Comments on: Training Regimen

By: DerikH

DerikH — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:32:33 +0000

I love that the Mariners are experimenting with a new training method. The team is looking to find new advantages every day. Many times, the complaint with baseball players is that they are not muscular enough. This seems like a regimen that could strengthen the muscles that are used for baseball activities. Even if the team abandons this method, kudos to them for trying it out.

By: Wilder83

Wilder83 — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:44:14 +0000

I hate to appeal to authority, but for those of you in the personal training business and questioning what the Mariners are doing, I think it is wise you defer to both the Mariners and the trainers who have been hired that they know what they are doing.

There are many theories on what is the perfect workout. Truth is, every program has a purpose and may only work for certain people. I know Bender says he works with a professional baseball player, but I doubt he has all the answers for what makes an elite athlete (hint: there is no one answer).

I think what also needs to be realized is that the players are not abandoning their core workouts. This is the Mariners’ training program. If the players feel they need to do bench press or squats, they are allowed to on their own time. The Mariners are implementing this program during mandatory workouts. Might as well do things the players wouldn’t otherwise do or have access to at home.

By: GLS

GLS — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:06:58 +0000

I do crossfit and some of the stuff they’re talking about doing, such as box jumps and lateral skater jumps, make perfect sense to me. On the other hand, weights are a good thing. If guys were doing the wrong things with those weights, wasting their time on bench press and curls, then yeah, find a way to get them away from that. But I agree with Bender that exercises like squats and power cleans should still be in the rotation.

But, I am really encouraged by this nonetheless.

By: msb

msb — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:57:42 +0000

Doubt it has anything to do with the new regimen, but apparently Griff is actually running this spring.

By: Sidi

Sidi — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:26:03 +0000

For the people involved in fitness training: in high school and college the information I received was that resistance training/overly specific machine training was ok, but the problem was it usually didn’t develop the smaller stabilizing muscles in the way that free weights and general plyo/movement oriented workouts will.

Of course, that was for running and cross country skiing, so bulking up wasn’t a major goal.

By: Jay Yencich

Jay Yencich — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:31:26 +0000

That’s a good analogy. Fringe players are more likely to try any available method in order to establish themselves. This does not diminish the value of these methods to improve on more talented players.

By: Mike Snow

Mike Snow — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:22:33 +0000

Right, it’s in the same league as Alex Sanchez testing positive for steroids when he had all of 4 career HRs. It doesn’t mean the regimen is worthless.

By: Jay Yencich

Jay Yencich — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:13:29 +0000

I wouldn’t hold Olson against Elliott’s accomplishments. Olson’s fastball is so bad that it’s hard to imagine that he’s had a major league job, but he has.

By: Mike Snow

Mike Snow — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:06:37 +0000

I don't know if this qualifies as a ringing endorsement, but Shannon Drayer mentions that Garrett Olson has been on this program for four years now.

By: joser

joser — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:08:28 +0000

Yeah, I think we're really going to be hard-pressed to come to any conclusion about this new approach, even years from now when the players who are being introduced to it at the dawn of the pro careers are moving into the majors (assuming the org has stuck to it all that time). The sample size is so small, and injuries can be so quirky and player-specific, that even large statistical comparisons probably won't find an effect that rises above the noise. The M's might have fewer pitchers wash out due to injuries before reaching the majors, say, but they might have had that result anyway because they were drafting different body types. Or they were just lucky. Even if other teams adopt this approach (once the exclusivity ends) it won't necessarily tell us anything except that the M's are seen as a trendsetters by other teams. Probably the best we can hope for is that the players themselves see it as a better approach -- ie, a purely subjective evaluation. But that's pretty important, and not just because players talk and it is (or could be) one more thing that makes the M's a team players want to play for. Because there's a psychological element to hitting and pitching (or even fielding and throwing, if you're Chuck Knoblauch), it may be enough that players think the M's have a magic fairy dust for it to act, in a small way, like a magic fairy dust. In other words, even though it may have no objective benefit on injury rates or power or anything else, it may still have an objective positive effect (on something -- FIP, BABIP, SLG?) because the players believe it does. It will be impossible to separate that from everything else, however: for all we know, daily Griffey tickles may do more for player confidence and be all the secret "edge" anyone needs.

Quite the turn around from such a short time ago, eh? The same cynics probably called you a Negative Nancy from 2004-2008.

Were you not here for the "ponies" and "bees (of negativity)" threads? Just look at what happened when Derek ran a pre-season simulation of the 2008 year and despite his best efforts to be positive (he even mentioned ponies!), found that the team would drop about 11 wins from 2007. (Which, as we now know, was optimistic by 16 wins). Let alone the animus and rancor that was unleashed whenever they criticized moves like acquiring Vidro or trading away Adam Jones or giving Bloomquist more playing time. Speaking of simulations/predictions, I'm finding the discussion of PECOTA's consistent mis-prediction of the Angels over at BA really interesting.