Jon Matlack is currently the Minor league pitching coordinator for the Detroit Tigers organization. It is what’s referred to as a "roving" job as he travels from city to city visiting the farm teams and keeping tabs on all the prospects in the organization. In early February coach Matlack heads south to Lakeland Florida for spring training where he is basically responsible for organizing and running the camp for all the pitchers. He is making sure that the guys are being properly prepared for the level and standard the organization is expecting from each player that year. Once camp lets out and players are assigned he oversees the progress of each pitcher as it relates to the season long development plans.
     Prior to working with the Tigers Matlack spent 12 years in the Major Leagues, 4 1/2 in the minors and too many years in Little League, Junior High, High School and Legion ball. At the age of 17 he was drafted, and considering the average life-span of a pro player is 4 years and only 1 of 10,000 actually make it to the pros; Jon Matlack did pretty well for himself.

Longevity
     To what does he attribute his longevity? Aside from the usual necessities of having a durable body and maintaining a consistent strength and flexibility regimen, Matlack attributes much of his long-term success to possessing a "Tenacious" attitude. "The willingness to do whatever it took to compete and be a success and let nothing stand in your way. Whether it was spending hours and hours learning a minute detail of a grip or release, studying a hitter to understand every nuance he had or just working past the occasional physical pain that comes from playing. You have to be very self directed and motivated to want to reach a certain level of excellence."
    Matlack points out that only 25 years ago each minor league team had only a manager and a trainer. "Maybe you saw a pitching coach 10 days per year. Your manager was always busy, either hitting fungoes or throwing BP and you had nobody out there to turn to quite often." Today the scenario is quite different as there are up to three coaches, a trainer and a conditioning coach to boot. It’s easier to find guidance and obtain critical feedback. You still need to be motivated and want to compete, that has not changed at all.

What determines a pitcher's development in the minor leagues?
     In the competitive word of professional sports, you might think that talent is everything. Think again. Unfortunately this is not always the case. According to Matlack, guys get a shot based on two things. Number 1 is where you were drafted and how much money you were paid. The second reason is how much raw talent and ability you showed and to how many scouts. "It’s not necessarily a fair system. A guy who is drafted low or not at all does not have as much money invested in him as a Top 5 pick. He might get 2 years to show that he can play and the player with all the money and high opinions surrounding him will get 5 before he is released.
     If a scout tabs a guy as can’t miss and the team invests beaucoup bucks based on his evaluation, his professional reputation is, in part, on the line and he will lobby for "his pick" all the way. It makes the scout look good if the player succeeds. And conversely it makes him look bad if the player fails.

What does Matlack look for in the player he coaches?
     "THE ABILITY TO COMPETE". What lies beyond the fluid mechanics, 90-mph fast ball, and MVP trophies is the true barometer of  the pitcher. It’s the ability to take risk. To "Put it on the line and step outside your comfort level and risk failure by doing something new and realizing that the only way to improve long term is to risk failing in the short term."
     Matlack looks at each individual he deals with and determines what type of person he is dealing with. "I want to see if I have a self-starter, or an un-motivated individual-there are all different types. From that you determine your approach. The bottom line is the ability to Adjust, Adapt and Overcome. This is the essence of competing. Some guys have this off the bat, others have it but might need some polishing to bring it out and others don’t have it at all."
     As the coach Matlack must approach each pitcher in the organization as a unique individual therefore his style is not of the cookie cutter variety. Mostly he observes the player for a while before offering any coaching advice. What he wants to build up is trust. The player must have trust in Matlack before he is willing to take the advice that will incur a certain amount of risk and potential failure.
     "If you are and 18-19 year old who has had a lot of success doing things the same way since you were 12, and someone tells you it’s no good anymore, and you have to try it this way or that way, you are going to have a lot of emotions. Fear, suspicion, and doubt being among them. If you don’t trust me you still might try what I am telling you, but if you fail all the blame will be on me. Even though many times these kids fail in the short run, they succeed in the long run, after they make adjustments. For them to stick it out, most likely fail at first and persist, they need to trust me."
     According to Matlack it’s impossible to scout this type of attitude and intellect. To a point he can instill that type of approach, depending upon the athlete. The player must be able to adjust and grow. Adjust to the challenges, which he previously was able to get past on ability alone. Grow by developing other skills and resources, which had been previously untapped or dormant. How does a player cope with stress? Hoe does he respond to game situations? How does he handle emotional and psychological obstacles? This is what Matlack wants to know.

Bottom Line.
     If a player is willing to turn over every stone which lies on the path to his goal, then Matlack can work with him. If the player is afraid to risk (stubborn, will not budge, not teachable), then he is less of a prospect and future development will be thwarted.
     More then anything Matlack wants to know what makes you tick as a person. Your personality is what he is after. "Of course you want to see the fluidness of motion, coordination, good arm slot, mechanics etc., but anybody can see those things. What I really wants to know about is how the player will react under fire, his willingness to be challenged, ability to risk failure to get better and basically will he step outside his box of comfort to make the change that will propel him to the next level. At the major league level most people are equal in term of raw ability. The difference is in the mental, emotional and intellectual make-up of the athlete."
     "Some teams have started pre-draft testing which involves extensive interviewing and some pen and paper inventories which will test specific personality traits. The shortcomings of this are the willingness of the prospect to take the exam for fear of an unfavorable evaluation and a loss of value in the draft and the reliability of the test. Can you truly measure heart? These tests might offer some insight into the individual, but they are not evolved enough to stand as the decisive variable which determines who a team drafts and commits $2 million dollars to."

Talking Mechanics.
      What are the motion muscles? According to Matlack, throwing a baseball at 90 mph from 60 ft. 6 inches is the equivalent of throwing a 29-lb. object! The cornerstone of any successful pitcher is 1. Quality mechanics- Uses the big motion muscles, 2. Good arm slot, and 3. Conditioning.
     Matlack looks the motion from the ground up. Energy flows up as it is generated forward. You land forward at 6x your body weight, no matter how big or small you are. The trick is how efficiently you can get that body weight out there each time. The more efficient you are, the less energy you use to generate the force which leads to the landing weight of 6x your body weight.

Developing A New Pitch.
     When asked how a high school player should approach developing a new pitch, Matlack gave a surprise answer. "Don’t try!" he said. In Little League a player should throw a fast ball and a change-up. When you move to 60 ft now you can try a curve, slider or slurve occasionally. Primarily you want to be able to locate the fast ball, changes speeds with the change-up and mix in a breaking ball occasionally.
     "Teaching a new pitch is easy. I or any member of my staff can teach you all you need to know about a new pitch within one season. Teaching a fast ball is impossible! It must be developed from a young age. The fast ball is the basis for all other pitches that you will throw. Learn to throw the fast ball as good as you physically can. Be able to locate it down to the minutest location. Not just the catchers mitt, but a specific location in the mitt. Every time you play catch you should aim for a very specific spot, a letter on a jersey, the guys eye etc. this is the only way to develop the focus you need to master control. This ability gives you a psychological advantage in knowing you can locate that one pitch whenever and wherever you want to. It’s a feeling of security."
     "A pitcher wants to develop a 2 pitch or 3 pitch sequence that works to have the hitter put the ball in play w/o hitting the fat part of the bat. You want the hitter to go after your first, 2nd or 3rd pitch and get an out. There are times when you want and need a strike out, but not every batter-it’s too much work and you will be lucky to make it past the 5th inning. The key is simply keeping the batter off balance by changing location and speeds so they do not hit the center of the ball with the center of the bat. Let him get himself out. Use your fielders."

Matlack, Seaver, Koosman, Ryan- That’s some staff.
     When asked what traits he admired in other players, Matlack looked no further then the same Met pitching staff he was a part of. "That was a staff that knew how to compete and was willing to do whatever it took to be successful and put zeros on the board. We all fed off each other and it snowballed into not wanting to be the one who was the weak link. It’s easy to focus when you have to follow greatness and it became a very professional approach to putting up the zeros. I would do what ever I had to, to work on an aspect of my deliver or the details of the grip on a specific pitch. No matter how long it took, or how much work I needed to do I was willing to do it and so was the rest of the staff."

When is a player ready to be promoted to the next level of competition?
     "Nobody is un-hittable at any level but you can master the level of competition at some point. We want to move a guy up when he is no longer challenged by the competition and needs to be taken out of his comfort zone and get tripped up a few times." Again we are looking at the players ability to Adjust, Adapt and Overcome as was mentioned earlier. This ability is the cornerstone of success at every turn in a player’s career."
     "This type of promotion schedule is ideal and does not always happen in a clean cut manner. A player might get injured or traded, creating a need to pull a player up, ready or not. Say he goes up and gets knocked around a lot. It could hurt his confidence; it could cause grumblings from other players who are wondering why it wasn’t them who got the call, etc. The usual politics that are found in the corporate world are found in baseball as well."

Compare the players from the warm and cold climate regions.
     "Usually the player from Texas, California, Florida AZ are more advanced at 18 coming out of HS then a player from Vermont or NY. But this does not mean it’s always a benefit. Because they have played more games and had more exposure they are usually more prepared. On the other hand their bodies are not necessarily younger after playing 7-8x more innings. Technically, a pitcher only has so many innings in his body over the course of a career. I am happy to have a guy with the same talent but who lacks experience. He is "greener" but the upside could be greater.

What’s a good way to develop and maintain a strong arm?
     "I always love long toss. And I don’t mean the kind of long toss that loops the ball over a long distance with a big loft. You always want to practice for what you are going to do in a game and if a pitcher throws with a big loft on the ball, then he has a very limited future!
     First thing is to get the body and arm completely warmed up and loose. Then start throwing on a line moving back as far as you can go while still maintaining a line drive. When you reach the point where you can just reach the other guy with the ball at head height on a line, stop. Using a crow hop and regular follow through, take 20-24 throws. This should be done 3 times a week in the off and preseason. During the season I try to have our guys do it a minimum of once between starts.
     There you have it Advisor readers. Right out of the mouth of a major league player and pitching development coordinator. Your job is to find the one or two things in this article that you relate to and apply them to your game plan. Good Luck.

Ray Lauenstein is the author of Baseball: Playing Outside the Lines and The Making of a Student Athlete.  He also holds a Masters Degree in Sport Psychology and gives seminars on Mental Skills Training and the Recruiting Process.  If you would like him to speak to your team, booster club or other group please contact him via the online form or call 1-617-835-1836.