Research & Development Baseball Academy

Using @4d_motion_sports to track our athletes kinematic sequencing!

It was great getting out to watch R&D guys @ryanertlschweiger (JMU commit) and @jamestallon7 (Duke commit) square off in their high school opener. @r_reddington23 with a big night behind the dish and hitting! @coachjimmyjackson @dukebase @jmubaseball

@selby11 spinning curveballs today as works through his progression coming 11 months out from TJ. He finished out his set with some smooth submax low 90s heaters at 22-23 IVB. #TheClimb @trackmanbaseball @pittsburghpirates

Over the last few weeks, most of our hitters have been in a compete or testing phase where they’re being challenged in a variety of ways at game-speed. After deload and/or swing design phases following the fall season, it was important for us to test our hitters ability to translate the desired adaptations to game-like swings and gauge where they’re at a few months away from the season.
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Thanks to Blast Motion, we were able to track their progress and determine which players successfully translated their specific swing adaptations and which ones still need a little more focus. In addition to that, we were also able to use HitTrax to track their progress from a results standpoint.
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The progress we found has been eye opening and is a credit to all the hard work our hitters have put in this fall and winter. We saw improvement across the board (from middle school to pro athletes) with swing adaptations, Blast and more but what stood out the most was the results based improvement we saw with HitTrax.
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In just 3 weeks, we had 62 new Personal Records in max exit velocity and max distance (pictured in the video below ⬇️). In addition, we saw significant improvement with our hitters’ average exit velocity. This means that not only are our hitters improving their overall ability to impact the baseball, but they’re also improving their consistency with finding barrels and driving the ball!
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As we transition into one more preseason swing design/training phase, our hitters are collectively in a much better place than they were just this fall. Long story short: our hitters are #BuiltDifferent 💪🏼👀📈 Kevin Lachance

Player Spotlight: College free agent & grad transfer Tommy Buckman. Tommy started training with us late this summer and has been working his butt off ever since. He has made significant improvements with his throwing and mobility, and has made huge strides at the plate and in the weight room as well!
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Most importantly, his hard work has been paying off where it matters most. Not only has his throwing velocity and exit velo increased by over 5mph this fall, he has also been dominating live ABs against high-level college arms! Here are just a few of the barrels he’s found from the past few weeks of live ABs ⬇️ #TommyTwoBags
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Tommy’s still deciding where he will be continuing his college career, but you can bet he’ll be finding barrels and helping win games somewhere soon!
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@tbuck1234 Kevin Lachance

Due to complications caused by COVID-19, it has become essential for us to provide a competitive environment for our college athletes to train in. This means simulating a fall season to keep them in playing shape and put them in the best position to be successful come spring. Check out these highlights from @matthew_nickles strong outing from today’s live at bats #Electric

Impressive showing from @jackson.coen in his bullpen session earlier today. Jackson sat 87 mph with his fastball, while showing plus command of both his curveball and changeup. Kid has a bright future! #electric

Another day, another electric bullpen. This time done by @jack.mcdonald50 Here’s a clip of today’s pen in which he sat 86-88mph! Oh, and he’s only a rising sophomore 👀🤷‍♂️🤫 #2023

Uncommitted 2021 prospect @kevinwarunek displaying great command while sitting 88-89mph today in his bullpen today. Kevin has been one of the most consistent workers in our facility and is beginning to see his efforts pay off! #Electric

@csan18 making it look easy. @t_zombro42 @bkownacki9 @riley.rp @kwhitts26

#TBT to @jmubaseball’s Friday night starter Nick Stewart in a January bullpen ramping up for the spring season.

#TBT to Grant Barberich no-doubter from their lone scrimmage earlier this spring season for Heritage HS! Grant (2021 uncommitted 3B/P) dominated pitchers during live ABs this past January & February and was primed for a breakout season this spring!
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We’ve had @grantbarberich5 up to 95 mph off the bat with the ability to drive the ball to all fields. He’s got 2-way potential on the mound as well, definitely a prospect to keep an eye on!

#TBT to Adam Kuzmicki (2021 uncommitted OF) going deep in live ABs back in February! Adam is one of our hardest workers and is primed for success at the next level!

Shout out to our maestro of pitch design toeing the rubber in his first Grande Ligue spring game today. Go get ‘em Z! #raysup #datadriven Tyler Zombro