Chris Colabello

Over the course of my career, it became abundantly clear to me that I was really passionate about helping the next generation of athletes. Watch this video. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 It will explain everything…

🎥 Why You Need to Be Able to Hit the Fastball That is the base of your timing. When that disappears the pitcher owns you @cc20rake

A lot of the responses I got to my last few messages had to do with: 1. Volume of practice/play 2. A “better” brand of baseball My follow up question is… how are those things being achieved/guaranteed. I can certainly understand having more scheduled practices and games, but how is “better” baseball being delivered?

@coach_scottdj haha that's a good question

@CC20rake What even is the definition of a travel ball team now anyways?

It’s exciting for me to think about how many young people are playing baseball, and more so, how many families are contributing time, money, and energy to it. However - l’m fascinated by the state of the amateur game and I don’t mean that in a good way. The reason why I feel this way is because I’m more curious than anything else, as to the actual WHY, behind people’s choice to participate in it. The question of the day for me is (if you are a family who participates in some form of travel or pay-to-play baseball): why do you play travel baseball? All answers welcome!

@tBriggsy I get it, and it makes sense. I'm not denying that it's even obvious in some scenarios. I'm more concerned with - how do we assure that level of competition is actually appropriate for each player who is participating?

@CC20rake Well, I’m in the Toronto area. The houseleague is not good. It’s the only option if they want decent ball. I mean, there are still bad travel teams, but at least the pitches get over the plate.

That's awesome that you're creating that opportunity. I completely agree with the additional volume of games and practices. My questions would be these... 1. If Josh Hamilton (HS version) lived in your town and didn't play travel, would he make the team? 2. How are you assuring that they are playing "the best" competition in travel baseball?

@CC20rake high school teams without it. havent had once since pre covid make it without it. I am blessed & will allow all my kids to pursue their passion to the best of my ability so long as I can afford it. Nothing more rewarding than watching your sons do what they love.

@tBriggsy Not pushing back, but just wondering... where is the assurance that they will be playing against "the best competition for them" in travel ball?

@CC20rake Both my sons play travel ball. Simply so they can play against the best competition for them. There never has been a desire to play pro or anything like that, just to enjoy good competitive ball.

I need to understand how these things happen at amateur games... Am I crazy to think that there is nothing that could happen in a kids baseball game, whether it be a blown call from an umpire, or anything else for that matter, that could warrant this behavior from two adults? The purpose of that baseball game was strictly development - whether anyone understands that or not - regardless of whether there was a championship on the line, or anything else for that matter. How do we get to this point?

Car in front of me just through a banana peel into the grass on the side of the road. Caught me off guard because I didn’t know what it was at first. It begs the question - how should you feel when you see someone throw a banana peel on the ground? I’m welcoming all answers…

🎥 How do you hit breaking balls @cc20rake Recognition is your first priority. The more you can see the pitches and identify the spin the better. Put the machine on and start practicing finding the identifiers.

🎥 Being good isn’t being on the best travel team or going to the best tournaments or beating up players less physically developed when they’re 12. Players need to be shown where they are in the grand scheme of things. And it needs to happen early. #playerintelligence

We tracked a full Jordan Walker series with Pelotero. @cc20rake sees a player committed to executing a plan. When players have the backing to execute their plan with conviction some really cool things can happen. #playerintelligence

For everyone talking about his swing…

Anybody ever gotten shushed at a concert? I’m not talking a solo violin concert… I’m talking a full on band production with bass and drums… In the middle of a casino no less… Anyone?!? Cause that happened

“Player Intelligence” Thru our partnership with @PeloteroApp we now offer At-Bat tracking! Not every 0-3 or 3-3 is created equal…was I on time? Did I swing at the best pitch? Am I recognizing the pitch type? These questions and more are things hitters need to answer after games in order to continue their pursuit in becoming a Complete Hitter! Interested in working with us? Click the link in the bio to learn more and get started with us today! #playerintelligence #hitting #baseball #mlbopeningday #reels

When I was a kid (and even when I was a pro), I would get so tied up emotionally in the results of my day. These types of snapshots would’ve helped me immensely in the early years of my development, and exposed me to lessons I needed to learn, much sooner If you care about hitting, study these examples. Study your own at-bats. This is what hitting is really about.

I was talking more holistically. What is Blaser's miss tendency historically. For example this game from May 20th of last year (credit @UmpScorecards) shows that his missed calls are top of zone balls and bottom of zone strikes. Would be curious to see if this is a trend for him because I imagine it would be...

@CC20rake Thanks for the clarification. You did ask what percentage he was calling down in the game, which was very low. Yes, the pitch to Soto was low, but it didn’t indicate a trend. Anyway, tough way to end the game.

Reading tons of stuff on Perdomo's take in the USA/DR semifinal. Literally people who are vehemently arguing that taking the pitch is... was... and will always be, what should have happened in that moment. Equally there are people on the other side of the argument who are saying there's no scenario in which he could take, because the pitch was entirely too close. Here is my two cents (for what it's worth): When we look back at moments in time, everything matters. It's incredibly easy to second guess the outcome, and talk about all the reasons why something should/could have happened versus what actually did. People reference data models all the time to defend their positions. In this case specifically... (apologies if my numbers are incorrect as my research was limited and ultimately will have nothing to do with the theme) - The pitch had a .5% chance of being called a strike - Swinging at the pitch results in a 63% whiff rate Those two points alone make an incredibly compelling argument for why taking the pitch was the right decision (that all goes without mentioning what incredible plate discipline and vision to not swing at a 3-2 strike/ball slider from a dude throwing 100). Those two data points - however - rely on big data sets and casually lack tons of context that could make the argument sway the other way. For example: - What percentage of pitches did Corey Blaser call strikes that were below the zone? If you recall he called a similar pitch a strike on Soto the inning prior. - What are Perdomo's individual percentage chances of fouling off 2-strike pitches below the zone? Getting a hit? I have no idea what those numbers look like, but I'm willing to bet that they would certainly lean more in favor of making a swing at the pitch. The only thing we know for certain is that the moment created a singular outcome. The pitch was called strike 3, and the game ended. A heartbreaking feeling for the player I'm sure. That being said, I would have had a really hard time not swinging at the pitch, personally. I say that with full understanding that I might have swung and missed 90 times out of 100. But that 1 time... that 1 time where something great happens is why we play. See the thing about sports is, we can talk about all the could of's, should of's and would have's until we're blue in the face, but what happened will forever be what actually happened. I guess the point of what I'm getting at is that big data can always tell compelling stories. Stories that are easy to explain, and also very easy to understand. But individual moments have different context that we tend to overlook when we're making arguments that validate our own opinions. In this case specifically, I've heard people discussing the fact that if hitters tried to protect against everything, that they would wind up "chasing" way more pitches. Is the point of hitting to minimize your chase rate or TO NOT MAKE OUTS? As a player, when everything is said and done, you get judged on your production, and not what percentage of pitches out of the zone you swung at. Go ask Vlad Guerrero if he's ever thought about his chase rate. I can think of dozens of examples off the top of my head where chasing a pitch led to moments that changed the outcomes of games, lives and careers. I don't hear arguments being made for why players shouldn't have swung at those pitches... In closing, the game is over. We'll never know what would have happened if he swung. I sure would like to know what would have happened if he had.

@RichardTakai I didn't make the argument that he was calling the ball down all game. I said he called a similar pitch on Soto one inning before

@CC20rake Regarding your question of how many pitches below the zone were called strikes, there was only one other in that game, and it was closer to the zone. So, the argument that Blaser was calling them low all game doesn’t stand. He actually called them pretty well.

@simmy_cohen was he trying to create player value or win the game?

@CC20rake If you start adding context of perdomo and miller you will def be more led down the road of taking, not swinging Perdomo is a soft qoc guy, with elite plate discipline (96th percentile chase rate, more BB than k) Drawing walks is a HUGE part of his game and how he delivers value

Gimenez just fouled off 3 balls, and a pitch on the edge… all with two strikes… seems like he didn’t want to strikeout…