What swing changes has Pete Crow-Armstrong made? Let's zoom... in and slow down Pete's swing. - Left: April (hands higher, top of bat facing dugout pre-pitch, small stride) - Right: June (hands lower, top of bat facing sky pre-pitch, bigger stride)show more

Man do we LOVE when swing changes work. Left:... Pete in early April starting with a flat barrel and his hands higher Right: In the midst of an 11-game hitting streak with his hands lower and his leg lift more appropriately timedshow more

We’ve seen guys like Judge, Stanton, Wells and others... tinker with their stances to get into a better hitting position to attack strikes in the zone. When a guy like Volpe has struggled to hit consistently for his first 3 years, is constantly late on mid-velocity heaters in the middle of the zone and is constantly off-balance when he misses the off-speed stuff; you think to take a look at his pre-pitch habits especially what he’s doing with his hands and stride, and consider eliminating some of the unnecessary movements to simplify things and be ready to attack a pitch in the strike zone sooner. Volpe starts with his hands high above his head with some waggle to probably keep his hands moving and stay in rhythm, then as he strides he drops his hands into the slot while he loads, then wraps his hands behind him as he strides and keeps his weight back on his backside. That front foot needs to get down early as he gets his hands back to be ready to smoke something in the zone. Why hasn’t someone suggested dropping his hands pre-pitch in his stance to get them into the slot early, keep them back to prevent wrapping, and cut out one less moving part to get him better ready to attack pitches in the zone? He can even still have some waggle back there if he prefers to keep his hands moving. In theory if his hands are down and back already, all he needs to do is get his front foot down in time? It’s worth a try lolshow more

Was happy to get my first look at SS... Rock Arnold (OSU Cowboy Baseball) down in Jupiter. Went 1-for-2 in the game I saw him and hammered a backside RBI triple. Recently re-classed into the C/O 2026. Listed at 6'1" and 190-lbs, Arnold has a lean, athletic frame with some length in his lower-half and present strength. Stands fairly tall in the box, small leg lift gives way to a normal stride. Hands will drift and drop a bit in his load that includes a barrel tip. Present bat and hand speed, slightly uphill swing path that's geared towards lifting the baseball. There's a degree of adjustability in Arnold's swing, and he's shown the ability to drop his back knee to help create leverage. Some swing and miss, particularly against secondaries, but Arnold's swing decisions were sound and he stayed within the strike zone in my look. Has shown he can impact the baseball—especially to the pull side. Arnold's athleticism is evident both in the box and on the dirt. Flashed an above-average arm on the left side of the infield with solid carry across the diamond. Didn't display the quickest first step on the play I saw him attempt to make, though he showed comfortability attacking the baseball. Figures to get the chance to stick at shortstop. When bucketing these players out, Arnold fits into a handful of them: He's an athletic, lefthanded hitting SS with present power and potentially more on the way. Definite name to follow closely this spring in the Northeast.show more

It’s been an outrageous weekend for Vanderbilt Baseball 2026... commit RJ Cope, a 6-foot-8 first baseman and lefty with top-of-scale raw juice from the left side at the plate. The big man is 10-for-16 with a homer, double, four walks to two Ks and three stolen bases. It’s a no-doubt power over hit profile but he’s done an outstanding job of waiting for his pitch and depositing it in gaps like in the video below when he put a defensive two-strike swing on a ball to cash in runs for his team in a critical spot. All of this and Cope is still new to hitting. His potential is off the charts with the bat.show more

Nick Dumesnil (California Baptist Baseball) has as much upside... as anyone in the 2025 draft. With question marks early on about how he'd fare against the top arms in the country on the Cape, "Doomey" proved quickly as one of the best players in the summer league circuit. His hands start high with the bat coiled behind his head. While a somewhat unorthodox approach, he's able to get his bat head up and hands lowered upon loading. It's an explosive operation with elite bat speed, averaging as much as 79.9 mph in the CCBL (per @Blast_Bsbl). It's a consistent swing making hard contact and driving the ball to both gaps (led the CCBL with 12 2B). The quick hip hinge allows for a powerful on-time rotation through the ball as he barrels the ball at a high clip (up to 30.4% this summer per Joe Doyle). Then there's the speed. Doomey set the Brewster Whitecap SB record with 26 (27 ATT) in 36 G. His 96.2% success rate is the highest in league history for someone with 20+ steals in a season (per League Statistician). He gets good jumps on the base paths and good reads off the bat defensively. There is some swing and miss to his game. He walks at an average rate (8.6 BB% in the CCBL) and struck out just 12.9% of the time in the WAC but that went up to 21.7% this summer. There's some chase low out of the zone vs break and did way more damage vs LHP (.435/.469/.783; .348 ISO) than RHP (.247/.333/.337; .090 ISO). A true five-tool talent, Nick Dumesnil made a name for himself this summer on the Cape, and will soon be at the top of many teams' draft boards next July.show more

I want parents to really think about this. Imagine... paying good money for lessons because you care about your daughter’s long-term development… and the first thing you’re told is that “swinging down isn’t correct.” Instead it’s barrel depth, elite path, and swinging up because “that’s what the pros do.” That’s where development goes backwards. Most young athletes aren’t broken they’re underdeveloped in movement. They don’t understand shoulder angles, how to get on top of the ball, situational hitting, or how the body actually organizes a swing. That’s not their fault. That’s instruction skipping steps. In my cage, athletes do not swing up first. They have to earn the right to swing up by first owning the down. We stay at the top of the zone, learn how to find the down, and teach how the shoulders orient the swing. The up isn’t cued or forced it’s a byproduct of correct movement. What floors me is how often kids, especially in softball, are taught to swing up immediately. How do you start middle-down and swing up in a sport where the ball is traveling on an upward plane? It makes no sense. Baseball and softball mechanics are the same the body doesn’t change. But instruction must start differently because pitch plane is different. Baseball breaks down. Softball rise spins up. If a softball hitter can’t control the down out front, they’ll never handle elite rise. Once control is there, the femur turns down, the torso gets pulled up, and the natural up shows itself. No forcing. No manipulation. I can post videos like this all day. I’m not teaching a “style.” I’m teaching how the body is designed to move. I’m demanding because parents invest real time and money, and I won’t waste either. If you want game swings that hold up to velocity and plane find the down!show more

Grip a club in your lead hand. Observe how... twisting your forearm changes the angle of the face. This is largely what controls where your ball flies. Small differences in this angle lead to huge changes in shot direction. This precision is not being trained in the gym with “golf exercises”. Poor control of this face angle is what leads to a whole host of swing issues. More so than physical limitations. For example, it is far more likely you come over the top in an effort to stop the ball going right because your face is wide open and you’ve seen the ball go right the last 5000 times than it is you lack hip or shoulder mobility. It would be beneficial for me as a trainer to say otherwise, but I just don’t believe it to be true. Use the gym to work on your physical capabilities. Improve your mobility, strength, and power. These are the things you are losing as you age. Leave the swing mechanics for your practice and golf lessons. If you try to “fix your swing in the gym” you will likely do a poor job of training your swing and your body.show more

1B/3B Max Jensen, Cornell Keep an eye on this... kid. Easy to fall in love with the long, athletic, 6-foot-3-inch frame. Clearly more strength coming into his upper half. Posted a .358/.455/.561 junior season. Parlayed that into a .386/.441/.648 showing in the NECL. Jensen has always shown hitterish traits with higher swing rates and above average bat-to-ball numbers. Swing doesn't have any glaring holes. He’s loose and adjustable in the box and seems to be able to get to anything. Despite his size, bat speed has never been a huge strength of Jensen’s, though it sounds like that’s been the emphasis this fall/winter. If he begins lifting the ball more frequently and getting to his pull-side like he’s capable, he’s got a chance to go inside the top-half of the draft as a priority senior. Primary first base, but sneaky athlete that looks passable at third base at this size. Just something about his film. Diamond in the rough/hidden gem type.show more

C Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma Baseball) is one of the... top college catchers in this year's Draft. Started from the get-go as a Freshman and hit .306/.346/.482 with 18 XBH and 48 RBIs. Proceeded to enjoy an outstanding Sophomore campaign to the tune of a .366/.406/.563 slash line with 31 XBH, 64 RBIs and 12 SB. Carmichael was then an All-Star and All-League selection in the Cape League after hitting .299/.372/.496 with 10 2B, 5 HR and 23 RBIs across 36 games. Prototypical catcher's frame at 6'1" and 200-lbs with strength throughout. Slightly crouched stance in the box with a high handset and the bat held horizontally above his back shoulder. Hands drift a little bit in his load, leg lift leads into a normal stride. Does a nice job of getting into his back hip. Average bat speed. Carmichael has an aggressive approach and digs into the box ready to hit. He uses the entire field and has a tick above-average bat-to-ball skills. Has shown the ability to drive the baseball into either gap. Could stand to tighten up his swing decisions a bit; chased at a 35% clip and was particularly susceptible to secondaries down and away. Present barrel skills. Would say his hit tool is a 50 right now, though it's probably closer to a 55. It's more extra-base hit and gap-to-gap power than it is HR power for Carmichael right now, but he has shown he can generate quality contact. Posted a Max EV of 109.5 during the spring and 104.2 on the Cape. If he can pull the ball in the air more (had an Air Pull% of just 20.8 in '24), it could lead to an increase in power production. 50 raw, it plays more like 45 in-game. It's been encouraging to see the progress Carmichael has made defensively. Has gotten better at corralling balls in the dirt and his transfers have gotten quicker. Best part of Carmichael's defensive skillset is his receiving. Soft and quiet, consistently works down to up and has a knack for stealing strikes. Doesn't stab at the baseball. Average arm strength, continuing to shore up his footwork will only help as it pertains to controlling the running game and delivering accurate throws down to bases. A nice cherry on top to Carmichael's profile is that he's far from a clogger on the bases. By no means a burner, but he'll pick his spots to steal a bag. Carmichael has an intriguing toolset and profiles as a 2nd-4th round pick this July. (📽️: Oklahoma Baseball)show more

When strangers become big sisters in seconds. GPT Image... 2 + Seedance 2.0 on Renoise prompt Create a clean, professional Pixar-style 3D character sheet of a 6-year-old girl, highly detailed, vibrant colors, polished family-friendly animation style. Character Description: Adorable 6-year-old girl with soft dark wavy hair tied in a cute high ponytail with a small pink bow. Big sparkling brown eyes, round expressive face, rosy cheeks, small button nose, and a warm friendly smile. She has a healthy, energetic child body type suitable for a 6-year-old. Outfit: Bright yellow t-shirt, light pink shorts, white ankle socks, and colorful small sneakers (blue and pink accents). Character Sheet Layout: A single clean vertical character sheet with multiple views of the same girl arranged neatly: Top Left: Full-body front view, standing naturally with hands on hips, smiling confidently. Top Right: Full-body 3/4 angle view, showing depth and personality. Middle Left: Full-body side profile view (facing right). Middle Right: Full-body back view. Bottom Center: Large close-up of her face showing 4 different expressions in small circles — Happy smile, Surprised, Shy/embarrassed, and Excited/grinning. Bottom Right: Small extra details — close-up of her ponytail with bow, shoe details, and hand poses. Style & Quality: Beautiful 3D Pixar animation style, smooth rounded shapes, expressive eyes, soft realistic textures, vibrant yet soft lighting, clean white background with subtle light shadows, highly polished, professional character design sheet, perfect proportions, studio quality, sharp details, warm and wholesome feel. 16:9 aspect ratio, ultra-detailed, cinematic lighting. #RenoiseCanvasshow more

The past few days have been nothing short of... extraordinary! Huge thanks to Tim Cahill AO & Chris Cahill for your incredible generosity and for giving me the once-in-a-lifetime chance to take the field alongside you. Standing on the pitch, facing off and marking the legendary Ronaldinho, what a dream come true! Shoutout to all the incredible ⚽️ stars who made this match unforgettable. And as much as I loved my goal landing in the top right corner 😎, the real highlight was seeing the kids light up when Tim and Ronaldinho signed autographs. Moments like these are priceless. Can’t wait for the next one, legends! 🙌 Chris Cahill Mick Fanning Wilkshire_luke Shane Smeltz Sydney Beer Co.show more

Most runners under-load their calves. Heavy calf raises fix... that. Runners usually do bodyweight single-leg raises and call it done. But your Achilles tendon takes massive load every stride. Bodyweight isn't enough stimulus to make it stronger. Heavy load is what drives the adaptation. I do these on leg day. 50kg in the hands, standing on a plate so my heels can drop below the toes. Focus points: → Full range of motion. Heels drop below the plate at the bottom, full extension at the top → Slow on the way down. (~2 seconds.) → Go bilateral when loading heavy. Single-leg has its place, but two legs lets you put real weight through the tendon → Don't rush the rep. This isn't a calf burner, it's a strength lift 3 x 8-10 reps. Train your calves in the gym so they can handle what running demands.show more

1B Anthony Martinez (UCI Baseball) is an intriguing college... bat to keep an eye on this season. Was one of the best Freshmen in the country in '23 and posted a gaudy .394/.471/.619 slash line with 19 2B, 11 HR and 60 RBIs. Enjoyed another productive season last year and hit .316/.422/.492 with 18 2B, 9 HR, 74 RBIs and more BB (36) than Ks (29). This summer he did what very few players do nowadays, which is start on the Cape, leave for Team USA and finish out the summer on the Cape. At 6'3" and 230-lbs Martinez is plenty physical with present natural strength. Stands upright in the box with a slightly open front side and a medium-high handset. Relaxed setup. Martinez has a rhythmic load that includes a small barrel tip. Minimal drifting of his hands and is a small-strider. It's a compact operation in which he consistently takes a direct path to contact. Real hitterish look. Martinez has a bit of an interesting profile for his position in that he's a hit-over-power guy. He has a highly advanced feel for the barrel and double-plus contact skills. Martinez in '24 worked an 86% overall contact rate and an eye-popping 96% overall IZ contact rate. All-fields approach and sprays line drives from foul pole to foul pole. Advanced pitch recognition skills and swing decisions, will sometimes expand the zone against secondaries down. However, it's far from a hindrance. Not afraid to get aggressive early in counts. Comfortably 55 hit for me. While it's hit-over-power, Martinez isn't without some thump. He can drive the baseball into either gap, though the vast majority of his HR power is to the pull side. Posted a Max EV last spring of 104.3. More XBH power than HR power. Would give it a 50. Martinez is without a doubt a 1B/DH type professionally, so you're buying the bat. Finished product physically, but I believe in the hit tool. 4th-6th round type for me this July.show more

One player I've really grown to like over the... last several months is OF Kane Kepley (Carolina Baseball). Started right away at Liberty where he hit .310/.457/.432 with 13 XBH, but had a breakout summer in the Coastal Plain League to the tune of a .339/.468/.546 slash line with 8 2B, 5 HR, 26 SB and 29 BB to 11 Ks. Carried that momentum over into last season and hit .330/.482/.521 with 12 2B, 9 HR, 25 SB and an impressive 53 BB to just 27 Ks. Kepley then proceeded to have a productive summer on the Cape in which he was named an All-Star. Compact build at 5'8" and 165-pounds with sneaky strength packed into his frame. Crouched stance in the box with a medium-high handset and slightly open front side. Kepley has a minimal load and utilizes a toe tap that leads into a normal stride. With two strikes, Kepley will widen his stance and sit deeper in his base, choke up a bit, and shorten his stride in order to maximize his chances of moving the baseball. Quick hands with present bat speed. Will drop his back side to help create leverage. Overall, it's a compact operation in which he takes an efficient path to contact. Kepley's bat-to-ball skills and hand-eye coordination are outstanding. Last spring at Liberty, he boasted a 90% overall contact rate and a 93% overall IZ contact rate. It was a similar story this summer, as he ran an 89% overall contact rate and a 94% overall IZ contact rate. Kepley's pitch recognition skills and approach are both highly advanced and he rarely expands the strike zone. On the Cape, his overall chase rate was a minuscule 13%. Kepley has high-level barrel skills, a trait that is on display day in and day out. His bat control and adjustability are also advanced. Kepley is capable of using the entire field, but his highest quality of contact does come to the pull side. Hit tool is comfortably a 55, but it's closer to a 60. Kepley without a doubt is a hit-over-power profile, but there is a little bit of thump to the pull side. Has shown the ability to turn on pitches on the inner-half and drive them to the PS. For a player with this kind of profile, he posted respectable Max EVs of 106.1 and 101 during the spring and summer, respectively. Below-average power, but he'll run into a ball on occasion and hit 10+ HRs this spring. Not only is Kepley a plus runner, he most importantly knows HOW to run and get the most out of his legs. Quick first step and really advanced baseball sense both translate to the base paths where he's a chaos causer and speeds up the game for opposing teams. Kepley's speed also allows him to take an extra base on a ball in the gap or down the line. Across 179 games between college and summer ball, Kepley is 89-for-97 on stolen base attempts. Kepley this spring will rove CF for North Carolina. His speed and instincts plays at the position and he has gap-to-gap range with solid closing speed. Gets good reads off the bat. Kepley's arm is fringy, but his overall defensive skillset will give him the opportunity to prove he can stick at the position professionally. Versatile enough to play all 3 OF spots. Kepley is an old-fashioned baseball rat who plays at one speed. Selfless, high-energy player who can affect the game in a myriad of ways. A little reminiscent of Tommy Hawke. Top-5 round type this July.show more

INF Gavin Kilen (Tennessee Baseball) will be a key... piece within a loaded Tennessee lineup this season. Earned the starting 2B job as a Freshman and contributed, but broke out last spring to the tune of a .330/.361/.591 slash line with 23 2B, 3 3B, 9 HR and 41 RBIs. Kilen is slightly undersized and has an average build at 5'11 and 180-lbs. Some room to fill out and add ~10 pounds or so. Relaxed, slightly crouched stance in the box with a medium high handset. Minimal load in which his hands drift slightly, leg lift leads into a small stride. Short, compact swing and takes a direct path to contact. Above-average hand speed, it's an operation that's tailored towards spraying line drives all over the yard. Kilen is a hit-over-power profile with an aggressive approach in the box. He has plus bat-to-ball skills and his feel for the barrel is evident. Last spring, Kilen worked a 93% IZ contact rate, including 95% against FB. His aggressive approach and somewhat free-swinger mentality does lead to some chase up against FB and secondaries down, but it hasn't been a hindrance to his production. Kilen pounces on pitches in the zone and steps in the box ready to hit. Would give his hit tool a 55. It's more gap power than it is over the fence power for Kilen, but he did tap into some more impact last season. Part of that is due to getting the ball up in the air more: between '23 and '24 he increased his FB+LD% from 44% to 51%. It will always play as slightly below average (fringy), but he did post a Max EV of 108.5 during the spring and 101.4 this summer. Kilen's HR impact and highest quality of contact comes to the pull side. Vast majority of his XBH power comes on pitches in the bottom-half of the zone, which makes sense given his bat path. Has shown the ability to work from gap-to-gap. Kilen was Louisville's every day SS last spring, but he'll slide over to 2B this season for Tennessee. I actually think that's where he profiles best defensively as a professional, where he has an average arm with some range. After seeing him at SS for a couple of summers, his actions and clock translate better at 2B. Kilen is a day 1 type this July with top-55 overall upside.show more

In simple terms: The best hitters create power and... adjustability by using their trunk (rib cage and torso) efficiently. When the shoulders stay back a little longer, hitters gain two huge advantages: 👉They don't commit too early, which gives them more time to recognize and adjust to pitches. 👉They can create a bigger burst of speed when it's time to swing. Think of it like a rubber band. The longer you can keep tension without forcing it, the more powerful the release. For that to happen, the upper body and lower body can't move as one rigid piece. The pelvis starts and slows down at different times than the rib cage. That separation is what creates both power and adjustability. ❌Hitters who move everything together usually have to commit earlier and have fewer options when the pitch isn't what they expected. Power and adjustability aren't opposites—they come from the same ability to sequence the body correctly. Use this simple drill connecting a pvc pipe or long tube to the chest and practice your best range of motion every day before you hit.show more