Jays 2026 Thread

[Phil C. McNasty]

...im a little worried about Addison Barger and his larger physique now. I'm a little worried he's too musclebound and lacks the same flexibility. I've always been a big fan of his bat speed and plate coverage and I've posted about that here before he really showed the promise that he shows now… But the funny thing about baseball is that muscles are great, but you still need to keep your flexibility and reach. Sometimes being too musclebound shortens your reach therefore shortening your plate coverage. Or being too musclebound shortens your reach on pitching and shortens your extension

That never seemed to bother Mark McGwire or Jose Canseco

 

[onomatopoeia]

...im a little worried about Addison Barger and his larger physique now. I'm a little worried he's too musclebound and lacks the same flexibility. I've always been a big fan of his bat speed and plate coverage and I've posted about that here before he really showed the promise that he shows now… But the funny thing about baseball is that muscles are great, but you still need to keep your flexibility and reach. Sometimes being too musclebound shortens your reach therefore shortening your plate coverage. Or being too musclebound shortens your reach on pitching and shortens your extension… It's no coincidence that the hardest throwers have legs like tree trunks, and arms like spaghetti lol

They have been saying this for an eternity about baseball and the physiques required for peak performance.

Philip

Hank Aaron:



had very average-sized biceps. He also had super-strong wrists and 'Popeye' forearms.

Wayne Gretzky:



frequently had sand kicked in his face by muscle-bound jerks after being traded to Los Angeles.

 

[onomatopoeia]

These guys had a lot of hits, with no arm muscles to speak of.

 

[tml]

That never seemed to bother Mark McGwire or Jose Canseco

For those of us who are older, it never seemed to bother Greg Luzinski.

 

[Toronto Passions]

That never seemed to bother Mark McGwire or Jose Canseco

... yeah I know I get all that. I'm the furthest thing from a chemist or a personal trainer, but to the naked eye, it looks like Addison Barger is full of creatine, water weight type of thing… He just looks stiff to me. Although big, Canseco/McGuire/Bonds always looked like they had some form of swinging flexibility. To me Barger looks like he's having a hard time adjusting to his new weight.

Philip

 

[cowboy]

That never seemed to bother Mark McGwire or Jose Canseco

both of them had legs barger is all upperbody he needs a base for it to sit on his hips open up to soon now to compensate for the weight so he just muscling the ball.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

For those of us who are older, it never seemed to bother Greg Luzinski

Or Brian Downing. His nickname was the Hulk

 

[Toronto Passions]

both of them had legs barger is all upperbody he needs a base for it to sit on his hips open up to soon now to compensate for the weight so he just muscling the ball.

Baseball power for hitting and pitching all comes from your legs and providing torque and opening your hips. And timing that opening of your hips with your arms coming through.

When I pitched in the 90s baseball coaches in Canada didn't know shit about this. All they told you was "drop and drive" because they heard that being mentioned somewhere. All pushing off of your back leg accomplishes is your arm dragging behind and not doing anything about the torque and your hips opening. It's all about timing and using your legs to open your hips at the right time with your arm coming through. Too bad I was already in my 20s by the time I understood what that meant lol.

Philip

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Baseball power for hitting and pitching all comes from your legs and providing torque and opening your hips. And timing that opening of your hips with your arms coming through.

When I pitched in the 90s baseball coaches in Canada didn't know shit about this. All they told you was "drop and drive" because they heard that being mentioned somewhere. All pushing off of your back leg accomplishes is your arm dragging behind and not doing anything about the torque and your hips opening. It's all about timing and using your legs to open your hips at the right time with your arm coming through. Too bad I was already in my 20s by the time I understood what that meant lol.

Philip

I'd say 50% legs, 40% torso, and 10% upper body. Especially the external abdominal oblique.
The 3 best exercises to increase pitching velocity and batting power are:

1. Squats
2. Landmine exercises
3. Bench press

Landmine exercises for baseball players

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Muscles of the Torso - MBLEx Guide

Learn muscles of the anterior and posterior torso, including the origin, insertion and action (OIA) for the MBLEx. Our muscle tables provide a study guide and reference for massage therapists reviewing anatomy and kinesiology for the massage exam. Muscles of the chest, back, abdomen...

mblexguide.com

 

[cowboy]

Baseball power for hitting and pitching all comes from your legs and providing torque and opening your hips. And timing that opening of your hips with your arms coming through.

When I pitched in the 90s baseball coaches in Canada didn't know shit about this. All they told you was "drop and drive" because they heard that being mentioned somewhere. All pushing off of your back leg accomplishes is your arm dragging behind and not doing anything about the torque and your hips opening. It's all about timing and using your legs to open your hips at the right time with your arm coming through. Too bad I was already in my 20s by the time I understood what that meant lol.

Philip

in baseball hitting power comes from the hips as you said the torgue bonds was always the perfect example of this minus the ped use poor example I know, pitching power comes from your legs think clemens Huge tree trunk legs yes theres more but thats the basics, when I played ball in college it was all crouch and drive then when i got hurt i taught for Doyle in Florida and there was no crouch but monster leg kicks, same era difference coaching.

 

[Toronto Passions]

I learned much later than I wish I did… That it's not about push, pushing towards the plate, but rather pushing to open your hips when you throw at the same time. Total timing mechanism. Like an uncoiling.

Philip

 

[roadhog]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2042699041616670973

 

[roadhog]

Another W for Little today. 16 pitches, 9 strikes in his only inning.

Boxscore: https://www.milb.com/gameday/mets-vs-bisons/2026/04/10/816966/final/box?affiliateId=mlbcom-milb

 

[mburner]

Hank Aaron:

View attachment 574545

had very average-sized biceps. He also had super-strong wrists and 'Popeye' forearms.

Wayne Gretzky:

View attachment 574548

frequently had sand kicked in his face by muscle-bound jerks after being traded to Los Angeles.

Gretz was a freak, built more like a miler than a hockey player, especially with his leg length from hip to knee. Guess if you look carefully you can see there's some Hank Aaron strength in his forearms and wrist, though noting close to cement bag-lifters B. Hull and G. Howe. Hull even squinted like Popeye.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

I learned much later than I wish I did… That it's not about push, pushing towards the plate, but rather pushing to open your hips when you throw at the same time. Total timing mechanism. Like an uncoiling.

Philip

I think we are around the same age, do you remember the Labatt's Metro Major League in Toronto??

 

[onomatopoeia]

Or Brian Downing. His nickname was the Hulk

Downing had a long and productive career, and played regularly past age 40. Note where he played at different points in his career:



Someone with arms that big is going to have a difficult time throwing the ball any great distance. They almost have to throw sidearm, because their shoulder muscle bulging prevents the arm from reaching an over the top position.

Check out Brian Downing's career fielding stats. He has the best career fielding percentage for a left fielder in Major League Baseball history, and he didn't play once in the field in his last five seasons. He also had only 39 career outfield assists, and was part of only two double plays as an outfielder. This means he was throwing a runner out at 2nd or 3rd base every so often.

This fine physical specimen:



is former major leaguer Gabe Kapler. If you ask the average baseball fan who followed the game in the 1998-2010 period who Gabe Kapler is, most of them will say 'The teacher from Welcome Back Kotter'.

 

[Insidious Von]

For those of us who are older, it never seemed to bother Greg Luzinski.

Wasn't he Mike Schmidt's backup hitter in the line up?

I'm liking this new catcher Brandon Valenzuela, he's the anti-Kirksy. He's solid, soon they'll be saying Tyler who?

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Downing had a long and productive career, and played regularly past age 40. Note where he played at different points in his career:

View attachment 575333

Someone with arms that big is going to have a difficult time throwing the ball any great distance. They almost have to throw sidearm, because their shoulder muscle bulging prevents the arm from reaching an over the top position

Jose Canseco's fastball was clocked at 95 mph in his one and only pitching appearance:

Google Search

 

[onomatopoeia]

Jose Canseco's fastball was clocked at 95 mph in his one and only pitching appearance:

Two hits, three walks and three earned runs allowed in his only big league inning pitched. I could probably match those numbers, if I faced only left handed batters.

I played a lot of pickup games of baseball in high school. Right handed batters hit me hard, but I usually got the left handed hitters out. I didn't have much velocity, but my pitches had good horizontal movement. They would look like they were going to be over the plate, but they often drifted inside to a left handed batter, and outside to a righty. The left handed hitters often hit pop flies to the first baseman.

 

[Toronto Passions]

Jose Canseco's fastball was clocked at 95 mph in his one and only pitching appearance:

Google Search

I never realized he threw that hard. But I remember he caused himself a major injury from that.

Philip