Mike Mayers
MLB Free Agent
Eight-year MLB veteran right-hander Mike Mayers had a decision to make after being DFA’d by the Royals midway through the 2023 season.
Something wasn’t right. Even back into the 2022 season, he was feeling himself put in the work but just wasn’t making any progress with anything.
He decided it was time to train at Driveline, moving past the hesitancy he had always had about it.
“I thought Driveline was just a bunch of meatheads throwing the ball as hard as they could,” Mayers said. “That is what kept me away from it. But I was like, I’ve got nothing to lose at this point.”
He quickly found out his assumption was wrong.
Mayers had another assumption when he came to Driveline. He had experienced a velocity dip over the last couple years, and thought it was due to his lower half flying open during his delivery.
His initial motion capture showed the exact opposite – his lower half was perfectly fine, it was his upper half that was flying open.
It didn’t stop there. Mayers lacked hip-shoulder separation in his delivery, wasn’t using a lead leg block, and needed way more scap retraction.
He was happy to finally have some answers to his ailments over the last two-plus years, and some direction on how to fix them.
Driveline pitching trainer Eddie Yost took the information from Mayers’ initial motion capture and got him started on-boarding, mostly getting him used to a PlyoCare Ball routine and a normal throwing program.
After Mayers got comfortable with that, he assessed again and his velocity started ticking back up.
Mayers and Yost then started working on other things like the Rocker Drill, which forces Mayers’ lead leg out in front of him during his delivery, and the Janitor Drill, which forces him not to fly open with his upper half.
The isolated focus of each of those drills unlocked Mayers’ training in a big way.
“Every day something clicks a little bit more,” Mayers said. “I think a lot of that is [because] there’s intent behind every drill. You’re not thinking about so much at one point. You’re thinking about one thing during each drill you’re doing. I feel like that’s how you get the benefit of each one.”
On top of the mechanical fixes, Yost also suggested Mayers add a sweeper to his arsenal to help against right-handed hitters, as well as a new splitter.
He took to the sweeper right away, needing only a few bullpens to start feeling comfortable with the grip and how to spin it.
“Driveline has really taught me how my stuff plays and how it can get better,” Mayers said. “What came out of that was the sweeper…We started that first week, getting the shape and the hand placement and how to spin it, and then as the intensity picked up, just trying to hold that place. So far, I’ve gotten really good feedback.”
To Mayers, the dedication and honesty Driveline has shown him is what it’s all about. Not meatheads throwing as hard as they can.