Minor League Workload Management
The greatest untapped advantage in MILB.
Throwing workload management across minor leagues
Anyone who has been around the minor leagues knows that the season is both incredibly long, but also fleeting. The daily work of the season, travel, and everything in between makes it feel like a marathon; but all too often the season is gone before you know it. Your slow start to the year bleeds into a sluggish first half, and then the next thing you know it's September and you haven't made the strides you need to make. As a Reliever, you often don't get to fully commit yourself to a throwing program, and spend each day taking it easy to prepare for that night's game in which you could or could not throw. You never really know your status, so you never get the freedom to work on much. You play catch to 120 feet every day, you spin some offspeed on the way in, and you never make the strides you need to make.
As a player, I always believed in the saying "It's your career", as in: you can do whatever you want, your throwing isn't impacting me as another player. But from an organizational standpoint, the untapped value of creating universal workload management is too great for you to ignore. The potential added benefit for an athlete, especially a young HS pick, to learn how to properly manage their workload could lead to an unbelievable measurable benefit in terms of added value to a MLB organization. Carry this out throughout 3-4 seasons and the benefit is substantial. Simply creating a major league starter who creates 1.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is roughly $9 Million in market value (it could lead to much more). Organizations can purchase the entire minor league a PULSE from Driveline for about $20,000.
The Good Players Need it the Most.
Too often, we see a player throwing the ball hard in a way that seems effortless and we view it as entirely a net positive. Being able to create velocity on command is a positive, but there are negatives associated with it. Just because a pitcher has incredibly efficient mechanics it does not mean that the throw puts less stress on the arm. The pitchers who can sequence up everything efficiently can put more stress on the arm because they can throw the ball harder without added effort. These throws feel effortless to the body, but the arm still carries the load. The more skilled the thrower, the more likely they are to throw a high amount of throws at a high velocity.
In the past, I have helped players try and monitor their workload to be properly recovered for their outings. Without a PULSE, you can monitor workload using a radar gun and count throws. It might be less precise and give you significantly less information, but it is better than letting guys blindly throw. On numerous occasions I have clocked guys on "easy days" flicking the ball 88+ mph from 90 feet, thinking they are just going easily through the motion. Both fortunately and unfortunately, it is easy for them. But their arm still keeps the score. They will end the day feeling fine and go into their outing the next day thinking nothing's wrong, only to have a subpar performance and feel flat.
Later down the road, these players will end up trying a PULSE. They will use it for a few weeks to get acclimated and then they will do the same easy day routine they did before, only to realize a massive spike in 1-day workload (1DW). They were supposed to have a recovery day that would be around a 6 or 7 on the 1DW, and throw as close to no high-effort throws as possible. However the result would be different, they would accumulate about 50 high-effort throws, and their 1DW would be almost an 18, the same workload associated with a 90% effort bullpen. They then go out the next day and perform sub-optimally. This time it makes sense why they don't feel great.
How do you stop this? By creating throwing programs built around your 1DW acute workload and comparing it to the chronic workload tolerance you have built up over the season and offseason. This is very simple for starters, you take their preset schedule and assign workload guidance to it. For their relief counterparts this takes some thought, but creating 3 pods of relievers for a minor league team can be an effective way of doing it.
Pod 1 is the leverage inning relievers. Most MILB teams have 1-3 relievers they view as potential leverage inning guys at the next level. These pitchers should pitch in the game at a higher frequency and a lower volume when they do so. Have these pitchers be ready for frequent appearances by keeping all throwing before practice below a certain workload. These arms don't need to worry about whether or not they are going to get innings, as they are the priority arms for the team and will throw.
Pods 2 and 3 will be the rest of the guys, who are not as high of a priority from the organization and might get 3-4 days between outings. This naturally works in their favor, as these guys can benefit from the added time between outings and turn it into improved performance. These arms need the most time to work on certain things like offspeed design, fastball shape, and velocity development. These are the same people who play catch to 90-120 every day and often need a nudge in the direction of trying something new. Pods 2 & 3 are the type to go 2+ innings at a time, so making sure to properly build up as a reliever and keep a chronic workload high enough throughout the season is vital.
Oftentimes, teams are so loaded with usable MILB arms that players can end up having 5 or 6 days between relief appearances. Simply wasting these 5 days between outings playing light effort catch every day, or maybe finally feeling like you need to throw substantially off the mound on day 5 can lead to a massive spike of 1DW right before your next outing. This creates a vicious cycle of lower performance and the accompanied overreaction from a workload standpoint as an attempt to recalibrate from your past outing.
As a coach of a team, you might not have the funding or capabilities to supply everyone with a PULSE. College baseball budgets can be a major constraint, and you will need to adapt. While you won't be able to see everything you can with a PULSE, walking around catch-play with a radar gun and monitoring workload that way is certainly better than nothing. As you make your rounds talking it up with all the guys, hold the radar up for a throw or two. If the numbers are good, don't even mention it. If their velocity is too high or potentially too low for a player who needs to accumulate some workload, inform them. This is a good way to hold players accountable, doing this will force them to not only have a plan for the day but also execute that plan in front of you. This process will probably create a lot of buy-in from your team, they will see that you have a plan for them to improve and know that you are paying attention to the little things.
This is a win across the board, and quite simple to implement. On a recovery day, take a player's maximum velocity, and don't let them come within 20% of it. Then monitor their performance and see if it needs to be adjusted. If they are trying to accumulate workload, maybe let them get to about 92% of their maximum velocity, a 90 mph thrower building to 82-83 can have a very good impact on chronics workload without breaking the bank for 3 days.
It takes creativity, but so does managing 15 pitchers throughout a season. Creating a system to hold them accountable is necessary for you to properly get the most out of everything they do. Want to go the extra mile? Create a whoop group with your players, monitor their recovery patterns, and collaborate with them to manually adjust their workload on a day-to-day basis. The player who got 3 hours of sleep will have completely different needs throwing-wise than the same player on a full 8 hours.
John