January
Neal’s Knowledge: What Should a January Throwing Program Consist Of?
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 runnin...
