O's Chris Holt on pitchers using performance centers in winter

Recently, in this entry, I interviewed Orioles pitching coach/director of pitching Chris Holt and we discussed offseason velocity gains for pitchers. Can they make them, should they try to do so and how do they go about it? Holt and the organization are in favor of pitchers looking to improve their game, but they also have a strong interest in how a player intends to do this and what help and resources are available.

During our discussion about velocity, I also asked Holt about the bigger picture of pitching performance facilities like Driveline Baseball. Does the organization approve of these and do they want to, in a sense, sign off on where a pitcher might look to go?

"It's important to distinguish between major league pitchers and minor league pitchers," Holt told me. "And so, for minor leaguers, oftentimes gaining velocity is a key component to their development. And so, if a player is routinely in the 90-92 mph range, certainly it benefits them to uptick that floor and that ceiling, and it benefits all the rest of their repertoire as a result.

"With major league pitchers, certainly we can turn an eye to that, but it's not something that we would necessarily pressure a guy to do. It's really more along the lines of, you know what is it that you're doing well and what is it that you need to do more consistently well? Sometimes velocity can be in that conversation, and so it's not that we as an organization say, 'Hey, you need to go gain velocity,' but certainly it benefits you if you do, and we want to make sure that you have the right resources and a responsible training method to do that."

Here are a few more questions I posed and Holt's answers about offseason pitching performance centers for his pitchers.

Do the Orioles encourage pitchers to go to such facilities and do you have a few that you really prefer over others?

"Well, there are so many different places, and regionally, we have players in different corners of the country, and so we do have players who will go to Driveline and certainly we are familiar with that program. And so we understand what that language, what that verbiage is. and once a player has trained there, we're familiar with it and we can follow through and continue to have eyes on the work that they have done there.

"To that same point, there is P3 in St. Louis, there is now a Driveline in Arizona, but most guys usually train at a facility where perhaps they have a private trainer or private pitching coach. Most guys aren't spending a really high amount of money to go stay in a place all year. They are usually going to live at home and they are subject to the resources that they have. And so certainly we have options in terms of what we can encourage guys to go do. But when it comes to the cost of it and the location, a lot of times that is what is going to dictate."

So there are a lot of places for pitchers now around the country. And maybe the club has more knowledge of some than others. So are you in a sense scouting some of these places to see what your pitchers are getting into?

"Yeah, like I mentioned before, we're making sure the pitchers have a responsible or effective training plan. It's you can never have 100 percent of your time with eyes on exactly what they are doing and we don't try to do that; it's really about the conversation with the players. Is this facility and the person that you're training with - what's their background and what does the programming look like?

"So many people now that are training pitchers are either certified through Driveline or have experience with these training methods. and so a lot of it is - I don't want to say it's always going to be the same - but a lot of places, it's quite similar with the approach. So there is less concern now than say there would have been eight to 10 years ago. And most guys are doing things to train in a way that involves whether you know it's Driveline-type methods or methods that are similar, but not necessarily Driveline-based."

What percentage of pro pitchers - majors and minors - do you estimate go to facilities over the winter?

"Tough to say. You know a lot of guys in the minor leagues, those who can afford to go, it can be a pricey endeavor. That's the other thing, most of our minor league coaches are, if they are not Driveline-certified, they've been educated through our ongoing coaches development during either the offseason or even during the season. So every single one of our minor league coaches is familiar with and proficient in many or most of the things that players would go learn at one of these facilities. And so ultimately what we are looking to do is have the highest quality level of coach at the minor league level that knows what goes into high level throwers but can also train pitchers to throw with skill to get batters out.

"So I've said this before: A modern pitching coach is no longer somebody who stands there and watches a bullpen and tells the pitcher what the lineup looks like that day. A modern, at least a minor league pitching coach, is probably I would say a quarter pitching coach; a quarter throwing coach, knowing about things such as velocity gains and what goes into high-level throwing capability; and then a quarter analyst if you will, using information to your advantage and then a quarter strength and conditioning.

"And so the strength and conditioning and throwing capabilities pockets are quite important to us in this organization. So that we are always looking at a pitcher in terms of not just what is he doing to get batters out but how well are we developing his ability to throw with high velocity and maximize his stuff."

A lot sure goes into this, doesn't it?

"Yes, it does. Certainly working to improve every year, too, because eventually this becomes kind of par for the course. There are other organizations and I never compare us to anybody. We're looking to do our absolute best with our coaches, with our players, with our program, and we're still, you know, only through 2021. We started doing this when I came on board here in '19, working in this direction, and it does take time. It does take time to do things consistently well. You know we have some really nice breakthrough success stories but when you are working to do this as a system that is the part that usually takes a little more time to get up and running."