Elite Baseball Development Podcast

Alex Wood, starting pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, discusses how his experience with Tommy John surgery during his senior season of high school impacted his early career, how he quickly ascended to the big leagues after being a second round pick out of Georgia, how he has mastered his unorthodox, herky-jerky pitching delivery, how he postponed learning to throw an effective breaking ball until pitching in show ball, and what adjustments he made as a young big leaguer to have a break out season in 2017.

Eric Cressey breaks down the true value long distance running brings to baseball players and where ballplayers and coaches alike can make changes to the traditional baseball training model to achieve better results.

Brandon Kintzler, relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, discusses his journey through professional baseball from a 40th round draft pick to an MLB All-Star, his experience playing Independent League Baseball, how reincorporating his lower half into his pitching delivery after injury and training to be durable transformed his ability to be an effective pitcher, how he has learned to consistently power a two-seam fastball, and his relationship with Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

Closer for the Oakland Athletics, Blake Treinen, talks about his journey from playing JV at a small NAIA school to walking on and dominating at a Division 1 program, how improving his body composition and learning to throw with intent allowed him to develop into an elite arm, how he has relied on his faith in God to battle through adversity and make his dreams a reality, and how he has refined his pitching arsenal to exploit hitter's weakness and create a greater margin of success for his abilities.

Dr. Stuart McGill, former professor at the University of Waterloo and Chief Scientific Officer for Backfitpro Inc., discusses the anatomy and biomechanics of the spine, the considerations for training rotational athletes, what to consider when assessing, diagnosing, and rehabilitating back injuries, such as spondylolysis, and understanding fascia and how it impacts human movement patterns.

Bobby Tewksbary, owner and co-founder of Tewksbary Hitting and renowned hitting instructor and author, explains the evolution of hitting over the last decade, how technology is transforming the world of hitting, and his hitting philosophy.

Dr. Brandon Marcello, pro, olympic, and collegiate high performance expert, talks about the major components of quality recovery, the importance of sleep, the implications for accumulating sleep debt, how athletes of all levels, high school, college, and professional, can manage their current situations to maximize their sleep opportunities, what the modern myths and misconceptions are in the world of sleep science, and why routine reigns king when establishing impactful sleeping habits.

Starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals Miles Mikolas sheds light on why he chose to attend powerhouse Division 2 school Nova Southeastern, how his work in college propelled him to be an MLB draft pick, how he smoothly transitioned from a reliever to a starter in pro ball, why he chose to leave Major League Baseball in 2014 to play ball overseas in Japan, how he has developed to be a more consistent and efficient pitcher throughout his career, and what it is liking pitching to MLB legend Yadier Molina.

LA Dodgers outfielder AJ Pollock discusses how he was recruited as a talented hitter from Connecticut, how he seamlessly has transitioned from high school to college to pro ball and found success at each level, how the game of baseball has changed since being drafted a decade ago, how he balances the use of data analytics and sticking to his strengths to formulate a hitting approach that works for him, and why hard work and consistency trump any secret recipe to success in the game of baseball.

Relief pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles Richard Bleier discusses how he remained patient and persevered through 9 seasons in the minor leagues, how he transformed from a career minor leaguer to one of the best statistical pitchers to ever toe a big league rubber, how the implementation of more change ups and the development of a cutter transformed Richard from a solely sinker away pitcher to a more consistent hurler, and what Richard's experience was battling a lat strain last season.