BachTalk

Episode 34 Season 2 is out with Chris Martin. Chris is currently a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Houston Astros Organization. During this time, Chris is working at the Houston Astros Minor League Instructional League located at their spring training facility in West Palm, FL. MILB Instructional League are currently in a "bubble" which means staff and players are not allowed to leave the facility or hotel unless for an absolute emergency.

Before the Astros, Chris attended Kent State University and played baseball for 5 years. Chris graduated Kent State with a BS and MS in Exercise Physiology. His internships included a research assistant at Kent State University and was a performance intern Cressey Sports Performance at their Massachusetts location.

Before COVID-19, Chris Matin was supposed to work for the Houston Astros DSL team located in Boca Chica, Dominican Republic. We talk about the potential experience working with such raw talented baseball players that have never stepped in the weight room before. Chris talks about how interesting it would be to build a solid foundation with these players to progress at each level of the minor leagues.

Chris explains what it takes to actually become a Strength and Conditioning Coach as a profession and how get your foot in the door. I have received this question from many different college students and I thought this would be a great opportunity for Chris to explain.

Chris has a great background to become a successful Strength and Conditioning Coach in professional baseball. He has great feel for players and researches specific aspects to increase baseball player performance. Please join me in listening to Chris and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 33 Season 2 is out with Eric Sim. Eric is currently pursuing a challenge called "95 mph or die". His goal is to throw 95 mph twice in 1 session both have to be strikes off a mound. The prize is that Driveline will donate $5000 to Eric's help a minor leaguer campaign.

Eric was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 27th round of the 2010 MLB Draft from the University of South Florida. Before the University of South Florida, Eric played Junior College baseball at Colby Community College.

Eric is very active on social media including Twitter and Instagram. He is very honest with the content he puts out and it can rub people the wrong way sometimes. Eric started training to train at the near that end of 2019 to get back in shape. He shows people that training is fun but you have to be consistent and love the overall process.

Eric is trying to promote kids to work hard for something and not look for the easy way out. He is trying to be an example to kids in 2020 by showing kids that you can train anywhere in the world and still become great.

Eric is a brutal honest person and is a must follow on social media about baseball and JUCO. If you want to see someone with a passion to get better everyday just look at Eric's content. I really enjoyed talking with Eric about Junior College and why it can be a player's best decision of their career to attend a JUCO. Please join me in listening to Eric and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 32 Season 2 is out with Lance Durham. Lance is the founder of Durham Bulls – Cincinnati Baseball Club. The Durham Bulls Baseball Club is dedicated to developing younger players on and off the field. Lance is very dedicated to developing athletes to becoming the best versions of themselves.

Lance played in the Detroit Tigers and Toronto BlueJays organizations from 2009-2014. Lance made it has high as Class-A Advanced affiliate (Lakeland Flying Tigers). Lance was known for having great power potential at the plate. Before playing professionally, Lance played college baseball at University of Cincinnati and Kaskaskia College.

Lance goes into discussion about what he thinks of hitting during 2020. As we all know, social media has a great influence on younger players and information can spread like wildfire. Lance explains what his overall thoughts of social media are towards baseball. Lance still thinks hitters need a solid foundation towards hitting and that can be lost in the "twittersphere".

Lance had such an easy transition from player to coach and many players lack this aspect. Lance explains what he had to do in order to make such an easy transition. Lance has a bright future in player development and I can't wait to see his organization grow as a whole. Please join me in listening to Lance and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 31 Season 2 is out with Ryan Moretti. Ryan is currently the Coordinator of Baseball Operations & Player Development at Iona College. Ryan is in charge of developing and managing a team of analysts in scouting, player development, and pitching. Ryan also works with Head & Assistant Baseball Coaches of Iona College to review reports and incorporate player development technologies to increase player performances.

Ryan is also currently interning with Mindful Athlete Training as an R&D intern. He is in charge of reviewing public research involving baseball and biofeedback. He is currently working with R to create predictive models about BioQ metric and Performance.

During 2020, Ryan was a Baseball Information Assistant with the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland, FL but was cut short due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ryan utilized all player development technologies such as Trackman, BATS, Edgertronic, Rapsodo, BLAST Motion, Force Plates and 4D during his internship to track player performances. Ryan talks about his experience working in Major League and Minor League camp about what is really like to work behind the scenes.

Ryan is a Co-Founder of Future GM's Linkedin Group. The Group works to put out information to the public about how to work in professional baseball and steps to takes to achieve that dream. They have zoom calls every other week to discuss these topics.

Ryan has a bright future in baseball. He has shown his passion to work and baseball. He truly wants to work in this industry and it shows. Please join me in listening to Ryan and "Always Remember Be Yourself"

Episode 30 Season 2 is out with Zade Richardson. Zade was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 22nd round of the 2019 MLB draft. He attended Wabash Valley Community College in 2019 and was one of five players drafted out of Wabash that year.

Zade played in the GCL rookie league for the Cardinals in 2019 and started to get his foot in the door within professional baseball. He attended Spring Training but was only at the complex for two weeks before being sent home because of COVID-19. He talks about how COVID has benefited him on a personal and baseball level. He also specifics about what specific areas he needed to work on and improve to put him in the best possible position for the 2021 season.

Zade talks about the differences between the cultures of college and professional baseball. The culture of professional baseball is very different in the aspect of Latin Americans are the prime athletes within each organization. He talks about learning more about their culture and what baseball really means to these players.

Zade was a late bloomer in high school and committed to Wabash Valley his senior year. The same year he would be drafted by the Atlanta Braves and start to become a prime prospect for many colleges and pro organizations. He talks about how he trained and what he needed to accomplish to become the player he is today.

Zade has a great outlook on professional baseball and what he needs to do in order to become a "Big Leaguer". Please join me in listening to Zade and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 30 Season 2 is out with Michael Tampellini. Michael is currently a R&D Pitching Analyst at Driveline Baseball. His day to day job consistently changes but his goal still stays the same and that is to help players reach their full potential.

Michael attended the University of Delaware from 2011-2015. After the University of Delaware, Michael decided to get his masters at Columbia University in Sports Management with concentration in Sports Analytics. Michael's dream was always to become a GM and he thought this would put himself in the best position possible.

After graduating from Columbia University, Michael received a job offer from Major League Baseball as an Instant Replay Administrator and would have this job from 2016-2018. During his time with Major League Baseball he realized that his dream was to work with players one-on-one. So, he decided to quit his job start applying for jobs within player development.

During Spring Training of 2019, Michael worked as a Spring Training Technology Apprentice with the Houston Astros. This job involved the use of all player development technology such as Rapsodo, Trackman, and Edgertronic.

After his job in Spring Training, Michael received a job offer from the Philadelphia Phillies as a Player Development Associate. He oversaw pitch data collection and analysis for the GCL team in Clearwater, FL. He would work with Pitching Strategist Eric Jagers to learn pitch design and how it is so useful in today's game.

Michael has a huge passion for player development and wants to get the most out of every player. Michael has a bright future in player development and I am really excited to see where he will be in the future. Please join me in listening to Michael and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 29 Season 2 is out with Nick Perez. During 2020, Nick was a Cincinnati Reds Baseball Ops Trainee. Nick played college baseball at Rutgers University and Haverford College while studying Economics. Nick talks about the benefits of attending both of these colleges and how they helped him to land the position of Baseball Ops Trainee.

During 2019, Nick was an Affiliate Intern for the Chicago Whitesox. He worked for the Great Falls Voyagers who participated in Pioneer League (Rookie Ball Advance Class). Nick talks about how much this internship has prepared him for a career in baseball. Nick also talks about what it is really like to be apart of professional and what it really means to "grind".

While studying at Haverford College, Nick did his senior thesis seeking to assess the impact of the movement of superstars between teams in the MLB and NBA on GDPs of local economies using python. Nick talks about how his academic and baseball career worked hand in hand to help him be where his is today.

Nick has a bright career in Baseball Ops and has a very open-minded approach to the game of baseball. Please join me in listening to Nick and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 28 Season 2 is out with Ben Fagan who is Co-Owner of DNB (Define New Boundaries). DNB is a clothing brand that represents people pursuing their dreams and what they love to do. They also produce a ton of video content of people that represent their brand. These people include a wide arrange of talents including athletics and cooking.

DNB was created originally as a golf trick shot channel and making hot sauce. DNB's original name was Dalton and Ben after the co-owners. They peaked after being aired on nickelodeon and decided they needed to have a purpose for the overall brand. DNB decided that they wanted to represent their brand as a stable friendship and create a brand that encourages people to ultimately pursue what they enjoy.

Ben Fagan grew up in South Florida and played college baseball at Lynn University. Ben graduated Lynn with a Bachelors of Arts in multimedia and journalism. He also received his Masters of Science in Digital Media. Ben was a pitcher and infielder during his college career.

DNB's message is very strong and inspiring that can be related to anyone. DNB shows people that they should pursue their dreams because at the end of the day its what makes you happy and doesn't feel like work. I am very excited to see the progression of this company and the future "definers" that become part of the company. Please join me in listening to Ben and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 27 Season 2 is out with "Stretch Talk". What is exactly is "Stretch Talk"? If you have played high school or college sports you know that every day you stretch. Stretching can be one of the most routine things you will do on an everyday basis. After a couple weeks you become familiar on what you need to accomplish stretching wise and can do it in your sleep. During this time, you start to strike up conversations with your teammates.

This week's guests include "The Fam" which includes Bryanna Bach, Ben Moster, and Lauren Coons. All three of these people have a wide arrange of backgrounds including D1 athletics, being a Marine, studying nursing, and being in a sorority.

As the new school year approaches for incoming freshman in college there are so many unknowns for their future. Many schools have cancelled their fall sports for 2020 and restrictions on personal interaction. I wanted to hear from people's perspective of what they would personally do if they were going to be a freshman in college during 2020?

This topic includes:

• Would you attend to a bigger university?
• Take classes at a community college?
• Take a gap year?
• Train for your sport, go to school, and not waste a year of eligibility?
• Choose to join a sorority or fraternity?
• Choose not to go to school all together and start a career?

Sit back, relax, and "Always Remember Be Yourself".

Episode 26 Season 2 is out with Christian Hook. Christian was the Analytics/Video Coordinator for Northern Kentucky University Baseball from 2016-2020. During 2020, Christian received an offer from the Detroit Tigers as an Analytics Apprentice but this position was cancelled due to COVID-19. Christian is also the son of Milwaukee Brewers MLB Pitching Coach Chris Hook.

Christian talks about growing up and not being interested in baseball what so ever until he read "MoneyBall". He started playing "MLB The Show" and picking specific players for his team. He then realized that there is a real-life job that you are able to do this. He started to pursue the analytics side of the game and how much it can really help the future of the game.

Christian studied Data Science at Northern Kentucky University and decided he wanted to help the baseball team. He started hearing about all the new analytical player development tools such as Rapsodo, Blast, and video in general. He convinced the Northern Kentucky Coaches that these new technologies are the future of baseball and they need to invest into these tools.

Northern Kentucky Coaches invested and Christian would become the Analytics/Video Coordinator for the team. Christian has some very impressive work including a program called "Maverick" which was made to cut video and distribute data for the players to see on a daily basis

Christian has a bright future in baseball and really explains the meaning behind the "Data Revolution" in baseball. Please join me in listening to Christian and "Always Remember Be Yourself".