"New Age" Baseball Training

  Major league baseball training is continuing to evolve. First, understand that every major league player is a phenomenal natural athlete who usually excelled in at least two sports in high school.
   Mike Trout was a terrific football player at Millville High School, and no doubt, could have had a stellar career in that sport. Even the 300-lb. C.C. Sabathia was a standout basketball player back in the day in Oakland. Ca., and slightly-built David Cone was also an All-State basketball player in high school in Kansas City. So, genetically, they are Maserati's to our work-a-day Hondas.
    All that being said, up until the 1970's, most players didn't workout at all during the off-season. Most needed part-time jobs to supplement their income.
    By the mid-70's, baseball was a lucrative career and most guys would stay in shape by throwing or running at their local high schools. Weight-lifting was still taboo, as it was thought to bulk up the muscles in a way not conducive to the reflexes and bat speed needed in the sport. And pitchers didn't want to tighten up their arms and lose their natural delivery.
    From the 1980's until today, things changed. Guys worked out year-round, and the running went from less "distance" (mostly, laps around the field), to short sprints to build up fast-twitch muscle fibers. And, maybe performance-enhancing drugs had something to do with this, but players went for heavy squats and other power movements that usually weren't associated with the sport.
    As the athletes have become bigger, stronger, and faster, injuries have also increased. There's a lot of reasons for his: extended travel in the game, and more night games that reap havoc on natural sleep patterns (leading to dehydration and muscle fatigue). Medical staffs are also more advanced, and they may be shutting players down a bit earlier than in the past. No more "rubbing dirt on it."
  There's also been an "arm's race" in off-season conditioning. If one player has had success with a specific regimen, other players (and their personal trainers) want to match and exceed that. Then, with the stresses of a six-month, 162-game season, the body eventually breaks down. Players who have also experimented with PED"s become more injury-prone when they come off them, as the body doesn't produce as much natural testosterone anymore.
    While it's acknowledged players don't party nearly as much as the notorious 1986 Mets or 1993 Phillies, they still have the temptations and pratfalls of fame and life on the road. Modern players all have a social media presence now, too, which is distracting and time-consuming.
    So, teams have evolved their training approach. New Met manager Mickey Callahan and Yankee skipper Aaron Boone are emphasizing "pre-hab:" lengthy stretching and strengthening sessions before the players even step on the field. There's a lot of foam rolling and resistance band work, and the key word is "pliability." Rookie Phillies manager Gabe Kapler is having each player track his "reps" every day. Each throw, fielded ball, or run to first is a "rep," as well as their off-field exercises. If someone has too many "reps" in a day, they may take the next day easy, or be off entirely.
    Often-injured Mets leftfielder Yohanes Cespedes emigrated from Cuba, where weight training involved rudimentary movements like carrying cider blocks and lifting up the back of cars. Cespedes was built like a linebacker, but was always hurt, missing half of the season last year. He's learned to hydrate more to keep his bulky muscles from cramping, and has modernized his lifting regimen, essentially a lot more reps with considerably less weight. He also has taken up yoga, and reports say he is much more limber and leaner than last year
    How all this "new age' conditioning works remains to be seen, but the concepts seem sound. Strength train, run, and stretch to be a durable baseball player, not to be on the cover of Muscle and  Fitness. NaMaste'!