nothing to do with baseball. I try to ask about their siblings, their parents, or do they have a girlfriend.” – Chase Lambin (11:28) “I think sometimes all a hitter needs to hear sometimes is that they are not alone.” – Chase Lambin (22:10) “You’ve got to create the environment to teach. You’ve got to train it.” – Chase Lambin (26:14) “When you make the preparation and the training as competitive as the game. It’s like getting a running start into the actual competition.” – Chase Lambin (33:10) “The last thing I want to do is muddy the waters. My main job is to distill information and give it to them in digestible chunks.” – Chase Lambin (41:45) Resources Mentioned: Ahead of the Curve Podcast Twitter: @AOTC_podcast Chase Lambin: Linkedin Facebook
1 hr 2 min
June 20, 2025 Best of 2020: Joe Espada
Original 2020: Today we have on Joe Espada, Bench Coach for the Houston Astros. Joe grew up in Puerto Rico and attended college the University of Mobile before being drafted 45th overall in the 1996 draft by the Oakland A’s. Joe played 10 years in the Minors before retiring and getting into coaching. He got his first coaching job in 2006 with the Marlins and was named the big league 3B coach in 2010. In 2014 he was hired by Brian Cashman and became an assistant to the GM and the infield coach with the Yankees, and in 2017 he was hired by the Astros to be the bench coach. On the show we discuss lessons learned throughout his professional career, we discuss how working in the Yankees front office helped him become a better on field coach and we dive deep into how to learn about and build the culture in the clubhouse.
Resources Extreme ownership- Jocko Willink Measure what matters- John Doerr We’re all in this together- Mike Robbins

1 hr 16 min
June 13, 2025 Best of 2020: George Lombard
Today we have on George Lombard. First base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers. George has been a member of the dodgers for 5 years, after previously serving various roles in the Braves and Red Sox Minor League Systems. George’s story is one word, powerful. His mom was a civil rights activist with Martin Luther King jr. His grandfather was the dean of Harvard business school for 40 years. George was an all American running back and signed at the university of Georgia before ultimately deciding to pursue baseball which led to playing 6+ years in the big leagues.
1 hr 13 min

About Ahead Of The Curve with Jonathan Gelnar

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Host Jonathan Gelnar and an array of guests from differing backgrounds discuss how to develop the complete baseball player. This will be your source for the most up to date coaching strategies for…