The MVP Machine
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12. Brendan Gawlowski, “Soft Toss: Behind Driveline Baseball,” Baseball Prospectus, December 23, 2015, www.baseballprospectus.com/prospects/article/28102/soft-toss-behind-driveline-baseball/.
Chapter 6: The 10,000-Pitch Rule
1. K. Anders Ericsson, Peak (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), 31.
2. K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Römer, “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance,” Psychological Review 100, no. 3 (1993): 363–406.
3. Rod Cross, “How to Curve a Baseball or Swing a Cricket Ball,” January 24, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-3jnOIJg4k.
Chapter 7: The Conduit
1. D.K. Willardson, Quantitative Hitting: Surprising Discoveries of the Game’s Best Hitters (Hitting Tech, 2018).
2. Seymour B. Sarason, The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1971), chapter 2, https://archive.org/details/cultureofschool00sara.
3. https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.sport.baseball/0RK6WRWEQks/R80tkdYC5bQJ.
4. Nick Piecoro, “Dan Haren, Burke Badenhop Among New Wave in Front Office,” Azcentral Sports, USA Today Network, March 26, 2017, https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/mlb/diamondbacks/2017/03/26/dan-haren-burke-badenhop-among-new-wave-front-offices/99521052/.
5. Larry Stone, “Bannister Digs into Stats to Pile Up Pitching Feats,” Seattle Times, April 20, 2008.
6. Tyler Kepner, “Use of Statistics Helps Greinke to A.L. Cy Young, New York Times, November 17, 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/sports/baseball/18pitcher.html.
Chapter 8: Perfect Pitch
1. Adam Kilgore, “‘Granny’ Shot Master Rick Barry Is Glad Someone Had the Guts to Bring It Back to the NBA,” Washington Post, December 27, 2016.
2. Kellie Green Hall, Derek A. Domingues, and Richard Cavazos, “Contextual Interference Effects with Skilled Baseball Players,” Perceptual and Motor Skills 78 (1994): 835–841, www.gwern.net/docs/spacedrepetition/1994-hall.pdf.
Chapter 9: We’re All Astronauts
1. Carol Dweck, “What Having a ‘Growth Mindset’ Actually Means,” Harvard Business Review, January 13, 2016, https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means.
Chapter 12: The All-Star Player-Coach
1. Travis Sawchik, “For Pirates’ Alvarez, the Struggle with the ‘Yips’ Is Real,” Trib Live, August 9, 2014, https://triblive.com/sports/pirates/6571471-74/alvarez-sax-blass.
Chapter 14: Just Be Better
1. David Laurila, “Prospectus Q&A: Craig Breslow,” Baseball Prospectus, December 18, 2006, www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/5769/prospectus-qa-craig-breslow/.
Chapter 15: Soft Factors
1. Alan S. Kornspan and Mary J. MacCracken, “Professional Baseball: The Pioneering Work of David F. Tracy,” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture, University of Nebraska Press 11, no. 2 (Spring 2003).
2. Dan Kopf, “The 2008 Financial Crisis Completely Changed What Majors Students Choose,” Quartz, August 29, 2018, https://qz.com/1370922/the-2008-financial-crisis-completely-changed-what-majors-students-choose/.
Chapter 17: No Ceiling
1. David Gassko, “League Difficulty (Part 4),” Hardball Times, April 16, 2007, https://tht.fangraphs.com/tht-live/league-difficulty-part-4/.
2. Zach Smith, “Never Say Die: Brandon Mann Makes MLB Debut After More Than 16 Seasons,” Hill Country News (Cedar Park, TX), July 11, 2018, http://hillcountrynews.com/stories/never-say-die-brandon-mann-makes-mlb-debut-after-more-than-16-seasons,77745.
3. John Thorn, “The Sky Is Falling, Baseball Is Dying, and the Roof May Leak: The Consolations of History in Calamitous Times,” Our Game (blog), November 19, 2018, https://ourgame.mlblogs.com/the-sky-is-falling-baseball-is-dying-and-the-roof-may-leak-e3f7e0b0e48d.
Epilogue: The Residue of Design
1. Bob Nightengale, “Trevor Bauer Says He Suffered ‘Character Assassination’ but Insists There’s No Ill Will with Indians,” USA Today, February 14, 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2019/02/14/trevor-bauer-cleveland-indians-arbitration/2869671002/.
INDEX
Aaron, Hank, 317
Abreu, José, 281
Adams, Ansel, 121, 131, 132, 138
Adler, Daniel, 179
Aerial Attack Study (Boyd), 20
Albert, Jeff, 197
Alderson, Sandy, 12
Allen, Cody, 92
Allen, Dick, 48
Almora, Albert, 154
Alonso, Yonder, 277
Altuve, José, 170, 174–175, 182, 186
American Sports Medical Institute (ASMI), 71, 72, 73–74, 116–117
Anderson, Tyler, 308
Ankiel, Rick, 243
Antonetti, Chris, 23, 149, 150
Appel, Mark
injury question and, 184–185
not making majors, 176, 177, 275
Applied Technology in Pitching (Boyle, Wayne/Sean), 215
Arenado, Nolan, 303
Aristotle, 70
arm-care (ABCA convention), 197–198
Armour, Mark, 13, 41, 42
Arnold, Matt, 63
Arrieta, Jake, 123
Aspen Institute, 331
Astros
bunt play fiasco (2012), 169, 171
Correa hacking data and, 195
downsizing/reasoning, 183–184
draft edge and, 172
examples of failures, 175–177
growth mindset and, 167–168, 172, 180, 290
leaders backgrounds, 171–172
people leaving/changes, 196–197
PITCHf/x use, 173
pitching coaches purge and, 180–181
player-development expansion, 177–178
player development/sabermetrics and, 163–167, 169–178, 179–189, 191, 192–193, 194–198
scouts and, 191–192, 194, 195
status 2009–2014, 168–169
status/improvement (2015–2018), 169–171
technology and, 171, 173, 177, 182–185, 187, 189, 191, 192–193, 194, 197
World Series win (2017), 164
Athletic Pitcher, The (Wolforth), 28–29
Athletic, The website, 179, 330
Avila, Alex, 307
Axford, John, 248
BACS (Baseball Analytics and Coaching System), 147
Baker, John
as conduit, 286
player development, 286–287, 288–289, 291, 300
softer baseball factors and, 286–287, 288–289, 291
Baldelli, Rocco, 179
Ball Yard. See Latta, Doug/Ball Yard
Bannister, Brian, 129, 130–131
on analyst market, 321–322
as analytical coach (MLB), 6–7, 121–124, 125, 129, 138–139, 140–144
art/science of baseball, 131, 135
as conduit (player development), 129, 132, 135–136, 147
diagnosing his pitching, 141–142
Fast and, 173
on golf player development, 59
Greinke and, 135–136, 310
Hill and, 6–7, 121–124, 125, 129, 340
Japan and, 134
McClure’s criticism and, 134–135, 140
minor leagues/diet, 293
photography and, 130–131, 138
pitch types and, 121, 122–126
as pitcher/stats, 131–132, 133–134
PITCHf/x data and, 132, 133, 136, 137
on pitching machines, 327
player development and, 142–143, 324
on player-development era, 11, 278, 332
playoffs/World Series and, 335–336
Bannister, Brian (continued)
positions with Boston, 138
questions on pitching, 136–137
Red Sox postseason/players (2018) and, 336–341
responses to his recommendations and, 139
sabermetrics and, 132–133, 134–139, 140–144, 173, 193
self-directed reconstruction, 133–13
4
technology use, 141
Bannister, Floyd, 129–130, 132, 134, 139–140, 335
Bard, Luke, 89
Barnes, Matt, 339, 341
Barrett, Charley, 41
Barry, Rick, 151, 152
Baseball America, 34, 168, 169, 243, 260, 303
baseball comparisons across eras, 317–319, 318 (fig.), 320
Baseball Gauge, The, 341
Baseball Injury Consultants, 297
Baseball Prospectus, 16, 18, 44, 69, 70, 79, 97, 128, 173, 174, 175, 230, 254, 266, 268, 293, 324, 332
batting cage origins, 42–43, 44
batting helmet origins, 42
Bauer, Kathy, 248, 249
Bauer, Trevor, 3, 23–24, 25, 35, 116, 120, 137, 262
agent/agency selection and, 22–23
aging concerns and, 106, 119, 344, 345
ALDS (2018), 341, 342
All Star game (2018), 237, 239, 241
arbitration process and, 343
Arizona Diamondbacks and, 23, 25, 36–38, 80, 150
assisting teammates, 241–247
Astros relationship, 199, 241
ball cap and, 22, 150
baseball/training as youth, 26, 27–28, 29–30, 117, 119
“being a good teammate,” 149–150
biomechanics of pitching and, 81–84
Boddy and, 39, 154, 155, 342, 346
Breslow and, 271–272
catcher for, 238–239
college baseball, 24, 33, 34, 35–36, 187
control loss/return, 248–252
Cy Young Award chase and, 8, 24, 34, 118, 119, 237, 241, 250, 280, 281, 282–283, 285, 343, 345
designing pitches, 109–110
drone accident and, 21, 145, 279–280
Edgertronic cameras and, 2–4, 107, 108–110, 112, 155, 156–158, 159, 246, 247, 252, 284, 344
efficient training and, 106
“grit”/growth mindset and, 25
high school baseball, 26, 33–34
Housel and, 21
improvement, 1–4, 8, 23–24, 105, 114–115
injury (2018), 281–284, 284–285
Laminar Express pitch, 109, 110, 160, 252, 253, 352
Latta and, 231
Lincecum and, 34–35, 36, 82
major-league stats, 237
minor-league season (2013), 82–84
off-season biomechanics, 342
pain development, 82
physics and, 111–112
pitch design and, 109–110, 111–113, 114, 154
pitching speed, 30, 31, 114, 118
pregame data on opponent, 239
pregame routines, 32, 36–37, 80–81, 199
pulldown/long-toss, 28, 33, 36–37, 199, 242
scouting/draft and, 36–37
sharing techniques and, 152–153, 154, 216
shoulder tube and, 31–32, 33, 37, 80, 151
Silvio (pitching instructor) and, 27–28
“69 Days of Giving,” 343
social media and, 149, 150, 342–344
SpinGate/experiments and, 200–201, 202, 203, 204, 205–207
spring training, 148–149, 155
Texas Baseball Ranch and, 22, 23, 30, 31, 39
threshold score and, 151, 159
weightlifting, 115, 118
weighted-balls use, 27, 119, 148, 152–153, 242, 245
worries/other pitchers’ development and, 345
Bauer, Trevor/Driveline
pitching to hitters, 115–116
improvement, 85–86, 117–120
Boddy on, 116–119
elbow spiral and, 246
Indians recall, 85–86
memory card and, 39, 81
off-season work (2018–2019), 1–4, 116, 344–345, 346
pitching biomechanics and, 81–82
pivot pick drill/weighted balls, 84–85
reputation, 304
workouts (2013–2014), 84–86
Bauer, Trevor/slider (Myelin Express)
designing, 111–113, 116, 120, 154–160, 161 (fig.)
game at Detroit (2018) and, 159, 160
stats (2018), 159–160, 239, 240 (fig.), 241
Stroman’s slider and, 157–158
Bauer, Warren
Boddy/Edgertronic camera and, 113
son/training and, 24, 25, 26, 27–28, 30, 32, 35, 83, 107, 108–109, 112, 113, 155, 231, 248, 250, 251, 252
Bauers, Jack, 143
Baumann, Michael, 282
Beadle, Jim, 227–228
Beane, Billy, Moneyball/A’s and, 12–14, 59
Bedrosian, Cam, 89
Beilock, Sian, 244
Bell, Josh, 249
Benetti, Jason, 281
Berinsky, Adam, 128
Bettis, Chad, 308
Betts, Mookie
Axe Bat, 87, 88, 89, 102
Latta/Ball Yard and, 87, 88
OPS, 87
postseason play (2018), 340
transformation/influence, 7–8, 87–90, 100–102, 255
Bieser, Steve, 210–211, 212–213, 214
Bingol, Spencer, 141
Birnbaum, Phil, 15
Bjornson, Craig, 197
Blake, Matt, 154
Blass, Steve, 243
Blast sensors, 185, 189, 192, 197, 222, 227, 232, 235, 296, 298–299
Bledsoe Agency, The, 245, 247, 314, 315, 342
Bledsoe, Dustin, 314
Bledsoe, Hunter, 314
block practice, 153
Boddy, Kyle, 66, 79–81, 137
anxiety/depression and, 66, 67, 75
Astros and, 180–181
baseball interest beginnings, 67–69
Bauer and, 39, 154, 155, 342, 346
Clevinger and, 150–151
Driveline blog, 63, 71
helping Dodgers and, 247–248
meeting with Rays and, 63, 64–65
MLB pitching coach position and, 346
player development/analysis and, 63–65, 67, 70
research/goals, 63–64, 65, 216
SpinGate and, 200–201, 202
Texas Baseball Ranch and, 81
wearable technology (arm sleeve), 81
Wolforth and, 80
Boddy, Kyle/Driveline
biomechanics lab and, 73–75
Cingrani and, 315
coaching verbal cues and, 85
Lindbergh’s assessment, 218–224
MaxVelo Program, 77, 219
Ochart and, 256–257
pitching biomechanics, 71, 72–79, 109
pulldown drill, 77
revenue, 346
sending info to teams, 244
space/relocations and, 77–78, 84
technology, 1–4, 8, 219–226, 231, 345–346
3-D analysis and, 73–75
weighted balls and, 75–79, 150–151, 248, 304, 320
See also Bauer, Trevor/Driveline
Body Issue, The (ESPN: The Magazine), 118
Bogaerts, Xander, 101–102
Bohack, Josh, 30–31
Bonds, Barry, 275
Bonifay, Josh, 196
Boone, Bob, 23
Bosch, Frans, 76, 152
Bourn, Michael, 92
Bowen, Rex, 43
Boyd, John, 20–21
Boyle, Sean, 215
Boyle, Wayne, 215
Bradley, Jackie, Jr., 101–102
brain, research and training, 104–105, 293, 328–329
Breadon, Sam, 41
breathing exercises, 294
Bregman, Alex
as baseball player/improvement, 170, 186, 259–260, 342
draft pick and, 170
SpinGate/Bauer and, 202, 241
Breslow, Craig, 265, 266, 270
Bauer and, 271–272
becoming conduit, 274
following changes/end of playing, 270–274
Hill and, 269–270, 273
Breslow, Craig (continued)
pitching problems/changes and, 266–270
technology and, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272
Brett, George, 185
Brewer, Clive, 296
Brewster, Ben, 29
Briend, Sam, 223–224
Britton, Zach, 269
Broadie, Mark, 325
Brooks Baseball, 137, 138
Brooks, Dan, 138
Bryant, Kris, 287
Buckel, Cody, 243–244, 245
Buehler, Walker, 345
Bush, Dave
on minor leagues, 293
on MLB player abilities, 319
player development, 144, 147, 294, 330
Byrd, Marlon
Latta/Ball Yard and, 99
suspensions/banned substance, 90
swing transformation, 90, 102
Turner and, 90, 91–92, 96
CAA talent agency, 22
Cadavid, Steven, 297
Callaway, Mickey, 114
Cameron, Dave, 132, 277
Candiotti, Tom, 237, 280
Caravan, Alex, 261
Carey, John, 208, 209
Carleton, Russell, 18, 293–294
Carlton, Steve, 130
Carpenter, Bob, 47, 48, 49
Cash, Kevin, 333
Castellanos, Nick, 159, 160
Castro, Jason, 174, 175
Catapult tracking devices, 182, 298
Chamberlain, Craig, 98
Chamberlain, Wilt, 151–152
Chaves, Rafael, 132
Cherington, Ben, 16
Chernoff, Mike, 83
Cherveny, Patrick, 296–297
Chester, Bob, 157, 284
Chicago Cubs, experiments, 45–47, 49
Chilcott, Steve, 176
Cingrani, Tony, 315
Clemens, Roger, 82, 119
Clevinger, Mike
Bauer and, 112, 148–149, 150–151, 245, 250
as pitcher, 112, 156–157, 239, 341
Cobb, Ty, 55
Cody Bellinger, 96–97
Cole, Gerrit
Bauer and, 35, 36, 199–200, 203
college baseball/draft and, 35, 36
Cy Young Award chase and, 282
spin rate/SpinGate and, 200, 202–203, 207
trade to Astros/improvement, 8, 188–189, 192
colleges/player development, 215–216, 218
Comstock, Keith, 244
conduits, 128–129, 132, 135–136, 144–147, 286
constraint/differential training, 152–153
Cooper, J.J., 34
Copping, Corey, 247–248
Cora, Alex, 98, 197, 201
Corbin, Patrick, 124–125, 143
Corral, Fred, 197–198
Correa, Carlos, 170, 195, 340
Cotham, Caleb, 245, 313, 314–315, 342
Coyle, Daniel, 154
Crane, Jim, 168, 169, 196
Crawford, Carl, 117
Creighton, Jim, 326