Cristian Mendez

Project NBA Tyson Ep. 2 Tyson sat around 87-88 MPH during the college season. This summer: ➡️ 91-93 MPH ➡️ T94 ➡️ PGCBL Pitcher of the Week The goal wasn’t chasing velocity. It was organizing movement. • Get the COM moving downhill. • Drop the COM and match the slope. • Catch and hold tension. • Stay behind the lead leg. • Build a stable landing position. • Rotate INTO foot strike instead of around it. When the body moves more efficiently, velocity becomes a byproduct. Stack quality days. Trust the process. #JustTalkingBall #PitchingDevelopment #PlayerDevelopment #Baseball #CGUnlocks

A lot of pitchers are late at foot strike not because the arm is “slow”… But because the body is moving faster than the arm can organize. And when the arm is outside of the “arm window” at front foot strike… The last 10% of the throw becomes extremely difficult. Now the throw starts turning into compensations instead of efficient movement. That’s why abbreviated drills matter. They: • Simplify movement • Improve awareness • Create cleaner timing windows • Help athletes FEEL what “on time” actually is Over time, they start programming the body to naturally organize into better positions without forcing movement. You can incorporate these drills on the slope or flat depending on the plyo day and throwing focus for the week. Stop trying to rush the arm up. Create better sequencing so the arm can work WITH the body instead of constantly playing catch-up. ☔️ — CG #JustTalkingBall #Pitching #PitchingDevelopment

Project NBA Tyson Ep. 1 ☔️ Tyson originally had almost zero drift and would get stuck on the backside early. A big reason? He was forcing an exaggerated vertical shin angle that didn’t match how his body naturally wanted to organize down the mound. Instead of moving athletically down the slope, he was artificially trying to stay stacked into the backside. Result: • Killed momentum • Disrupted sequencing • Inconsistent lead leg stabilization • Poor rotational organization Biggest focuses so far: • Earlier COM drift • Better backside direction • Improved tempo • Cleaner lead leg stabilization • Better connection with the rubber • Tighter rotational turns Big cue: “Stay behind the lead leg. Let the foot come down, then throw.” Tyson was QB1 in high school, so the athleticism has always been there. The process now is organizing and directing that athleticism more efficiently within the delivery. Only 2 sessions in. Still cleaning up: • Rubber connection • Rotational Planes • Getting into more powerful spots throughout the throw • Setting the body up to make a violent punch • Holding posture through rotation • Last 10% of the throw But he’s already moving more athletic, fluid, and explosive. A lot more left in there ☔️ — CG #JustTalkingBall #PitchingDevelopment

Hips limited in mobility? Struggling to hold positions down the mound? Start by addressing the hips and adductors. A pitcher can have elite arm talent, great intent, and still fight an uphill battle if the lower half isn’t functioning efficiently. The hips help create: • Direction • Stability • Rotation • Force transfer When the hips lack mobility, strength, or coordination, especially through internal and external rotation, the body starts searching for movement somewhere else. That’s when you start seeing pitchers: • Lose posture • Leak forward early • Spin off • Struggle to maintain strong positions down the mound One of the biggest areas affected is the back leg. The back leg isn’t just there to “push.” It helps control center of mass, create tension through the hinge/coil phase, and guide the pelvis into efficient positions moving down the slope. But when the hips and adductors are inefficient, the back leg angle becomes difficult to maintain. Instead of riding the slope with stability and direction, pitchers often: • Collapse into the quad • Lose pelvic control • Shift side to side excessively • Open early • Get forced into a “sit” position just to find balance and become stuck there A lot of this comes from: • Limited hip IR/ER • Poor adductor strength/control • Or trying to move in ways the athlete’s body simply doesn’t organize movement efficiently Some pitchers naturally organize movement better through internal rotation strategies. Others move more efficiently through external rotation strategies. Neither is wrong. The mistake is forcing every athlete into the same delivery instead of building around how their body naturally moves. If a pitcher naturally clears and rotates better with a more open landing strategy, forcing him closed can restrict pelvic rotation and kill efficiency. On the other hand, a pitcher who stabilizes better through internal rotation may need: • More direction • Longer hip containment • More closed landing strategies The goal isn’t to copy mechanics. The goal is creating efficient movement solutions that allow the athlete to: • Control center of mass • Maintain back leg angle longer • Create anchored tension • Improve hip/shoulder separation • Rotate powerfully without compensation • Transfer force more efficiently into the baseball When the hips and adductors function correctly, the delivery starts looking smoother because the body no longer has to fight itself to get into positions. Efficient movement creates efficient velocity. — CG #JustTalkingBall #Pitching #PitchDevelopment #PitchingMechanics

PROJECT MENDY — EP.1 🤺 Just getting home from college, a couple weeks ago, working with one of my college guys. Early on, he was extremely quad dominant and constantly trying to “sit” into the lower half. Instead of moving efficiently down the mound, he would sink into the back leg and get stuck over the rubber. That affected: • Momentum • Timing • Lead leg block • Energy transfer Biggest adjustment: We rebuilt how he controlled and moved his center of mass down the mound. Instead of forcing excessive depth into the back hip, we focused on allowing the center of mass to move earlier and smoother down the slope. We also adjusted his landing pattern slightly more open to match how his hips naturally wanted to rotate. That allowed: • Cleaner hip clearance • Better lead leg stability • Improved rotational sequencing • More efficient energy transfer Instead of forcing positions that didn’t fit his movement profile, we built the delivery around how his body naturally organizes movement. Result: Cleaner movement. Better timing. Easier velocity. — CG #Baseball #PitchingDevelopment #1%