Driveline R&D Podcast Anthony Brady

Fun episode this week that gets into the nitty gritty of one of Driveline's fastest growing products - Driveline Academy! Had Jeremy Tecktiel, Asst Dir of Dirveline Academy (past TRAQ Project Manager for the software heads in audience!), come on and talk the tradeoff of teaching kids to throw and hit harder versus prioritizing winning as many games as possible at the youth level as well as the trials and tribulations of getting such a large and complex product off the ground...now in multiple locations! (WA & AZ) Also swapped loose stories of both of our mascot backgrounds and trivia triumps (or lack thereof!).



Timestamps:

0:00 Intros & Light Degen Talk

3:03 Jeremy's Background & Academy Product

6:05 On Field Challenges for Driveline's Academy Team...Sure we're hitting/throwing harder but how do we handle bunts??

10:20 Balance Value of Future Player Dev'l vs Winning Games Right Now

12:20 Communications & Expectations with Parents

17:45 Current Academy Team and Tryouts Construction

30:58 Driveline Academy's Unique Warmups (Which Plyos Do We Use?)

33:53 Value of Massive High Fidelity Youth Datasets (MoCap, Pulse, Blast, etc)

38:51 Jeremy's Background As A Mascot!!

41:45 Cara's Background As A Mascot!!!

46:15 Jeremy the TriviaMaster

53:10 Harry Potter Trivia Story + Extended HP Rambling

1:05:44 Driveline Academy in AZ

1:13:45 Training the Youth on Defense

1:17:05 Training Youth Command + Youth Umpire Stoies (Including Jeremy being tossed!!)

1:22:00 Academy Strategy on Breaking Balls



Twitterz:

Alex Caravan: https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan

Jeremy Tecktiel: https://twitter.com/jeremytecktiel

Banger quad epi when ya boi wasn't on the edge of his seat trying to get into frame (made a snap decision on not messing around with the camera and was running low on time, plus figured Aydt, Stokey and Herzie were good looking enough to man the stage) -- we talked about a loooot of goodies from Herzie's experiences overseas, DL first impressions and running pro sales, along with the Hitting Dept MLB Hitting Product evolution and why smash factor balls are selling like hot cakes! And in a segment that'll fire up Kyle Boddy, Cara shares some inside Driveline Winter Meeting story memes... :shushing-finger-emoji:


Timestamps
0:00 Intros + Wine/Napa talk

5:20 Herz's background + KBO talk

8:00 Herz's Initial Exp/Impression with DL

9:40 Past Biz DL deals with KBO + Herz's Time W/ Dodgers

13:55 ChatGPT answers

15:25 Hitting Dept Evolution over last year

21:00 Driveline's MLB Product on Hitting Side

24:25 Hi-Speed Machines More Common Now?

30:15 Cara Tells Boddy's fave Winter Meetings Stories/Memes

33:55 Driveline's Advantage Plan Offering + Lars Nootbaar Success Story

39:16 Recovery/Health Based Approach to Coaching MLB Hitters

42:45 History and Success of Smash Factor Balls

52:45 Herz's Impression of Seattle

Twitterz:

Alex Caravan: https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan

Tanner Stokey: https://twitter.com/Tstokey

Andrew Aydt: https://twitter.com/AndrewAydt

Josh Herzenberg: https://twitter.com/joshherzenberg

Had Driveline's new Director of Pitching, Chris Langin, on to talk how much the MLB Product has exploded, the overall department growth and responsibilities that come with being a Director, what pitchers are saying about the pitch clock and its effects + just how popular the Sweeper is going to get! Also check out the video version for Langin's beer bottle opening skills...we also made up for the podcast break with some very quality rural/urban parallel degen drink talk!



Timestamps:

0:00 Intros + Langin almost opens a beer bottle with his teeth!!

3:03 Kershaw Curve still dicing?

7:57 Degen drink talk throwback

13:25 Langin on animals + Growing up in Nebraska

19:00 Langin as Dir of Pitching

31:35 DL Pitching Dept Growth

39:45 How Langin and DL Pitching approaches MLB Advance Scouting

45:25 Insider View on MLB Pitchers reacting to rule changes?

48:30 BABIP Victims: Jansen, Brash???

53:30 Common Fan SSS reactions + NBA playoffs talk

1:00:00 Sweepers and Slurves as new PT's -> effect across the league?

1:11:00 Going out (not) in AZ...Angels GM sighting out in the wild?



Twitters:
Alex Caravan -- https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan
Chris Langin -- https://twitter.com/LanginTots13

Had Mitch Viydo, past Driveline trainee and Player Development Coordinator and Chief of Immaculate Training Floor Vibes. Shot the shit talking about his cup with the MS, winning the NBC World Series with the Seattle Studs, the upcoming rule changes (chatter puts the D more than the R in Research & Drinks, be warned), and some good ol' Driveline nostalgia reminiscing. May or may have had to make a couple of cuts in there! *insert that one emoji withe the monkey covering its mouth*


Timestamps:
0:00 Intros

3:00 Mitch Playing Background

5:37 Mitch with the Ms Organization

12:09 Mitch's career with the Seattle Studs

16:40 2109 NBC World Series Win + Brady broken rib

22:28 Hunting down the right location for the AZ facility

26:10 Pitching In Crocs

27:40 What Can Mitch Throw Right Now?

29:15 Hot Takes on 2023 MLB Rule Changes

36:15 Impact On Fan Interest

40:15 Shift Ban Impact On Strategy

45:35 How Cara Started At DL

54:30 Mitch Starting In Gym Ops + Driveline Nostalgia Talk

57:30 Mitch Contractor Stories (Behind The Scenes On The TF Product)

Twitters:

Alex Caravan -- https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan

Mitch Viydo -- https://twitter.com/mviydo

Had the legend Gary on -- will fill out this description more and drop timestamps when I'm not running late to a rendezvous (aka Tuesday morning). But v fun one talking about the research we've done on catcher framing, how Driveline trains catchers, the changing perception on catchers, Driveline's current Hitting Assessments and some throwback CR story classics from the Massage Ball to the Cod ;)   



Timestamps 

0:00 Intros 

2:30 Gary's Intro to DL 

4:25 Driveline's OG Hitting Environment 

8:07 Driveline 2023 Hitting Training Approaches and Drills 

13:08 The State of Catching Research and Training  

16:13 Exchange vs Ball Flight Time 

20:57 Low Hanging Fruit on Position Player Throwing and Workload 

22:55 Do Catchers get the yips?? 

25:25 What's Hard To Catch? 

28:28 Driveline's Behind The Scenes Framing Research 

34:24 One Knee Getting More Popular? 

38:00 Statcast Catching Metrics & Mainstream Framing WAR  

41:22 Favorite Catchers + Brad Penny callback 

45:10 Driveline Customer Relations Legendary Stories 

57:50 Force Plates re: DL Hitting



Twitters: Alex Caravan -- https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan Maxx Garrett -- https://twitter.com/XX_Garrett

A bit of a different pod this week -- had my friend and colleague-in-data Jason Lieb of MMAI Fight Analytics, or the early Driveline (data-driven disruptor) of MMA on. Jason's been leading the drive on investigative journaling in the seedy world of the fight business as well as deep data dives in strike by strike analysis -> we've collaborated in the past on some MMA data analysis, but we spent a good chunk of this wide ranging podcast talking about the UFC's gambling problem, modern day loopholes in MMA regulation, an in depth look at Jon Jones's career and this weekend's return against past UFC Heavyweight Interim Champ Cyril Gane, as well as a lightning fast breakdown of the rest of UFC 285. Meant to talk more baseball but had too much fun chopping it up on the UFC side and ran out of time -- let me know what you guys think of this episode and if you're interested in more cross-sports pods!



Timestamps:  

0:00 Intros 

1:27 Jason starting MMAI + MVP Machine Inspiration 

4:00 The UFC's Gambling Problem 

14:00 UFC Wild West 

20:13 UFC Turning 30 + Back to Gambling Problem and USADA Legitimacy 

26:50 Conor McGregor Transformation + Chandler Fight Prediction 

36:05 Jiri record breaking USADA tests 

37:32 Jon Jones's Return 

41:35 Jason's breakdown of Jones's style and progression 

57:53 Jones/Gane Prediction 

1:01:20 Future of UFC Heavyweight Division 

1:04:20 UFC 285 Picks  

Twitters: 

Alex Caravan -- https://twitter.com/Alex_Caravan 

Jason Leib -- https://twitter.com/mmai_analytics