Bill Hezel @billhezel Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

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@bafvax

Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Couldn’t be more excited about joining the @Angels organization! Looking forward to getting to work and honored to be a part of the big league staff. #GoHalos

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Excited to finally announce that I will be joining the @Phillies as a Pitching Consultant. Grateful for the opportunity and really excited to be a part of the organization. #RingTheBell

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Lot of 86-88mph guys with plus command still on the board after day one. Weird.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

THREAD: Might be an unpopular opinion but I think it is perfectly justified to tell athletes exactly where they fall short. In fact, it is probably essential to player development.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Here is a closer look at @mattmercer360 throwing hard - 98 actually. Some pretty elite things going on here especially the lead leg block. Rotational velocities are very high as a result. Combined with the ability to hold counter rotation in the torso & fuego happens.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

7 years

If you throw 78-82 last thing you probably need is summer ball. You are going to get bombed on anyway. Train instead - to not throw 78-82.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

1 year

#GoHalos

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Shoutout to everyone across the country pulling down, chucking plyos, throwing off the bump and getting under the bar this fine Christman Eve.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Pelvis ➡️ Torso ➡️ Elbow Extension ➡️ Shoulder Internal Rotation

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Too many athletes: “Why am I not getting better?” “Why don’t I throw harder?” YOU KNOW WHY. Maybe you don’t want to hear it or you cant tell yourself but you know. You know your sleep sucks. Your diet is off and you don’t train hard enough. Do something about it. Try caring.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Good coaches make athletes better. Good coaches also don’t screw up athletes who are already good.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

“Throw the back of the hand.”

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

5 years

Will Harris, Curveball Release (front view/slow)

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Training pitchers without velocity feedback would be like training sprinters without a stopwatch or timing system.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

You just fouled off a heater. Elevated on the inner third. You were right on it. You feel great. You proceed to get these two pitches back to back. Tough scene.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

You get better at throwing, by throwing. There is a lot you can and need to do to supplement that i.e. strength work, mobility work, etc. That stuff is certainly important. But nothing is simply going to replace throwing.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: We need to stop being so concerned about arm action being too long or too short. The reality is, everyone is going to have a slightly different way of delivering the baseball.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

THREAD: In the past, I have used Scap Retraction Throws to help athletes clean up their arm action. One example of this, is helping them better understand the role of shoulder horizontal abduction (scap retraction) in the throw and how to create more of it, if appropriate.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

The low 80s slider and mid 70s curveball are a lot like the low 90s fastball, in that, they are essentially approaching extinction.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

There are dudes who exist in this game that just spin two separate breaking balls at 3000 RPMs and heaters at 2600+ with plus lift.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Unless the athlete is performing some sort of constraint drill, it is usually pointless to actively cue things that happen after the stride foot is completely down. At that point, whatever happens has already been determined & it’s now time to just throw hard.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Adding or increasing spin gets a lot of attention. What about killing spin?

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

THREAD: Pretty common place in baseball to hear a coach tell a pitcher that it is important he repeat his delivery. We have all probably heard this before. Many coaches are quick to link the ability to repeat the delivery to command or a pitcher's effectiveness.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

If you throw, you throw.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: The radar gun is not the enemy. It is a consistent, unbiased tool. It gives quantitative feedback from one rep to the next instead of a 👍 or 👎 from a coach. Understanding the purpose of that feedback during PlyoCare work is important. Perhaps the most important.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Cooking up some 🔥. Prototype inbound. Testing on deck.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Train accordingly.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Some fun with Mokka and a guy throwing 100mph 🔥🔥🔥.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

THREAD: The intensity and focus with which you go about your training matters. The best athletes I have worked with, professionals in particular, understand this. The attention they give to each throw they make is impressive.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Throwing hard is not the enemy. Undertraining is.

Sports Illustrated

@SInow

5 years

Extreme velocity is a major plus for high school pitchers come draft time, but the adverse effects are becoming evident (by Tom Verducci)

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

These Patrick Sandoval sliders from his 1st start broke my brain like they nearly broke our pitch model. 🤯🤯🤯 Unreal sequence to Cooper. Started him off with a 95mph heater with 18+ inches of carry. Followed that up with these. Stuff+ Per Pitch: 1️⃣ - 178 2️⃣ - 281 3️⃣ - 287

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

There are times I get frustrated thinking about my past experiences training athletes. I wish I was as good of a coach and knew as much then as I do now. What I’ve come to realize is that if there ever comes a time when I don’t feel that way, I should quit.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Drop steps are a great drill for a variety of reasons. We often prescribe this to athletes who exhibit excessive trunk angle at foot plant (early torso rotation).

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Tough day to be a hitter.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

THREAD: Coaches are often far too quick to tie inefficient mechanics or even an outcome based metric directly to some specific ROM deficit or change. Unfortunately, it is just not that simple when it comes to throwing.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Stop getting hung up on being too linear or too rotational. It is wasteful thinking. Pitching incorporates both linear and rotational components. While some leverage one more than the other, both must work together effectively to achieve optimal outcomes.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Splitter averaged almost 7 inches of h-break and 89mph in this outing. Stuff+ of 192. ☠️☠️☠️

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

3 years

Shohei Ohtani, Unfair 91mph Splitter. 😯

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Over the last ~12 months, the @DrivelineBB pitching department has lost a tremendous amount of coaching talent to professional and college baseball. And still…2021 was a historic year and we had the best athlete results in the company’s history. How is that possible? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Congratulations to Shohei Ohtani on winning the 2021 AL MVP. What an incredible season! The culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication. It has truly been an honor working together and witnessing one of the greatest seasons in baseball’s history.

MLB

@MLB

2 years

The only way to close out a historic season. Shohei Ohtani is your unanimous 2021 American League MVP.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

It took a couple hundred pitches in the lab @DrivelineBB this off-season to make this happen. Revamping the slider while simultaneously training other skills and abilities was our off-season focus. A quick 🧵…

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

THREAD: Giving athletes some autonomy in their programming is a pretty simple and easy way to enhance their training and potentially drive better results.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

THREAD: A smarter, more educated athlete is very likely a superior trainee. They become better positioned to leverage technology and utilize data and information. This allows them to train more intelligently, which ultimately leads to better results.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

I sent this email in 2013 as a young coach trying to help my JUCO arms. Sent it from my office cubicle - job #2 . I hated it. I just wanted to coach college ball & train athletes. I do now & have worked here for a year. What a crazy ride @drivelinebases has allowed me to be on.

Momentum

@Watch_Momentum

5 years

It's no secret that baseball is changing & one could argue that @drivelinebases , founder of @drivelinebb , is leading that charge. But what type of person does it take to disrupt an antiquated system like baseball? Watch the 18-minute doc by @itstaiki here

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

This pitch has lived rent free in my head for a month now.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Train here. That is all.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

🔥🔥🔥 97mph 17.3 inches of run 1798 Spin 184 Stuff+ #DrivelineFamily

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

3 years

Dillon Tate, Nasty 97mph Sinker. 😨 h/t @tbro0902

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Had an awesome time these past few days in Oxford with @15Lafferty , @CoachMikeBianco and @OleMissBSB .

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Been discussing shut down periods & taking time off from throwing quite a bit recently. Some thoughts I have:

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Forces Impacting Pitch Movement: - Gravity - Magnus - Laminar - Grit - Hustle (On & Off The Field) - Heart - Being A Team Guy

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

3 years

Luke Jackson, Wicked 88mph Slider and fist pump. 🔥

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Found this screenshot randomly on my phone from back in 2016. What an outrageous twitter exchange looking back on it now.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Quick update on our fellowship program: We have recently moved @S__Lizarraga to a full-time position on the pitching floor. Sammy has absolutely crushed it during his time here so far.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

The ultimate goal of the lead leg in the pitching delivery shouldn’t necessarily be to just put as much force into the ground as possible. The focus should really be about applying force efficiently.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Quick Thread: Pitching coaches not giving some sort of autonomy to their players are missing out on a huge opportunity. It’s not terribly difficult to allow them to have some say in their programming or routine even if it’s small.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

This video shows 5 different athletes performing pivot pickoffs. You'll notice none of them executes the drill the same way, however, they all generally perform it well.⁣ The objective should be to optimize the way THAT ATHLETE moves while accomplishing the goals of the drill.⁣

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Why do so many people want to train throwing by not throwing?

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Not the best place to work on pitching mechanics:

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

He threw a sinker this past weekend with a 2:55 tilt at 97mph. 🤯🤯🤯 This had nearly 18 inches of h-break and, in terms of raw stuff, may not even have been the best sinker thrown in the at-bat. 🔥🔥🔥

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

4 years

Dillon Tate, Unfair 94mph Sinker (with Tail). 😯

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Quit my financial sales job, resigned from coaching gig, sold my house & moved across the country while taking a huge pay cut. All over the course of a few weeks. Somehow convinced my wife to join me in uncertainty & leave all our friends & family.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

“Everybody wants to take time off from throwing but don’t nobody wanna do no proper ass on-ramp afterwards.” - Ronnie Coleman

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

“I’ve been having trouble keeping the spin efficiency on my curveball above 55% recently so I’m thinking about switching to a spike grip to try getting my index finger out of the way and have a more 12-6 shape. I think it will pair better with my fastball up in the zone”.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: I think the importance and positive impact long toss on an athlete’s development gets overlooked quite a bit. At the end of the day it is one of the few things that will remain constant within the programming and routine.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

If you want your pitchers to throw hard - start by caring about it.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

In the past 13+ months working @DrivelineBB I have learned more than I have in the past 6 years. Just like @drivelinebases promised I would. Much of that is thanks to @SBriend97 . Fired up for him and it’s a well deserved opportunity!

Sam Briend

@SBriend97

5 years

I'm excited to announce that I will be joining the New York Yankees as the Director of Pitching. I can't thank @DrivelineBB enough for everything they've done for me over the past 3 years and the friendships I've made while there. #Drivelinefamily #GoYankees

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

When trying to improve throwing, the main ingredient of any intervention strategy should be - throwing.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 months

Individuals who approach life with a willingness to acknowledge what they don't know and maintain a commitment to continuous learning will eventually surpass those who resist such openness.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Huge thank you to @drivelinebases , @mike_rathwell , and everyone @DrivelineBB for giving me the opportunity to serve as Director of Pitching and hiring me in 2018. Impossible to put into words how much that place means to me. Driveline has changed baseball and my life forever.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: It’s amazing how many pitchers have the same issue. I remember talking to @Berticushill about this very thing a month or two ago. Almost every athlete has a problem disassociating the upper and lower half.⁣⁣⁣⁣

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Thank you to DSU for the opportunity and a special 2 years. Proud to have been part of such a great place. See everyone in the Pacific Northwest. #dsubb #desalesbaseball #DeSales #DAWGS #goDAWGS #drivelinefamily

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

OFF-SEASON THREAD: Just because you don’t need to gain velocity doesn’t mean you shouldn’t train velocity.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

This pitch didn’t exist for this athlete when he got here. Now it punches tickets and plays well with the rest of his stuff - which includes a plus curveball and a heater that has been up to 96.6mph while at the facility.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Wanted to touch on the use of @rapsodo with limited additional tech/data during pitch design. The reality is many coaches will not have the resources or time to pair it with a high speed camera (i.e. Edgertronic), comparative pro data or the internal pitch design tools we have.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Here is an overlay of two sliders with predominantly gyroscopic spin. Both pitches have a similar total spin, release and approach but as you can see the movement of each is significantly different.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Nasty stuff today in Live ABs from @brandonmmann . His curveball and slider variations get a lot of hype (they should - they are gross) but his change up (FB/CH overlay below) is pretty good too.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

Pumped to introduce the newest member of the @DrivelineBB pitching department, @m_kress__ . He will be joining us as a pitching intern. Matt comes to Seattle after coaching with the defending @PSACsports champions @GoBUHuskies under Coach @BUCoachCollins .

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Impressive 2022 debut for Alex Cobb: 🔥 SI Stuff+ of 105 4⃣ FF Stuff+ of 150 🪝 CB Stuff+ of 203 ✌️ CH Stuff of 153 🚨 Average game velocity PR - 94.5mph 🚨 Peak game velocity PR - 96.3mph #DrivelineFamily

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

2 years

Alex Cobb, Filth. 😷

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Having an Edgertronic available to capture good versus bad pitches and provide video feedback to the athlete can really help speed up the pitch development process.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

3 years

FB had 18+ inches of carry at 97mph (Stuff+ of 213). CH only had ~6 inches of vertical separation from the FB. However, thanks to the 18mph velo difference and his ability to kill spin (~1,270 RPMs off the FB), it is still pretty nasty (Stuff+ of 125) and perfectly located.

Rob Friedman

@PitchingNinja

3 years

Julian Merryweather, 97mph Fastball & 79mph Changeup, Individual Pitches + Overlay.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: Lots of coaching changes across college baseball this time of year. A large emphasis is put on the ability to recruit and rightfully so. Important to remember that the best coaches in college baseball leverage player development to recruit.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

This was and still is insane. Almost just as unreal was the atmosphere in the facility. Just a bunch of guys going to war each day to get better and supporting every dude in the building who does the same.

Driveline Baseball

@DrivelineBB

6 years

100.5 new facility record!!! @PitchMeister #drivelinefamily

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: Sometimes giving the athlete freedom to try something on his own can yield results. Especially when he has access to the tech needed for real-time, objective feedback. Pitch design is very much a team effort. Here is the CB a recent in-gym big leaguer three in 2019.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Obviously he does a lot of things well. The ability sequence well & prevent early torso rotation are more impressive when seeing video at full speed. Matt gets down the mound pretty quick but because of how well he can move produces “””easy””” upper 90s heaters.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Pretty suave 96.9mph from free agent @hd5n86 during his bullpen today. 👌👀🔥

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

THREAD: People still arguing that pulldowns or “running throws” don’t transfer to the mound. Hard to believe this would be the case when so many elements of an efficient throw are present in a pulldown.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

To all my former coaches, players, trainees, and colleagues - thank you for everything. This opportunity would not be possible without each of you and the valuable lessons learned over the past 10 years.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

I used to tell my players that - if you kind of work hard, we will kind of win. This holds true with training in general. Kind of buy-in gets you kind of results. If you don’t already sit 95 or better - anything less than 100% focused effort is basically atrophy.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Today we are going to be talking about an article titled, “Josh Hader's Fastball Is Baseball's Most Mysterious Pitch,” which was published on @FiveThirtyEight last year and was written by @Travis_Sawchik .

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Averages for last 2 live ABs per Rapsodo: 4FB - 92mph 2614 RPM CB - 75mph 2787 RPM SL - 81mph 2845 RPM Both breaking balls get over 3000 RPMs at times.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Getting pumped for the @ABCA1945 Convention. Excited to get to Dallas next week! Hope to meet and talk shop with a bunch of you. #ABCA2019

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

6 years

Season has officially ended as of last night. Not the way we would have liked it to finish but I cannot be prouder of what we did. Finished 34th in the country in ERA. Led both sides of the MAC in ERA & strikeouts. Conference Pitcher Of The Year. Conference Rookie Of The Year.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Dillon Tate with his first live ABs down at @DrivelineBB Arizona! 🔥 SI stuff+ of 145 🧹 SL averaged 14 inches of sweep ✂️ CT in the upper 80s 🎯 CH command was good Making progress.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Not a bad time to announce a new hire! Extremely excited to have @brandonmmann joining us. A great addition to an already stacked team. Brandon is an OG trainee, former MLB, NPB and CPBL pitcher as well as an experienced coach. He is going to immediately make an impact for us!

Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

Over the last ~12 months, the @DrivelineBB pitching department has lost a tremendous amount of coaching talent to professional and college baseball. And still…2021 was a historic year and we had the best athlete results in the company’s history. How is that possible? ⬇️⬇️⬇️

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 months

@TreadAthletics I’ll never understand this disconnect. How are you going to pitch at 97mph if you don’t throw 97mph first?

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Better places to work on pitching mechanics:

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

5 years

Always cool to see the hard work pay off for remote trainees. Extremely diffifult to go to battle each day alone with nobody to hold you accountable but yourself. The athletes on our remote platform that truly put in the work can make some significant improvements. #lovetoseeit

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

4 years

Lastly, I recently created a video for a remote trainee to help him with the drill but also illustrate this point. Wanted to share some of it. Thanks to @Berticushill for providing me the video to use.

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Bill Hezel

@billhezel

2 years

This breaking ball was 89.9mph. It had 6.2 inches of sweep and -6.4 inches of vertical break. 🤯🤯🤯

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