While working with the Angels, I ran into an interesting use case with the ArmCare System via the professional pitcher Joe Beimel.
At that time, he was coaching and running a high-performance training academy called Beimel Elite. He was past age 40 and technically in retirement, but he knew in his mind that he wasn’t done with baseball.
On top of being one of the hardest-working men in baseball, he adopted the ArmCare System into his training and unlocked some untapped potential. With the help of the ArmCare App, he was throwing harder than at any time during his MLB tenure and impressed the baseball world in 2021 by signing with the San Diego Padres at age 44.
If you recall, the San Diego Padres ran a hospital system chock full of TJ cases and set the record for surgical interventions in one season, with 11 pitchers on the 60-day IL.
That’s a boatload of money, and they rolled heads over it.
It was the first time in my life that I saw an MLB pitching coach fired due to an onslaught of injuries.
Don’t Call It A Comeback
The best word to describe Joe’s comeback is Pyrrhic. It means a significant and world-impact outcome due to a major demise.
I see a significant victory in reinstating Joe Beimel beyond the remarkable story of a guy who returned to support an MLB organization plagued by injuries. It shows the potential that a strength-focused training program can have on a player’s health and performance.
Joe was 44 years old and went from averaging under 90 mph to reaching the high 90s in bullpen sessions without a batter or stadium environment to ramp up his adrenaline.
But that display is for the fans and the scouts.
Most people don’t understand the precision it took to get there, which was achieved by using ArmCare.
Honestly, I questioned the use of the portable dynamometer before coming on board with ArmCare. I wanted to kick the tires on it, but seeing what happened with Joe, took me from skeptical to optimistic, and since joining the company, I am 100% convinced that you can gain velocity and maintain health at any age.
An anomaly, or is he?
Of course, there are intangibles behind the scenes that made this all possible. Joe has an incredible work ethic. He trains hard but also knows how to pitch and pace himself. And he doesn’t need to tap into that firepower unless necessary, and the velocity comes out easy and doesn’t increase his exertion levels.
So, maybe Joe is just exceptional and learned some things along the way?
I don’t know for sure, but I can say that at age 45 old, Joe is still not done. While he didn’t play in 2022, he continued his training to stay the course.
He reached out to me on a few occasions, and I started to unpack a new type of training that I refer to as expansion training.
It blends Olympic lifting and challenges the body by placing weight as far away as possible.
I’ve found that it has three primary benefits:
- Major Eccentric Focus
- Kinetic Chain Coordination
- Proximal Co-Contraction
Head here and learn more and then unpack these in detail in our Certified Pitching Biomechanist Course coming in 2023. It blends the world of dynamometry and motion capture, providing a biomechanically-specific way of training that I call “Strength and Coordination.” Stay tuned for more!
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