Elite Baseball Development Podcast

We welcome Astros' pitcher Bennett Sousa to the latest podcast. A CSP athlete since his high school days, Bennett touches on how that experience impacted his development. He speaks to the importance of routine, and also delves into why the big leagues is so much different than pitching at any other level of baseball, yet the adjustment from high school to college is actually the biggest. There are some great pearls of wisdom for players, parents, and coaches who are looking to optimize their long-term development plans. 

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It’s time for another listener Q&A, Eric covers three questions from our audience in this week’s podcast:

1. What are your thoughts on high school students playing a winter sport? My son has played basketball and baseball since he was 4. He wants to play college baseball and decided as a sophomore he wants to quit all sports but baseball and focus on that. We think he is too young and should play basketball this winter and still attend his indoor baseball session (pitching). Thoughts?
2. Rotator cuff drills are a key part of rehabilitation and prevention programs, but I’m struggling to see where all the different kinds fit into my program. Do you have any ideas?
3. You previously talked about lessons learned in terms of Tommy John timelines. I know a lot of surgeons and rehab specialists have adjusted their approaches to surgeries and the associated timelines well. What are some of your key takeaways now that there have been some changes to the way elbow surgeries were approached in recent years?

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Joining Eric is Oakland Athletics' rising star, Zack Gelof. A Cressey Sports Performance athlete since his teenage years, Zack offers some awesome insights on chasing long-term athletic development; seeking out competition; visualizing goals; adapting training approaches; and improving defensive performance on the diamond. Gelof made his MLB debut last July and put up historic numbers in his first 69 career games, he also earned AL Rookie of the Month honors in August.

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In this solo episode, Eric shares key insights into an important – but underappreciated – topic in the worlds of health and human performance: warm-ups. Eric shines some light on the goals of warm-ups, as well as the research on both injury reduction and performance benefits. Most importantly, I make some practical recommendations for how to structure an efficient, effective warm-up for not only baseball athletes, but a variety of other populations as well.

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This week, Eric sits down with Chicago Cubs pitcher Julian Merryweather. A CSP athlete for several years now, he shares insights on his journey to the big leagues, the advantages junior college afforded him; what factors were key to his velocity improvements; and the strategies he employed to have a career year in performance and durability.

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The focus is on force plates in this episode as Eric is joined by Drake Berberet, the VP of Performance & Brand at Hawkin Dynamics. With over 10 years of experience in educating and training athletes from youth sports to the professional levels, Drake has worked with business executives and athletes in the US Olympics, NFL, NBA, MLB, UFC, and the NCAA as he provides data-driven insights for performance and health. Prior to Hawkin, Drake was the Applied Sport Scientist for the University of Illinois Men’s & Women’s Basketball teams for 2 seasons.

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In today's episode, guest host John O'Neil is joined by Doug Kechijian, a distinguished physical therapist and the CEO and co-founder of Resilient Performance Systems. Resilient seeks to systematically explore the continuum between acute rehabilitation and athletic performance, catering to a diverse clientele, including MLB, NBA, and Olympic athletes, as well as law enforcement and military special operations. Doug, a former U.S. Air Force Pararescueman and nationally certified paramedic, was recognized as one of the U.S. Air Force’s Outstanding Airmen of the Year in 2015.

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Joining Eric is a right-handed pitcher who was drafted by the Rockies in the second round of the 2017 MLB draft. The two discuss a number of different topics ranging from the college recruitment process, how taller athletes can approach long-term success strategies, as well as his rehab journey after a major shoulder surgery on his way back to the big leagues. Welcome to the show, Tommy Doyle.

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Eric chimes in with a solo episode, discussing some common incidental findings on diagnostic imaging - MRI, x-ray, CT scans - in baseball players. These are very important considerations both for player advocacy purposes, and also for us appreciating how to keep the next generation of players healthy in an era where sports medicine has struggled to keep up with the pitching injury epidemic.

Joining Eric today is a pitcher, who was selected in the 21st round of the 2009 MLB draft. After a stellar rookie season, in the years that followed he established himself as one of the most dominant closers in the MLB. Since 2017, he has had a few injuries and battled his way around the big leagues. He is currently a free agent during his rehab. Welcome to the show Trevor Rosenthal.

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