Kaito Came to me in August for a mechanical consult. What I found right away was how much more athletic he was with a 9oz ball and how his relative velocity was 6mph harder than with a 5oz ball. Kaito went to work and integrated some weighted ball progressions and uphill throwing drills over the next three months.

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The video is from November when he hit a run and gun 98mph. Here is what I see in that video:
-Faster movement through the zone
-More athletic and level hip load
-Longer/more athletic stride
-Better timed arm action

However, there is still room to improve in two major areas:
-Efficient lead leg blocking
-Trail leg hip flexion

Much of Kaito’s mechanics have cleared up and he is now able to get much more velocity out of his body. The two breakdowns I mentioned above often happen when we see a big jump in velocity in a short time or strength is needed. For Kaito, I believe this is just a part of finding his new mechanics. Once he locks down the flat ground mechanics, I’ll want to see him progress to mound blends and then mound. This should take his 84mph fastball from August and get him to the low-90s quickly, then slowly tick up to the mid-90s as his current run and gun shows.

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