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- Developing Pitchers: More Than Just Throwing Hard w/ Brett Huber | SO-ILL Baseball Talk | YBMWhat does it actually take to develop a pitcher?
On this episode of So-ILL Baseball Talk, Carl Lange welcomes Brett Huber, owner of Maximized Pitching Lab, for a conversation about pitching development, Brett's journey through the game, and the philosophy behind Maximized.
Brett's baseball journey took him from Southern Illinois to Ole Miss, where he became the program's all-time saves leader, and eventually into professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers organization. But an injury during his own playing career—and everything he learned after it—helped shape the way he now approaches developing pitchers.
Carl and Brett talk about how much pitching development has changed, the importance of continuing to learn, and why developing an athlete can't simply be reduced to velocity or one training method.
They also get into one of the biggest strengths behind Maximized Pitching Lab: the staff.
Rather than building everything around one coach, Maximized has assembled a group of former college and professional players, coaches, strength professionals, and movement specialists who collaborate on individualized programs for their athletes.
Different coaches may communicate differently. Different athletes may respond differently. And development isn't always linear.
The goal is finding what helps each individual athlete continue moving forward.
Follow Maximized Pitching Lab:
Instagram: @maximized_pitching
Facebook: Maximized Pitching Lab
X: @MaxPitchingLab
⚾ JOIN THE YBM CLUBHOUSE
Become a YBM Clubhouse member directly through the Youth Baseball Midwest YouTube channel.
Clubhouse members receive:
• Early access to new YBM podcast episodes
• Exclusive content
• Exclusive discounts
• More ways to support Youth Baseball Midwest
🧢 SHOP YBM MERCH
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
💪 KILOGEAR
Kilogear is a proud partner of Youth Baseball Midwest.
Shop through:
https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com
Use promo code YBM10 for 10% off your purchase.
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com1 hr 3 min - Constructing a High School Roster w/ Coach Tony Perkins | Show Me Baseball Talk | YBMFour-time MSHSAA State Champion and Francis Howell Vikings head coach Tony Perkins joins Show Me Baseball Talk!
Constructing a high school roster comes with a unique set of challenges, especially at a public school where coaches are building their programs from the players who walk through their doors.
There has long been a conversation surrounding public and private schools and the differences in how programs are built. With that in mind, Brian sits down with Coach Perkins to talk about the challenges of constructing a roster, developing the players within your program, establishing a winning culture, and what it takes to build sustained success at the public high school level.
And the results in Missouri make for an interesting conversation. Public schools have had plenty of success at the highest classification of Missouri high school baseball, including a strong run of state championships since 2000.
How do you build a championship-caliber roster when you don't get to choose which players walk through the door?
Coach Perkins brings the perspective of a four-time state champion to Show Me Baseball Talk as we dive into constructing a high school roster.
💪 SHOW ME BASEBALL TALK PARTNER — KILO GEAR
Show Me Baseball Talk is proudly partnered with Kilo Gear!
Visit: https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com/
Click the Kilo Gear tab to shop and use promo code YBM10 for 10% OFF your order!
⚾ JOIN THE YBM CLUBHOUSE
Want even more from Youth Baseball Midwest? Join the YBM Clubhouse right here on YouTube!
Click the JOIN button on the Youth Baseball Midwest YouTube channel to become a member and support YBM while getting access to early podcast episodes, exclusive content, and exclusive discounts.
🛒 SHOP YBM
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
Subscribe to Youth Baseball Midwest and turn on notifications so you don’t miss a new episode of Show Me Baseball Talk!
#YouthBaseballMidwest #ShowMeBaseballTalk #FrancisHowell #MissouriBaseball #HighSchoolBaseball
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com54 min - Baserunning Has to Be Taught w/ Joel Krato | Baseball 101 | YBMBaserunning can change a baseball game without ever showing up in a box score — but are we spending enough time actually teaching it?
On this episode of Baseball 101, host Dave “Diamond Dave” Wiggins welcomes Troy Buchanan High School Head Coach Joel Krato back to the show for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked areas of player development: baserunning.
Dave and Coach Krato discuss the importance of developing baserunners instead of simply expecting players to know what to do once they reach base. That means teaching reads, understanding situations, developing instincts, communicating expectations, and creating an aggressive mentality without turning aggression into recklessness.
The conversation gets into the details coaches can incorporate into practice, including how players learn to make decisions on the bases and why those decisions need to be trained just like hitting, pitching, or defense.
They discuss:
• Why baserunning needs to be intentionally taught
• Developing aggressive but intelligent baserunners
• Teaching reads, reactions, and decision-making
• Understanding when to take an extra base — and when not to
• Creating baserunning habits through practice and repetition
• How coaches can make baserunning part of their offensive identity
• Developing instincts players can eventually use without waiting for a coach to make every decision
Baserunning isn't just about being fast. It's about awareness, preparation, decision-making, and understanding how to put pressure on a defense.
Coach Krato brings his experience at Troy Buchanan to Baseball 101 to help coaches think differently about an area of the game that can create an advantage without requiring the biggest, strongest, or fastest roster.
📲 Follow Dave Wiggins
X (Twitter): @CoachDW1338
Instagram: @coachdave1338
🏠 Join the YBM Club Today!
Get early access to YBM podcast episodes, exclusive content, exclusive discounts and more.
https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com/ybm-club
🛒 Shop YBM Merch
Rep Youth Baseball Midwest with official YBM gear.
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com1 hr 6 min - The Important Questions of Tournament Baseball | The Hitting Zone | YBMTournament baseball is a huge part of the youth baseball experience — but how much do families really know about what goes into it?
On this episode of The Hitting Zone, Mitch Thomas welcomes Dave Penning of Game 7 Baseball for a conversation about the important questions surrounding tournament baseball.
Rather than simply talking about schedules, brackets, trophies and championships, Mitch and Dave dig into the bigger picture of the tournament experience and what players, coaches and parents should understand before they arrive at the ballpark.
What should families be looking for when choosing tournaments?
How are divisions and competition levels determined?
What responsibilities fall on tournament directors, coaches and organizations?
How can tournament providers create a better experience for players and families?
And as youth baseball continues to grow, how do we make sure tournament baseball continues to serve the players actually stepping onto the field?
It’s an opportunity to hear the tournament side of youth baseball directly from someone who lives it every weekend.
Mitch and Dave tackle the questions parents and coaches should be asking — and provide another perspective on an industry that has become a major part of today's youth baseball landscape.
Step inside The Hitting Zone.
Follow Game 7 Baseball
Website: https://playgame7baseball.com
X: @Game7Baseball
Follow Mitch Thomas / The Hitting Zone
Instagram: @_mtsperformance
X: @TheHittingZoneSTL
TikTok: @thehittingzonestl
⭐ Join the YBM Clubhouse right here on YouTube!
Clubhouse members get early access to new episodes before their public 3 PM release, plus exclusive content and exclusive discounts.
👕 Rep YBM — Shop the Official Merch Store:
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
The Hitting Zone is sponsored by Kilo Gear.
Visit https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com and click the Kilo Gear tab.
Use promo code YBM10 for 10% off your order!
YBM Partner: Game 7 Baseball
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com1 hr 12 min - Are We Actually Developing Better Players? | Keep Klimbing Season 2 Premiere | YBMKeep Klimbing is back for a new season, and Brett Graves kicks things off with a question every player, coach, parent, and development program should be willing to ask:
Are we actually developing better baseball players?
Player development has never been more sophisticated. We have force plates, motion capture, ball-flight data, velocity, spin rates, workload monitoring, individualized programming, and more information than ever before.
But Brett challenges us to look beyond the numbers.
If the metrics improve but the player doesn't perform better when the game starts, did we actually develop the player?
In this episode, Brett breaks down:
• Why improving a metric isn't automatically player development
• Finding the middle ground between "old-school" baseball and modern data-driven training
• Why competitive performance has to remain the ultimate goal
• The danger of chasing velocity, pitch shape, strength numbers, and other KPIs without understanding their game application
• Why "the hitter will let you know" whether a pitch actually works
• The importance of competitive reps and learning to play the game
• How capacity, skill, and performance have to work together to create a complete player
Modern technology gives coaches incredible tools to measure and individualize development. The challenge is making sure the data improves our decisions instead of becoming the objective itself.
The gym should support the game — not become the sport.
Are we creating better numbers, or are we creating better baseball players?
Welcome back to Keep Klimbing.
⚾ CONNECT WITH BRETT GRAVES
Instagram: @brettgraves5
X: @bgraves05
⚾ PREMIER PITCHING & PERFORMANCE
Instagram: @premierpitching
X: @PremierPitching
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com44 min - What Should You Expect From Club Baseball at Every Age? | So-ILL Baseball Talk | YBMWhat should players and parents actually expect from club baseball as athletes get older?
On this episode of So-ILL Baseball Talk, host Carl Lange sits down with Coach Wiggins to break down expectations in club baseball at different ages and stages of a player's development.
From the younger years, when development and learning the game should remain at the forefront, to the changing expectations players face as they get older, Carl and Coach Wiggins dig into an important conversation for players, parents, and coaches navigating the club baseball world.
What should the priorities be? When should expectations begin to change? And are we sometimes expecting too much—or the wrong things—too early?
It’s a conversation about keeping development in perspective while preparing players for what comes next.
⚾ JOIN THE YBM CLUBHOUSE
Become a YBM Clubhouse member directly through the Youth Baseball Midwest YouTube channel!
Clubhouse members get:
• Early access to new YBM podcast episodes
• Exclusive content
• Access to exclusive discounts
• More ways to support YBM and the coverage we’re building
🧢 SHOP YBM
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
💪 KILOGEAR
Shop Kilogear through Youth Baseball Midwest:
https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com
Use promo code YBM10 for 10% off your purchase.
#SoILLBaseballTalk #YouthBaseballMidwest #ClubBaseball #TravelBaseball #YouthBaseball #PlayerDevelopment
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com1 hr 4 min - Baseball in the Fall with M.H.S.B.C.A.'s Bryan Harmon | Show Me Baseball Talk | YBMBryan Harmon, Executive Director of the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association (MHSBCA), joins the show as we kick off Show Me Baseball Talk with a look at fall baseball in the Show Me State.
We’re taking a look at the history of fall baseball in Missouri, where it stands today, and the schools that continue their baseball programs into the fall. With a rich history across the state, we’ll explore the current state of the game and what the future could hold for these programs.
We’ll also dive into several topics with Coach Harmon, including new rules, who could be headed to the MHSBCA Hall of Fame, and Coach Baier’s Coach of the Year Award.
Fall baseball in Missouri currently does not culminate in a state championship tournament. YBM and the MHSBCA are working to develop a state championship opportunity for these fall programs, and we’ll discuss what that could mean for the future of fall baseball in the state.
💪 SHOW ME BASEBALL TALK PARTNER — KILO GEAR
Show Me Baseball Talk is proudly partnered with Kilo Gear!
Visit:
https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com/
Click the Kilo Gear tab to shop and use promo code YBM10 for 10% OFF your order!
⚾ JOIN THE YBM CLUBHOUSE
Want even more from Youth Baseball Midwest? Join the YBM Clubhouse right here on YouTube!
Click the JOIN button on the Youth Baseball Midwest YouTube channel to become a member and support YBM while getting access to early podcast episodes, exclusive content, and exclusive discounts.
🛒 SHOP YBM
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com45 min - The Journey of a College Pitcher with Ryan Karl | Baseball 101 | YBMWhat does the path to college baseball really look like when it doesn’t follow a straight line?
On this episode of Baseball 101, Dave “Diamond Dave” Wiggins welcomes Ryan Karl, currently pitching at Eastern Michigan College, for a player’s perspective on development, adversity, opportunity, and continuing to pursue the game at the next level.
Ryan brings firsthand experience from his own baseball journey to discuss the decisions, challenges, adjustments, and opportunities players can encounter after high school. Through each step, the common thread has been continuing to work, develop, and find the next opportunity to compete.
Dave and Ryan discuss the realities of the college baseball journey, the work that happens away from game day, handling adversity, continuing to develop as a pitcher, and the lessons younger athletes can take from someone who is currently living that experience.
For high school players wondering what comes next — and parents trying to understand what the college baseball path can actually look like — Ryan provides a perspective that comes directly from being in the middle of that journey.
📲 Follow Dave Wiggins
X (Twitter): @CruitsCoachDW
Instagram: @coachdave1338
📲 Follow Ryan Karl
Currently Pitching at Eastern College
Instagram: @rkarl27
X (Twitter): @RyanKarl27
🏠 Join the YBM Club
Get more from Youth Baseball Midwest and become part of the YBM community.
https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com/ybm-club
🛒 Shop YBM Merch
Rep Youth Baseball Midwest with official YBM gear.
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com53 min - Have We Gotten Away from the Eye Test? | The Hitting Zone | YBMTechnology, data, metrics, rankings, numbers — we have more information available to evaluate baseball players than ever before.
But have we gotten away from the eye test?
On this episode of The Hitting Zone, Mitch Thomas welcomes Dave Wiggins, host of YBM’s Baseball 101, for a conversation about how we evaluate players in today’s game.
Numbers can tell us a lot. Velocity, exit velocity, pop time, spin rate, measurable tools and countless other data points have become part of the baseball landscape. But can those numbers tell us everything we need to know about a player?
Mitch and Dave take a swing at the balance between measurable data and simply watching someone play baseball.
What happens when the numbers say one thing, but your eyes tell you something different?
Are we putting too much weight on measurable tools?
Can you measure baseball IQ, competitiveness, instincts, toughness, decision-making or how a player responds when the game gets difficult?
And with players increasingly evaluated through numbers, rankings and short looks, is there still enough room for coaches and evaluators to trust what they see?
It’s another conversation about development, evaluation, and making sure the tools available to the game are helping us understand players — rather than becoming the only way we define them.
Step inside The Hitting Zone.
Follow Dave Wiggins / Baseball 101
Instagram: @coachdave1338
X: @CoachDW1338
Follow Mitch Thomas / The Hitting Zone
Instagram: @_mtsperformance
X: @TheHittingZoneSTL
TikTok: @thehittingzonestl
Follow Youth Baseball Midwest
⚾ Join the YBM Clubhouse on YouTube for early access to new episodes, exclusive content, exclusive discounts and more!
👕 Rep YBM — Shop the Official Merch Store:
https://gorgeousware.com/collections/youth-baseball-midwest
The Hitting Zone is sponsored by Kilo Gear.
Visit https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com and click the Kilo Gear tab.
Use promo code YBM10 for 10% off your order!
YBM Partner: Game 7 Baseball
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com1 hr 5 min - Youth Baseball Then & Now | Youth Baseball Talk Premiere | YBMWelcome to the premiere episode of Youth Baseball Talk on Youth Baseball Midwest!
Host Dan Seddon is joined by Brian French to introduce the newest show in the YBM podcast lineup and take a look at how the youth baseball landscape has changed over the years.
Dan and Brian discuss the evolution of the game since Dan’s days playing youth baseball, including the growth of travel baseball, changes throughout the club landscape, and the different opportunities and decisions facing today’s young players and their families.
This premiere sets the stage for what Youth Baseball Talk is all about. Throughout the season, Dan will dive into the 8U–14U side of the game and tackle conversations surrounding player development, coaching, parents, travel and club organizations, culture, and the challenges that come with navigating youth baseball today.
This is where the baseball journey begins—and there’s plenty to talk about.
Subscribe to Youth Baseball Midwest and follow Youth Baseball Talk throughout the season!
⚾ JOIN THE YBM CLUBHOUSE
Become a member directly through the Youth Baseball Midwest YouTube channel by clicking the “Join” button on our channel page.
🛒 SHOP YBM
https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com
💪 YBM PARTNER: KILOGEAR
Visit: https://www.youthbaseballmidwest.com
Click the Kilogear tab and use promo code YBM10 for 10% off your order.
#YouthBaseballTalk #YouthBaseballMidwest #YouthBaseball #TravelBaseball #BaseballDevelopment
⚾ Stay locked in with Youth Baseball Midwest—your hub for full-spectrum youth baseball insight in the Midwest. Subscribe and hit that dinger (🔔) to never miss a game-state insight.
🌐 More YBM:
Website: youthbaseballmidwest.com
YouTube: Youth Baseball MidwestInstagram: @youthbaseballmidwest
TikTok: @YouthBaseballMidwest
X: @YBM_cast
Facebook: Youth Baseball Midwest
Presented by our proud partners:
Game 7 Baseball: game7baseball.com
Prime Sports Midwest: primesportsmw.com
🎥 Production Partner:Red Earth Productions: redearthprod.com58 min
About YBMcast
From the publisher's feed
YBM brings the experience of top baseball Coaches, Club Directors, Youth Instructors, and Prep Scouting in the Midwest. For the most comprehensive Youth and Prep Baseball talk. We want to become your…
source for news, commentary, and perspective. Not to mention our live stream of Game 7 Championship games, the GAC game of the week, local community events, and PBR Missouri Showcase events.
Subscribe to the Midwest Report and YBMcast Today!
Subscribe to the Midwest Report and YBMcast Today!