Photo: JJ Gouin - Getty Images
Baseball lockout
The MLB lockout appears poised to drag on through the holidays, with no discussions on economic issues planned until January at the earliest. For the vast majority of teams and players the work stoppage hasn’t reached the point where it has a tangible impact: Most players spend the winter away from their teams anyway and are only paid during the season. For a small handful of players, however, the work they’re missing right now could be a significant loss down the road.
Two years ago at this time, for example, Corbin Burnes had already been at the Brewers’ training facility in Phoenix for more than a month. Burnes was coming off a disastrous 2019 season and was in the process of revamping his arsenal with the hopes of getting his career back on track in 2020. The result was well-documented, of course: All that work in the Brewers’ “pitch lab” led to Burnes developing his trademark cutter, the pitch he threw more often than not during his 2021 National League Cy Young-winning season. Since that fateful offseason Burnes has a 2.34 ERA across 40 appearances (37 starts) and has struck out 322 batters in 226 2/3 innings.
Burnes’ situation is far from typical, of course, but the point remains: The Brewers have demonstrated the capacity to leverage technology to move a player from “completely lost” to “budding star” in the span of one offseason, provided that player is willing to put in the time necessary to make it happen. This winter, however, it won’t happen: During the lockout teams are forbidden from having contact with players on their respective 40-man rosters, so that intensive rebuild of a struggling player is off the table.
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Former Top Prospect
The Brewers have at least one player on their MLB roster that would have been a candidate for significant extra work this winter: Keston Hiura’s path to stardom as a former top prospect and major contributor to the 2019 team has come off the rails over the last two seasons, as he has batted just .192 with a .279 on-base percentage and struck out in almost 37% of his at bats since the start of the 2020 season. The Brewers, meanwhile, have hired new hitting coaches this offseason and likely would have welcomed an opportunity to get Hiura extra opportunities to work with them to redefine his approach at the plate and regain some confidence heading into the 2022 season.
The lockout also complicates matters for players who were rehabbing from injuries at the Brewers facilities. Pitcher Justin Topa, for example, finished the season on the disabled list with an elbow injury that appeared likely to require surgery. Topa is still on the Brewers’ 40-man roster, however, so his recovery will have to happen away from the team until or unless a new collective bargaining agreement is in place. While most players will likely be able to find their own rehab opportunities, their teams won’t be able to monitor their progress as they work their way back. There’s also a risk that players will get bad advice or act on their own: In the days following the lockout Yankees pitcher Jameson Taillon joked about getting rid of his walking boot early as he recovered from an ankle injury.
Fortunately for many players, this work stoppage is coming at a time when other offseason workout opportunities are at or near their peak: The development and rise to prominence of third-party training facilities, as documented in Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik’s book The MVP Machine, came at the perfect time to fill in this gap for many players that would otherwise be working out at team facilities this winter. Fans who weren’t already familiar with organizations like Driveline Baseball or the Texas Baseball Ranch will likely hear more about them this offseason, and their favorite athlete’s Instagram stories likely include video of them working out at one of those facilities or somewhere similar.
Meanwhile, the trainers, coaches and others who would have been working with these players are likely also keeping busy: While members of 40-man rosters are locked out of team facilities, minor leaguers are not and the winter is a busy time for them as well. The back fields at American Family Fields of Phoenix are likely still occupied more often than not with throwing programs, minicamps and offseason work for players aspiring to reach a 40-man roster someday. The star power in those working groups is likely lacking a bit, however, and it’s an opportunity lost for a select few.
