When seasons wrap up, and the offseason begins, many fans might wonder how players continue to stay in shape and prepare for the next season. Here’s a look at the top five off-season training destinations for pros.
Some players prefer staying closer to their families, especially after a long season that begins in February and could last until November for some players. Most players will head to local gyms, private gyms, or training facilities nearby to help them stay in shape. Also, several players participate in events with their teams throughout the offseason, whether it is coat drives, food drives, or other local community events.
Another way that a lot of players will remain active is by joining one of the several winter leagues. There are leagues in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Colombia. Like any other sport, players continuously work out and perfect their craft as they prepare and develop for the following season.
One place that has gained tons of popularity over the past few years has been Driveline Baseball. Their main location is in Seattle, Washington, and they’ve opened two other locations in Phoenix, Arizona, and Tampa, Florida. They’ve had over 200 draft picks, seven of the last nine College World Series winners, over 100 MLB players, with 40 of them being All-Stars, five Cy Young Award winners, along with four MVPs. Two notable players that have trained with Driveline are recently signed Detroit Tiger Alex Cobb and 2024 1st Round Draft pick Travis Bazzana of the Cleveland Guardians.
Velo University is another training facility where pitchers will work on perfecting their skills. Velo University is located in Pleasantville, New York, and pitchers can send evaluations remotely or throw live in person. Some pitchers who have credited Velo University for helping them in their careers are Joe La Sorsa and minor leaguers Brandon Neeck, Gary Gill Hill, and Aidan Curry.
Another popular destination many pros will head to is Tread Athletics in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their program is mainly an online baseball training program in which coaches can formulate a plan for pitchers to work on improving their mechanics and velocity. Tread has had over 750 college commits, over 200 draft picks and signees, along with 25 MLB Debuts and six All-Stars. All-Stars Mitch Keller and Cole Ragans held very high praise for Tread Athletics helping them in their careers.
