As Cleveland Indians fans who enjoy arriving early to the ballpark know, a dedicated long-toss regimen is as much a part of pregame rituals for many pitchers as batting practice and shagging fly balls is for positional players. Starting pitchers Trevor Bauer and teammate Danny Salazar, in particular, are known to throw it from the outfield walls to targets over 350 feet away with power behind them.

The long toss itself is a beautiful exercise to behold. At first, it appears ballplayers are playing a relaxing game of catch with soft, high-arching tosses being thrown back and forth from a somewhat short distance. The players continue those high-arcs, but start to move to longer distances until they reach the farthest their arms can deliver the ball in such a fashion. It is a simple game any kids with a ball, gloves, and an open field have attempted if given the freedom to just play.1 Then, just when an observer might believe they are watching players work on catching deep pop flies, the real fun begins. Those balls which traveled through the air as if they needed to clear an invisible wall high above the playing surface straighten out and are suddenly delivered with the power to smash through said wall. Each successive throw is a challenge to best the previous one.

As the players shorten the distance between them, the intent behind the throws does not decrease. The object of the exercise is using the strength and determination of the 300-plus foot toss, but pulling down into what becomes a 60-to-70-foot throw. Additionally, it allows the player to throw freely and aggressively in a fun manner without the mental hurdle of the mound. The arm becomes stretched out, strength and stability are acquired, and instincts in the mind are trained upon the one specific purpose of throwing the ball at high velocity. After such training, throwing the ball with speed becomes a naturally occurring process rather than an unnatural stressful event accompanied by jerky motions and poor mechanics.

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Over the last decade, Major League Baseball has undergone a data revolution in which teams began utilizing statistical analysis to gain a crucial edge in a sport where the margin between success and failure is infinitesimal. While efforts are ongoing to find more areas to analyze, there has also been considerable growth in developing players more intelligently.

The long toss is just one of the many glimpses fans might see of the underbelly of the game beyond the game. While fans see the results three hours at a time, 162 times a year, the players are constantly churning behind the scenes to improve their skills with the help of their MLB organization and a growing faction of player development companies.

The Cleveland Indians have been one of the teams at the forefront of this advancing area of baseball and have been linked to some of the most respected companies in the field, including Jaeger Sports, Texas Baseball Ranch, Arizona Baseball Ranch, Dynamic Sports Training, and Driveline Baseball.

JAEGER: MAESTRO

The genesis of the long toss within the Indians is widely believed to have come from the acquisition of starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. While the beginnings do have roots with Bauer, they dig much deeper than his acquisition via trade in December of 2012 and burrow into the relationships of the Indians with the advanced player development community.

One of the main proponents of the long toss is Alan Jaeger of Jaeger Sports, who has held the principles of the long toss at the core of his pitching regimen for the past 25 years. The initial discussion began innocuously enough with the Indians Senior Director of Scouting Operations John Mirabelli, who was scouting a pitching phenom from UCLA (yes, Trevor Bauer). Alan Jaeger just so happened to be present to watch one of his guys pitch near the Jaeger Sports base of operations in Southern California.

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