Neal Heaton

by Neal Heaton When you look at the strikeout numbers for top pitchers, how many of them are at the top of the lineup? When you go to a big-time Division-I they are all legit hitters that batted in the middle of the order in high school. If you don’t develop your change up early in high school, you will get shellshocked. Many of the top pitchers on Long Island blow kids away, but it won’t be the same when you get to the next level. Coaches should be forcing their pitchers to throw changeups multiples times per game so they develop it. Stony Brook-commit Tommy Ventimiglia (Longwood 2021) discusses his change up grip pic.twitter.com/WZSc6hjmeq — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 20, 2021 For me, it didn’t click until I got to Miami when they started to turn aroun...

(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton is a 12-year MLB Veteran pitcher. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft in 1979 and is in the University of Miami’s Hall of Fame. He now gives pitching lessons at Play Like a Pro in Hauppauge, NY. The following words are his own.) A pitcher should be treated like a race horse–carefully groomed and you cannot accelerate that process. When a pitcher picks up the ball for the first time in January, they haven’t pitched off a mound for over two months. I tell my pitchers before I see them on the mound they should have done a bit of long-tossing. You should not be going from inactivity to a mound.   I took a lot of precautions to stay healthy in my career, and for that reason I landed on the DL only once–and it was a freak accident during BP while runni...

(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton spent 12 seasons in the Major Leagues as a LHP for several teams. He was named to the National League All-Star Team in 1990 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1979 MLB Draft out of Sachem HS. He opted to attend college at the University of Miami, where he set several program records and was named to their Hall of Fame in 1993. He is now a Pitching Instructor at Play Like a Pro.) Now that the 2022 season has come to an end. Now what should you do? Now is the time to give your body a much-needed break. When I was in the big leagues, I always took a two-week break after the season to let my body recover. After a long season, your body is feeling drained and warn out. After that, I began my strength program. Everyone should be on some s...

I had the pleasure of playing for Jim Leyland for three years. Sitting next to him was like going to Harvard for 12 years and studying baseball. I learned a lot from him and he taught me if you don’t hold guys on properly you will run yourself right out of the game. It is very important for pitchers to keep the running game in check and there’s several ways to do it. I will break it down for lefties and righties. Lefties: You have a huge advantage. As we saw from Jon Lester, you don’t even have to throw the ball over in order to prevent runners from stealing. Leyland told me the most important thing is being able to vary how long you hold onto the ball prior to your delivery. Base runners love seeing a pattern with how many looks you give and how many seconds you are in your set position p...

by Neal Heaton There were so many tough hitters that I faced in my career. I was lucky enough to face Hall of Famers like Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Reggie Jackson and Carl Yastrzemski. Believe it or not, the big power sluggers were not the ones that gave me the most trouble. I did pretty well against Ken Griffey (both of them), Don Mattingly and George Brett. The free swingers with long swings weren’t the problem. It was the guys with good bat control that could foul of tough pitches on two strikes. Here are some that come to mind: Wade Boggs – (Career Line: .328 AVG, 3,010 hits, 118 HRs, 1513 runs) He was the toughest hitter I ever faced. Inside-out hitters are the toughest to get out. I never faced Derek Jeter – but players like him that could take the inside pitch and hit it the other way....

The new CBA brought some new rules for 2022. As is usually the case, the pushback from the fans was swift. Neal Heaton, a 12-year veteran of Major League Baseball shared his opinions on some of the changes – he was lukewarm on some and adamantly against others. Rule Change: Universal Designated Hitter I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it makes the game easy for a manager – no more double switches. Like in the AL when they would put out 9 guys that can mash. It becomes very easy to manage. Takes the strategy out of the game. You get a lead, you bring in a set up man and then your closer. Now on the positive side, it means more jobs for guys.15 more teams. Some older guys can hit for another 3 years if they don’t have to play the field. Plus some pitchers r...

There was so many tough hitters that I faced in my career. I was lucky enough to face Hall of Famers like Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Reggie Jackson and Carl Yastrzemski. Believe it or not, the big power sluggers were not the ones that gave me the most trouble. I did pretty well against Ken Griffey (both of them), Don Mattingly and George Brett. The free swingers with long swings weren’t the problem. It was the guys with good bat control that could foul of tough pitches on two strikes. Here are some that come to mind: Wade Boggs – (Career Line: .328 AVG, 3,010 hits, 118 HRs, 1513 runs) He was the toughest hitter I ever faced. Inside-out hitters are the toughest to get out. I never faced Derek Jeter – but players like him that could take the inside pitch and hit it the other way.  Boggs would le...

I had the pleasure of playing for Jim Leyland for three years. Sitting next to him was like going to Harvard for 12 years and studying baseball. I learned a lot from him and he taught me if you don’t hold guys on properly you will run yourself right out of the game. It is very important for pitchers to keep the running game in check and there’s several ways to do it. I will break it down for lefties and righties. Lefties: You have a huge advantage. As we saw from Jon Lester, you don’t even have to throw the ball over in order to prevent runners from stealing. Leyland told me the most important thing is being able to vary how long you hold onto the ball prior to your delivery. Base runners love seeing a pattern with how many looks you give and how many seconds you are in your set position p...

(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton is a 12-year MLB veteran pitcher. He was the 1st overall pick in the 1979 MLB Draft out of Sachem HS. He opted to attend the University of Miami where he set several program pitching records including most victories in a season (18), most victories in a career (42), most strikeouts in a game (23), most strikeouts in a season (172) and most strikeouts in a career (381). His number is now retired by the school. He was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 2nd round of the 1981 MLB Draft. He now gives private pitching lessons at Matt Giuliano’s Play Like a Pro in Hauppauge). Recently I’ve had a number of parents call and mention that their son’s velocity is down and not performing as well as they’d hope. It’s frustrating for s...

There was so many tough hitters that I faced in my career. I was lucky enough to face Hall of Famers like Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Reggie Jackson and Carl Yastrzemski. Believe it or not, the big power sluggers were not the ones that gave me the most trouble. I did pretty well against Ken Griffey (both of them), Don Mattingly and George Brett. The free swingers with long swings weren’t the problem. It was the guys with good bat control that could foul of tough pitches on two strikes. Here are some that come to mind: Wade Boggs – (Career Line: .328 AVG, 3,010 hits, 118 HRs, 1513 runs) He was the toughest hitter I ever faced. Inside-out hitters are the toughest to get out. I never faced Derek Jeter – but players like him that could take the inside pitch and hit it the other wa...

You only get one shot at this. For me it was in 1979, when I was a senior at Sachem High School. When you have dreams of getting drafted, you have to learn how to make sacrifices. That means staying in when you’re friends are going out. It could mean not going to prom. It means not going to the beach when your friends are. Not many kids now want to make the sacrifices necessary or put in the work. If it’s raining, that’s no excuse not to run outside. In fact, that’s the best time–because most likely nobody else is getting that work in. You need to have the mentality that you’re trying to get a little bit of an edge. That’s really what it takes to have success at the higher levels. It means doing more things that involve the game of baseball–running, fielding, throwing. When it comes to soc...

(Editor’s Note: Neal Heaton is a 12-year MLB Veteran pitcher. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft and is in the University of Miami’s Hall of Fame. He now gives pitching lessons at 365 Athletics in Bellport, NY. The following words are his own.) A pitcher should be treated like a race horse–carefully groomed and you cannot accelerate that process. When a pitcher picks up the ball for the first time in January, they haven’t pitched off a mound for over two months. I tell my pitchers before I see them on the mound they should have done a bit of long-tossing. You should not be going from inactivity to a mound. I took a lot of precautions to stay healthy in my career, and for that reason I landed on the DL only once–and it was a freak accident during BP while running sprints. Here a...