Rajai Davis on Speed, Power & Coaching His Son: Inside the MLB Mindset & WeckMethod Training Secrets

What does it take to steal 415 bases in the big leagues and raise a confident youth athlete today? In this power-packed episode, we sit down with former MLB outfielder Rajai Davis, best known for his iconic home run in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, blazing speed, and relentless work ethic. But this conversation goes deeper than just baseball stats…

Rajai opens up about coaching his 10-year-old son, how he personally used the Catapult Loading System to boost his power, and why he's a big believer in WeckMethod’s balance and movement training. You'll also hear why Rajai believes longevity and elite performance come down to body awareness, daily routines, and staying mentally sharp.

Whether you're a baseball coach, softball parent, or a young athlete hungry to get better, this episode is packed with actionable gems that’ll help you train smarter—not just harder.

🔑 Key Highlights:

🎯 Power Through Efficiency: How Rajai used the Catapult Loading System to improve his launch and power late in his career.
⚡ Speed Secrets Revealed: Rajai shares his mindset on stealing bases, and how youth athletes can train reaction time and confidence.
🧠 Mentally Tough Athletes: Why coaching your own child requires humility, and how Rajai’s mindset evolved through fatherhood.
🧘‍♂️ The WeckMethod Edge: How tools like the BOSU Elite and RMT Rope help improve balance, coordination, and reaction under pressure.
🔁 From MLB to Little League: The biggest lessons Rajai brings from the pros to coaching young kids in today’s game.
🧬 Movement = Longevity: Why Rajai is now focused on sharing performance-enhancing systems like Isophit to help others move better for life.

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👉 Subscribe now to the Swing Smarter Hitting Training Podcast for more science-backed insights from MLB legends and elite coaches.

🎧 Listen to this episode and explore Rajai’s recommended tools at:

💬 Don’t forget to share this episode, leave a review, and visit HittingPerformanceLab.com for daily tips, training tools, and performance breakthroughs designed for today’s serious baseball and softball families.

Episode Transcript

Today's guest is a true game changer literally and figuratively. You might know Rajai Davis for one of the most clutch home runs in MLB history, his iconic game seven blast in the two thousand sixteen World Series that brought the Cleveland Indians back from the brink. But Rajai's story doesn't end at home plate. With four fifteen career stolen bases, a fourteen year big league career spanning eight teams, and an unmatched speed power combo, Rajai has now turned his focus to helping the next generation of ballplayers and parents maximize their performance the smart way. In this episode, we dive into how Rajai is using science backed training like mat inspired ISOFIT gear and, yes, how he leveraged our very own catapult loading system to unlock more pop in his swing even late in his playing days.

Whether you're a coach, a parent, or a player trying to protect your athlete's body and boost performance without burnout, get ready. You're about to learn what it takes to train with purpose, develop real confidence, and chase greatness just like Rajai. Can you hear me? I can. Can you hear me?

Sure can. Here we go. How many of these you do? Do you do any Zooms? Any more?

It it depends, what we talk about for for work, for for personal, for this business. A little bit, I guess, a little bit of everything. Yes, sir. Yes, indeed. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So what'd you guys have today? Do you guys have any baseball today? So today, we just had practice.

We've had two games in our, like, states, tournament, and that has been well, we haven't seen really, really any competition yet. We haven't faced any real competition. So, you know, we we mercy the first two teams by a lot. You know? So they haven't scored any runs off our team.

But, yeah, it's, I think I think I think, the the competition is really needs needs needs to put some work in. Mhmm. Are you guys out of New York, or where where what city are you? We're out of Connecticut. Oh, okay.

Okay. Connecticut. Yeah. We're out of Connecticut. We're in, Southeastern Connecticut.

Mhmm. So right along the shoreline. So you guys so you're at states right now, and then you guys win states. So so we'll we'll we'll right now, we're in, like, pool play for our district. From there, we'll have to go into sectionals.

From there, it's, it's states Okay. For the state. So you guys so you're at the first stage right now? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. We have our first tournament starts knit this next Friday. It's not Oh. Yeah. So we'll have but first game will be Friday night, and then depending on how that goes, we may have one or two games on Saturday.

If we can win the first two, we'll have Sunday off. And then whoever, you know, on that because you know how the the losers bracket, everybody kinda starts battling it out. Yeah. So hopefully, we'll we can win the two first two so we can get a Sunday off and then, you know, Monday, whatever, however that's gonna go. But, yeah, this this is our first stage too for Little League.

Oh, nice. Nice. Yeah. No. It's, we used to be do the double elimination.

I don't know what happened. Maybe maybe I don't I don't know. They they've gone all of a sudden to the pool play. So you play four teams. Mhmm.

And the best, I think four teams move on out of the eight. Mhmm. But, like, we won't we we only have, like, a pool of four that we play against. Mhmm. Are you guys so you guys are little league.

Right? We are little league. Yes. So it might be the same with us. I thought I heard double elimination, but I it might be pool play.

They did that with pony last year. So we were pony league, and then we switched over to little league this year because, we took a couple year break when little league wasn't allowing lead offs because we were the program or River Park is the area that we that we, play baseball at. They were really competing, and it's a very nice facility. They got four fields, beautiful, and they were competing with the travel ball programming. Give me one second to go for something.

Go for it. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Just me and Jordan.

Yeah. Is that your son? Yeah. Yeah. He's, he's starting pitcher tomorrow.

So Is he? Did you have a chance to take a look at the effective velocity stuff yet? I did not. I that is definitely on my, on my list, though, for sure. That is that is interesting when you start digging into that, and and I would highly encourage you to get some of maybe Perry's books on, I think, Amazon.

I think they have it on Amazon. I know he's got them on his site or whatever. But, I haven't even read through his books. I had some good conversations with him. So I've kind of gotten a really good gist of it.

He Right. He wouldn't probably refer to me as, like, a black belt or even, like, a red belt or anything. That's how he kinda does it, you know, on on knowledge. But I have a pretty good feel for the programming. And once you once you kinda figure it out, it's, like, crazy.

So our all star guys this year so we have twelves. Right? Right. And I was I was earmarking some of the pictures that we face this year. And I was like, okay.

That kid looks good for the all stars. That one looks good. Now even though maybe you struggle a little bit against us because we're we're using the program, but from a hitting standpoint. Right? So So we're looking at patterns.

We're looking for where pitchers are. Are they up in the zone a lot? Are they away as a lot? You know, we saw a lot of fastballs, not not a lot of breaking stuff. So, we did have some pitchers that threw that.

So we would switch to a backwards plan if if that's what it was. You know? Mhmm. But I was earmarking some of these pictures so that when we got to All Stars that we were gonna teach him this system. And I was like, you know, this guy, you know, he's been struggling a little bit.

He's been throwing up in the zone. Wait till he learns why that's not a good thing and how he's gotta, you know, he's gotta move it in and up and down and, you know, doing some of that stuff. So when you start digging in, hopefully, you guys can get like, you can get on that for maybe the next round and start teaching you guys. It's really not that hard once they understand and buy into the the programming of especially if you got guys like, I don't know if Jordan's good at, placing the ball. But if he's good at placing the ball, oh my god, dude.

He didn't have to throw hard at all. Just just place the ball, and these guys have a really hard time. Wow. And with the hitters, the hitters that are trying to face it. Yeah.

Right. A lot of weak contact. Mhmm. And that was something that I never thought of I'd never thought about it, but never really came up in the past. But this year, we had a lot of weak contact.

And my son, Noah, he's pretty good at placing the ball, and he doesn't throw super hard. But the last four weeks, I think of our season or maybe four to six weeks, we were getting a lot of weak contact, but our fielders weren't feeling it and getting it over to first in time. So we had to practice slow rollers and wild plays and things like that because and we were screwing it up. You know, we're screwing it up before. And so they had to learn how to hey, time clock has to be really fast.

And we had to move guys in. You know, our shortstop second baseman, we had to pull them in because they were playing too deep because they can get these balls off their their hands or off the end of the bat. And so we had to get our guys, like, really crashing on the ball and be able to get it and throw it over to first. Like, that was another problem I never even thought about. So that we contact.

Yeah. No. And then literally, you know, it's a shorter distance. Yep. Yeah.

Very cool. Well, hey, man. I wanna I wanna get into these dig into these interview questions. How much time do you have? I wanna be respectful of your time.

I have I have time. I have time. He's locked. He just locked me out of the shit. Or did he?

Is he is he just just loving baseball right now? He does. He does. He does it. Yeah.

Alright. Yeah. My my son was excited for this interview, by the way. He's he's big. He he watches, you know, MLB and, follows baseball a lot.

And so, like, he knew your name when I brought it up. Okay. Yeah. He's like, he he went he he hit that that game winning homer in the world series. I was like, yeah.

That's him. We'll talk about that in this in these interview questions. But I got 10 really good ones. I have some bonus ones if if, we got some time to go into those. So I wanted to start off.

So let's talk legacy, your legacy. K? Mhmm. So that home run going leading into that off road is Chapman. Right?

Everybody talks about Chapman. They got a freaking documentary that's centered around him called Fastball. I don't know if you've seen it. Oh, that's what I wanna see. That's what I've been waiting for.

I've been waiting for it because I I I know nine years ago, he was doing a 101 in the world. Well, they said throw a 101. This is nine years later. Well, they that I know. Well, they were saying that it was one zero five point two that he hit at one point Yeah.

On the on this documentary. Like Oh, wow. But the whole was the home run that you hit, was that off of +1 01? Was that +1 01? No.

The the pitch before it was, like, one zero one. Oh. In in that series, he he pitched one zero two. But just like the longevity of him be able to throw over a 100 miles an hour, like, unlike no one else. Have you seen his workout regimen?

No. He has one. Oh, yeah. It's legit. I'm sorry.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Go for it. Now he sit you, but he was just a little hungry.

Oh, was he? That's a big one at that age. Jada, my daughter, she's in dance competition mode. So she's got the end of the season, you know, what they do at the end of season. They have Recitals.

Yeah. So they'll do everything. So they're they're busy all day at that. Mom's there with her, so just us. You love it.

Gotta love it, man. So back to so the question. So that the home run off for Worldis Chapman in game seven of the two thousand sixteen World Series, can you take us inside inside that moment? And then what were you feeling in the box, and what did that swing mean to your career? Honestly, that swing started way before the actual event.

Right? So, a buddy of mine, we played we played ball together. We had played in actually low a and high a together. Mhmm. You know?

And, he had sent me a text. Bobby Kingsbury, he sent me a text. He sent me a text, and he's like it was a long text. You know? And we hadn't we hadn't been really communicating like that.

He sent me a long text, but the gist of it was, you know, hey. I think you're really gonna do something really big in this real serious, something big. And I just really I agreed with it. I was like, hey. I I agree.

I'm a I'm a do something special. Mhmm. And so, that was a seed that was a seed that was planted, and I started thinking about what what big thing could I do in the world series? You know? And, you know, and and everyone, you know, once you once you're when you're a child, you you think about the the moments.

You know? Bottom of the nine, you know, pace and load it down by three. You know? You know, you think about those moments and and and coming through and, you know, be able to hit that home run. So I began my my, my journey, like, from, like it was probably, like, day.

That was, like, day 10 or day 11 in, before the World Series started, thinking about that that play. You know? Mhmm. And then expecting it every game. Expect to do something great.

Game one, game two, game three. You know, expecting to do something. You know? And then, I think it was game four. I stole, like, three bases Mhmm.

Which was a world series record Yeah. You know, in one game. And, I was like, that ain't big. That ain't big enough. That's not big enough.

That's not big enough. That's not what I'm looking for. Mhmm. But bottom of the eighth, two outs. Brandon Geier just hit a double.

I'm coming up with with, the with Arose Chapman up, and I'm the tying run. Did you think you're gonna face Arose? He he he was he was in there every single game. So, yes. Yeah.

At some point, I'm going to face him. Yeah. Single game. And those this is my third time facing him, and he pitched every game of the World Series every single game. And this is my third time facing him.

And, you know, by this time, I I got an idea of how to how to attack him Mhmm. How to how to deal with him, how to deal with the velocity. Mhmm. And I'm I was I I was really ready. I was really ready for him.

Because my my my my second at bat, we went six pitches. My first at bat, it was, like, one zero two it was, like, one zero one, one zero two, one zero two. I was, like, one zero one zero one zero two fouled off straight back. 102 fouled off straight back. 102101, you know, swing and a miss, strike three.

That was my first lap in the world series against him. And was he up in the zone? Was he up in the zone too? Yes. He was like, here he was like, here, here, and then he he finished here Mhmm.

And I couldn't I couldn't get there. Right? Mhmm. Mhmm. He was fresh.

Yeah. He was fresh. Game one. Yeah. So my second at bat, it was in it was in Chicago.

I got up to a three two count, and then he threw me a fastball on a black on the outside corner, and I hit a really hard ground ball down the first baseline. I thought I was going for a double. Rizzo comes out of nowhere, dives Mhmm. Down the line, catches it, but he's playing deep. So he's not gonna give me to the back, and he never covers.

Mhmm. So that that's all I needed. I said, oh. In my mind, I'm thinking I can hit him. I can hit him.

I'm a give him another shot at him. And so, game seven, I'm preparing for him. Mhmm. I started the game. I didn't start game six.

We lost game six. I started game seven. I'm over three, but I'm preparing for him. Mhmm. I'm preparing.

I go in at I go back in the clubhouse, go go get on the Iron Mike, and now I'm preparing for him. So what are you doing when you're preparing? Are you doing, like, close range, cranking up, like Break it up. I'm I'm making it, like, a 120. Uh-huh.

120. So so a 100 and a 102 looks slow to me. Mhmm. You know? And, I was killing it.

I was killing it. I was turning on everything. Mhmm. And I was really super close. I was like, oh my gosh.

I got it. I got it. This this is over. I'm I I got this. Now I'm thinking, okay.

All I gotta do is bring it out the eye. All I do is I gotta get it out there. Right? Just get it out front. And so, you know, walking up to to the the plate, I was like, oh, this is the moment I've been looking for.

Mhmm. Down by two. It's the bottom of seven. The game is on the line. Man, look at my Goliath.

Mhmm. That's him. He's standing on the mound. But I I always knew about a story about a Goliath. Mhmm.

And I heard about a David. I felt like I was David in that moment. I'm gonna I'm gonna slay my giant. And when you so when you're getting in there because there's some kids, right, at at your son's age, my son's age that will step into that situation, and they won't be confident. It's almost like they're they automatically start thinking the negative.

Right? Yeah. So would you say it was more the preparation? Do you feel like what what was it that got you thinking just positive? Well, the see, the situation, I was expecting the situation.

Most kids don't go expecting That's true. Situation. Yeah. I'm expecting to do damage. I'm expecting to do I was looking for it every single game to do it, right, for seven straight games.

Yep. And now it's the bottom of the, bottom of the eighth, and it's the game seven. I'm still expecting to do it. Mhmm. So that's the difference, between what I do and what with kids.

And, a lot of kids, they they don't even go through the mental I've been I've been doing this for a long time, though. Mhmm. Like, sixteen years, I was playing professional. Sixteen years, it took me just to get to this World Series point. Right?

A professional ball. Right? I was drafted in 02/2001. So I it was a lot of practice, and I had a lot of walk off hits. Right?

So that's late in the game. I was actually a better hitter late in the game. So I wanted to be the guy who was this is what you're gonna remember. They they they they don't remember what you in the beginning, they don't remember as much as how you end, how you finish. Right?

And so I always wanna be the guy who finishes strong. Mhmm. Right? And so, this is part of that. You know?

And in the game, I'm I'm your guy. I want you want me in there. You know? Whether it's pinch running or or hitting, is that lefty, whatever. I want to be that guy.

And then that's a mindset, and that's a thing that you're that I will constantly have, you know, doing my, you know, visualization, meditation, all these things to kind of help, focus my mind on what I wanted to do. Mhmm. I love that. And I wanna switch over to your career stolen base career stolen bases. So you got four fifteen career stolen bases, and a rep is MOB's Elite Speed Threats.

You know, that was a big thing when you came through with the A's. You know, I told you I'm an A's fan, so, like, I got to see you a lot, you know, when we were watching. So what what were some and this is, I think, a lost art. I think, unfortunately, maybe not amongst, major leaguers, former major leaguers when Ricky Henderson passed away. You know, I feel like that kinda died with him.

I I don't feel like and plus with the homer, you know, the big prioritization of homers and, hey, who cares if you strike out three times a game as long as you homer once. Right? So this part at at our our boys' age, I think is a big deal, like the stolen base type of thing and being a smart base runner. So what were some of this? And did you ever cross paths with Ricky?

I know he was he was really close to the a's organization. So, like, what kind of drills, mental cues, strategies that you use to master the base running side of things? Yeah. So a lot of it was, trial and error, but I but I but I had a foundation. Right?

So I had it started with, Gary Reedus. Gary Reedus was my guy. He gave me the foundation. Okay. This is what you do, you know, for for for, you know, getting your lead.

This is this is the this the very basic of basic how you still base this. Right? Mhmm. And then, in our organization, in Pittsburgh Pirates, they let us run. They let us get thrown out.

And I got thrown out a lot. I got thrown out a lot. But I learned every time I was getting thrown out. I learned I was learning. I was learning, what I could do.

And, that was the that was one of the biggest things. But then when I came over to the Oakland A's, you know, I got over there. And at first, they're like, we don't want you to run. Wait. Wait.

I have 250 stolen bases. My career. You don't want me to run? Wait. Why'd you get me?

Right. Why'd you why'd you pick me up? Yeah. Yeah. And so I'm and and so I'm thinking, like, okay.

This is this is my my gift, like, to steal bases. Mhmm. They're trying to take away that, my gift. Mhmm. This is what got me to this level.

You know? It was the fact that I could run. I could steal bases like nobody else. There's a lot of guys who could steal, could run fast. They didn't steal bases because you like you said, it's an art, and you have to learn how to steal it.

You have to watch the pictures. You gotta pay attention to what's going on. You gotta know yourself. What what is a good jump for you? How do you get good jumps?

Mhmm. And, and and and that was part of it. And then I get to Oakland. It's like, nah. Nah.

You no. We want you to we'll let you know when to go. Wait. You're gonna let me like like, you stole more bases than me. Yeah.

Like, you know how to steal bases. Yeah. But you're gonna tell me, when to run. And I'm I'm, like, I'm not getting to appointment now. I'm I'm, like, really I'm getting really good at this point.

Right? Mhmm. And so, you know, I I I get and and, you know, Ricky's there, so I'm talking to Ricky. He's like, hey. He's a I don't know if you heard those Ricky stories about you know, he's got Interesting interesting dude.

I heard. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he had some some some stories, And I don't wanna mess it up, but, you know, the stop sign got, like, oh, I thought you want me to stop, like, when I when I when I get there.

I don't know how how how he said it, but it's super funny. But after talking with Ricky when I got over there, he was like, hey. Hey, Raj. Hey. Sometimes you just gotta you just gotta go, but but be safe.

You gotta be safe. So I went I went I went eleven for my first 11. Mhmm. After that, I got the green light. Cool.

So you had to go, like, you you, like, not listen to the stop sign yet. Yeah. I had to be safe. Uh-huh. Right?

Mhmm. And, I would say for my first ten, fifth first 11. You know? So I I was made I made sure. And after that, I was free.

You know? End up still in '50, my my third year in Oakland. And, you know, that was that was, you know, that was that was it. After that, I was like, okay. They just let me do do my thing.

So what was your so on a righty versus lefty, what were you looking for on a righty pitcher versus lefty pitcher when you were trying to steal? Was it was it a kind of, little bit of everything? Was it off the pitcher? Was it knowing your catcher? Was it, like you said, knowing your jump?

Honestly so for left handers, it was it was a little bit more challenging for me. I mean, because I didn't really know how to steal off lefties. And then I was playing a little bit more, so it was okay that I didn't really know because I could get the righties. I can get all the righties. But I still stole off lefties, but I would just, like, mainly just first move them.

Mhmm. It wasn't, it wasn't till I got to Cleveland where I really learned how to get lefties, with, you know, what they were doing with their you know, whether it's just a glove, whether their feet. It was always something they they were giving away. Mhmm. Most most every lefty gives away something.

And it's easy to see over there at first base. Yeah. When you're over there. If you're over there, you know? Usually don't give away first base.

You know? You gotta earn that one. Yeah. But, you know, I think it was just a matter of getting comfortable being out there enough to see him and then working with Sandy Alomar, who's expert. Right?

Expert. Expert. Expert. He's a expert at it. At stealing?

At picking up, Oh, picking up all those kind of little cues and clues? Yeah. And so now I'm able to look for those in in in and, and and and when when from that moment on, man, I might have got might have got picked off and thrown out maybe one time in, like, the three years next three years. I went I went, like, so when I was when I was with Cleveland, third in '16, I was 35 years old, and I won the batting tie the stolen base title with with 43. Mhmm.

So I was, like, one of the oldest ones to steal that many bases. Me and Ricky Anderson, actually, were the only ones to, at the age of 35 and and above, steal or win a stolen base title. Mhmm. But so it was it was it was and then for the righties, it wasn't just a matter of how quick are they the first. If I knew how quick they were the first, that would dictate my lead.

Now if I gotta pick enough lead, I can get you. Right? Mhmm. And I I I, you know, I always like the challenge of the the pictures that they said they can't get anybody. You can't get this guy.

Like like, Cliff Lee was our Cliff Lee was one of those guys. Nobody steals off him. Mhmm. And he was lefty? Lefty?

He was a left handed pitcher that sliced up all the time. Then he was a sub one. So, like, he was, like, a a one one to the plate. Mhmm. You know?

So he's, like, a a sub so it took him less than a second to to get home while other people's taking, you know, one point three seconds or one point four seconds, which is right up my alley. Like, I'm going with those guys. Easy. Mhmm. You know?

And, you know, so you have to get a bigger the champ. So I got them one time. That's all I needed. It. But, you know, but, like, you know, just, like, just paying attention to what they do, their tendencies.

Because they they they get in the mindset, well, nobody can see off me because nobody has. Mhmm. And so I take use that to my advantage. Mhmm. Right?

And I pay attention to, a lot of the little things that pictures do that nobody's watching. Like, I could tell just by reading a picture. Watching his body language to say, oh, oh, that guy, he's not even gonna look at me. I'm gonna go hop hop hop go. Mhmm.

You know? And then I'm already gonna be so far off that he's just picks over, you're gonna be safe. Yeah. Yeah. But, like, they're they're they're, like, they're, like, you know, creatures of habit, though.

You know? They they get in their their routine. They get or if something big happens, it's like they're paying attention to that. Their mind is on that. I know I know their mind is on that.

So now I'm my mind is on the next base. I'm like, oh, I know where your head is because something distracting just happened. I'm like, oh, now is a great time. You know, that is the biggest thing. I'm speaking from my my son's team and seeing the last couple years really is distractions the biggest deal.

Like, it's funny to see the all star caliber kids versus our rec kids, and you're gonna have all the better kids from each team now who are plus IQ, baseball IQs. You know? And you'll see them like, we'll play we'll play the zero one strike game where I'm pitching, and we're working on certain things. So it could be we're doing home run derby, to not so much to hit home runs, but to let them make them let the ball travel. Right?

To teach them, hey. Let it travel. This is slower pitchers. These would be like slower pitchers. And we were doing last night, finally, we got to mix rounds because this is our first week on the field.

We're working together. And we got to mix rounds of fastball curveball, but they were only hunting one of those pitches in a certain location. So if they swung at the wrong pitch, they're out. If they swung at the right pitch, but in the wrong location, they're out. So that's kind of what we're doing.

And so they start to get it. It starts to click. And now now they're starting to hammer the ball. And so what I was noticing is that when you got multiple runners on, you got a ball hit into a gap or even to an outfielder, they start looking for that next opportunity, the distraction. You know?

It's like first and thirds are always kind of the most famous, right, where you got one runner deking going halfway at first. And then Yeah. Once they kinda get distracted over there and that runner at third, you break them for home, you know, type of thing. So I love that. I love that advice.

Like, looking for the distraction when they're distracted, then you take the next base. I mean, there's nothing easier than that. Mhmm. Yeah. Very cool.

Very cool. I love the base running aspect of this. Oh, one last thing I wanted to ask before we move to the next question. So, Jordan's doing so they're little league rules, so they're not leading off. Right?

No. No. They're 60 foot bases. So are you what what kind of strategies are you guys using? I mean, I know you can't you can't lead off, but are you guys doing any kind of delayed steal, any kind of weird stuff like that?

We we will do that. You know, that's just something that I I personally did naturally. Right? Mhmm. You know?

And and because I knew, like, that age, if I get in a pickle, you you're not getting me in a pickle. Right. There's no chance. They they're they're not that good. Alright?

They're not running me down. And and then I I was I was so because I we play pickle all the time. Mhmm. So I I got really good at in getting in and out of pickle, even at the major league level. Right?

Just just just paying attention to, player. And I keep my as long as I keep my space, from the guy who has the ball, that was the biggest separator. Right? But these guys, you know, it's it's it's more about, you know, taking advantage of, the guy, you know, when the ball is hit to the outfield or something like that and, you know, go first at third. Right?

Or, you know, if he if he's gotta go this many steps, you know, and catch the ball, you you you can you can be aggressive. Right? Because it's really hard to catch and throw. Until until you play a team that can actually catch the ball and throw the ball accurately Mhmm. You know, you know, we we kinda wanna be aggressive.

Mhmm. Get them thrown we wanna get them throwing the ball around because Mhmm. At at that age, a lot of bad things happen. The little league the little league home run, they call it. Yes.

Very cool. Yeah. So we're we're we're getting into that, and we're we're doing some stuff. And, you know, there's so much to cover in baseball, and that's why I love baseball. I think it's God's I think it's God's sport.

I think because it's so deep. And I guess, you know, you could talk about football like that or basketball, but I don't know, man. I I think there's so many little nooks and crannies in baseball that you can't cover everything. Right? I mean, you can do first and thirds, and then you got bundes, and you got pitchers around the infield.

I mean, you have so many different positions that have different different nooks and crannies in those third base versus first base and short and second. Who's covering? You know, that kind of thing. And so I, you know, we started talking to the boys a little bit about the the stealing side. We worked on rundowns, you know, you know, and I and a lot of the kids, they like to pump fake.

And we no. You can't do it. Right? And so we we teach them, hey. You gotta you gotta show them.

And it's just you're throwing a dart. That's all it is. And we got in. So we worked on it, and then we did our little game at the end. We always maybe about an hour or so for the game.

And I actually was in one of the rundowns. I wasn't the runner. I was one of the fielders. And our shortstop was decent. He's running at the and we had him.

We had him. But then he's like doing this to me. And I'm like, you know, runners getting on me. And I'm like, That's why we don't do it because I don't know if you're going to throw it or not. And I don't know where that throw is going.

And so so it's a perfect example of why we don't do that. That yeah. That that we had to we had to kinda try to break that habit too with our guy. That's that they always and I wanna I wanna do that. Or some of them just wanna keep in their glove and run.

It's like, wait. You you don't have the ball. You gotta Yeah. Because what if he t t takes off and sprints, and now you gotta get it out of your glove and you gotta get it there. You know?

But That's the that's the challenge. You know? And and and, you know, just knowing, hey. We don't wanna run him to the next base. But, you know, get him give it up early before you get him give him another base.

You know? Just like get him going back to the last one. If he's safe at the last at the at his the previous base, that's fine. He could be safe there, but, yeah, we don't want him we don't want him at the the advancing of base. Right.

So, so you personally so we we kinda connected. I saw your name come through for I think it was a catapult loading system was the first one or power hitter two point o or something like that. So the principles of that course. So what what part of the training resonated with you? Was it just more of you kinda hands on in it, taking it, and going to batting practice?

Or Yeah. Well, at the time, you know, I wasn't I wasn't playing much in the big leagues, and I was like, man. I I I realized there was a shift, at that moment in the big leagues. And it was it was kinda late of me just, like, catching on, because my whole career, they were telling me just hit the ball on ground and hit the ball to right side, and guess what? You're making millions.

And guess what? Guess what happened? They were actually right. I actually I actually I actually did that. I listened to them, and and and I made a lot of money doing that, not realizing I could've made a lot more.

You know, drive the ball or but I didn't I didn't have to look for that, because this is what the organization said. This you know? So, you know, that's where coaching is, like, is is is is is is really means a lot, especially, at that level because you can really shape up, especially a guy a guy who's willing to learn, willing to listen, willing to work at making adjustments. Mhmm. But for me, it was like, okay.

I've gotten to this position, but now I'm not playing. I know why I if I if I if I if I'm able to hit that load out and, you know, just kinda revive my career, I could I could do that. And so when I started, I I I I I read through the course, the book. Read through the book, listened to it a few times, and then I started doing it. And so I got to the field for early batting practice in Tiger Stadium.

Mhmm. And and I'm, you know, I'm I'm showing my numbers. You know, I'm I'm squeezing these fingers. I'm like and then, you know, it's it's BP. And I'm hitting the ball into now in Tiger Stadium, they have the ball pins in left field.

Mhmm. Right? And then they have the seats. Mhmm. Right?

I I had never I I remember I remember That's about Yeah. Yes. Yeah. So I remember, like like, when I was in Oakland trying to hit home runs, I I couldn't I couldn't do it. Like and and, you know, I had been there.

I played with Detroit. I I wouldn't hit bare I wouldn't hit home runs to left center, like, into those not even into the, like, the dugout barely. I could pull it, but not to left center. I was hitting them to left center into the seat. So over the bullpen, like, way I'm, like, six, seven rows deep.

I'm like, oh, this is something. And I'm like, man, why didn't I notice it? Why didn't I notice when I first started playing pro ball? You know? And then I'm hitting line drives, like, to right.

Like like, they're, like, they're not even getting up, but they're, like, short hop in the wall. Right? Right there, like, oh my gosh. This thing and and and, you know, manager sees it and, like, and even the guys that I'm like, this is the first day I, like, actually implemented on the field. Even the guys are like, holy Raj, man.

Man, what got into you? What you mean? I'm with Francisco, Landor, and all these guys, like, you know, like, you know, you're like, man, Raj, man. What what what what what's got into you, man? While while I'm doing this, because this is the first day I actually, you know, implemented it.

It's, like, overnight. Like, boom. Over it. So I actually, after that that that early hitting, I actually got I got to start the game because of that. I started the game.

But the thing is in the game when I got in the game, I wasn't looking for that pitch that I can do. Mhmm. Mhmm. I I didn't have the the mentality because the the guy throws a lot of junk. Mhmm.

But if I would just look for one zone, I would've I would've got the pitch. Mhmm. And I wasn't ready for the pitch when I when I when I came. Mhmm. You know?

Because it didn't come to, like, the to, like, two strikes. Right. Right. And that's the challenge when you're when you're when you're when you're not, like, focused in like, when you're not playing. Because I wasn't playing every day.

I was like, you just put me in there because, you know, he's so he's in it that good. Yeah. So, you know, so, you know, it it didn't work out in the game because I wasn't mentally prepared for Strategies and things like that. For for for implementing in the game. Mhmm.

But it but it but the definitely, the system was was like, man. Now this is something I want my son to have. You know? Yeah. And now he gets to play with it at his age.

Right. Yeah. And that's what I tell my hitters is I tell him, like, today, we had one of my one of my rec guys who's a smaller kid. He little guy. And I don't know if he's gonna be much of a bigger guy because both parents are pretty pretty short, probably five, six, five, seven.

Mhmm. One of the best hearts, he got coaches award this year. Like, I gave, like, just biggest hearts, You know, big heart kid. And I told him, I said, I have another hitter that he knows that he they played together for a school ball, and he's just a little bit older than than this one. And or, I mean, he's a year older, but he's a little bit taller.

But they're similar body types, and he hammers the ball. And he's been hit working with me for, like, two and a half, three years now. And I said, his name's this kid's name's Andrew. I said, Andrew, you could be just like Mason. You can be just like him.

So today, the last lesson last week, we worked on his, the actual catapulting system, the three. We actually cut it down into two now. We take that front shoulder. We tell the hitter to pull it down and in towards the back hip. So that kind of presses that.

We call it spring. It's not really a spring, but we call it a spring so it's easy to yep. And then the other piece is you were talking about, like, hiding the hands. We went over finger pressure, but it's more of hiding the hands from the pitcher and then really getting that scap that rear scap load. Right?

So we did that last time, but this time, he was getting in there and he's getting stuck. He was like he was in it a little too early, and then he just he didn't have any momentum going into his turn. So we we call it a bounce. So we want them to go one one thousand swing, one one thousand swing. So it's like, we bounce into the turn.

So there's a timing of it. Right? There's a timing of it. Yeah. And I was if you're a baseball or softball parent or coach looking for a proven edge in your hitters' development, Raj Davis just handed you the blueprint in this episode.

From his MLB career to coaching his own 10 year old son, Raje talks about the importance of staying short to the ball, staying connected, and training movements that actually transfer to the game. He even gives props to the catapult loading system, saying the principles improved his power and helped him feel the barrel more consistently. That's huge. And guess what? Those same principles are baked right into our swing shift program.

Swing shift isn't about gimmicks. It's about daily three to five minute episodes delivered straight to your inbox backed by biomechanics, motor learning, and results driven coaching. We're talking real world drills and mental game tips designed for busy sports parents who want smarter, faster results. If Rajai Davis believes in these principles, imagine what they can do for your young athlete. Check out Swing Shift now at hittingperformancelab.com forward slash swing shift and start building a more powerful, connected, confident hitter one episode at a time.

Watching guys like, at the time, Miguel Cabrera, Trout, and I was noticing that they were just all just kinda here flowing right into it, flowing right into it. It wasn't, you know, a 100p used to he used to be in it, but he would get stuck in it. He would kinda sit here like this and do his thing. You know, he'd do his thing, and then he would swing. And, like, for him, I know he was a bigger guy.

He was, like, what? Six three or something like that. But if he woulda even bounced in, it might have given him maybe another five homers a year or something like that, you know? And so for him, for this little guy, Andrew, he starts hammering the ball. And I tell him, it's like a light switch because we're using the body.

It's like, this stuff didn't come from me. This is smarter people than me that kinda figured this out with the spinal engine mechanics and stuff. And I said, all we did was we we just applied it to the baseball swing. But you you can apply it to hammer throwing in the Olympics. You can you can apply it to the javelin throw.

You can, any kind of explosive rotate, the, the serve in tennis, quarterback throwing, pitching. I mean, it's the same mechanics. But in pitching, it may look like, it's more of a, upward tilt. You know? Yeah.

So, like, instead of us, we're gonna go tilt down, and then we're Yeah. We're gonna flip it where the pitcher's gonna he's gonna go up, and then he's gonna flip it as he as he makes room for the arm as it comes through. You know? And what's interesting is if you going back to Roldus Chapman, so we're watching that fastball documentary, my son and I. And, so we're watching the footage of him throwing, and he actually he so he comes up with a leg kick, and he actually angles down as his leg comes up.

And then as his leg he starts to open up, he then angles up and goes into his like, showing the numbers. Yeah. The picture showing the number. Yeah. And then he comes.

So it's actually a down, up Yeah. And go. And I was like, Noah, did you just see that? Like, it wasn't just the up and then yes. He actually went down, up, and then, again, I was like, woah.

And I've seen some of the guys today that are throwing like that that not a lot of them, but they'll they'll start angled down, and then they then they go up, and then then they get ready for the arm coming through. Kinda interesting. But it's like a freaking light switch. Yeah. Oh my goodness.

I I what that that fast, but with the Roy Chapman, what what was that on? Was that on is it a Netflix? So we have an app called Foz, f o s, Future of Streaming. And it's kind of like a it's not illegal because they sell it out at a a we have a big giant home and garden show out at the fairgrounds. You know?

So they had a booth and they were so it's, like, kind of word-of-mouth. So we got it on there, but it try and see if Netflix, try and see, maybe Amazon. Do, do you have, like, Fire Stick or just smart TV or whatever? Yeah. See see if it's in one of those ones, but it's called Fastball.

You might be able to watch it on on YouTube. It might be just on YouTube. Yeah. But it's good. Yeah.

It's it's pretty good. But, anyway, yeah, like a light switch. So, yeah, that was pretty cool, and it was that was where we connected, and and I thought that was great. So you played for eight different MLB clubs. So which team culture?

So I love team culture, by the way, because we do team bonding stuff and all that. So what team culture helped you grow most on and off the field, and what lessons did you carry with you from each transition? Well, I tell you what. I I I learned how to lose, you know, in the first couple years. I was like, okay.

Because all all the teams I played on coming up through the minor leagues, we all won. Like, all my teams won. Like, in that now I'm not not not in that, you know, everyday role. I'm not I'm not playing as much when I got to the big leagues, and I I saw the difference right away. I was like, oh, well but I I, you know, I didn't I didn't think too much of it because I'm a rookie.

I'm in the minor leagues. You know? So I go to, you know, the Giants, which was on the verge of starting to win, but they hadn't won yet. Right? They were on the verge of turning the corner.

Vincente Com was in his first full year. Matt King was in his second gear. Mhmm. You know, Bobby Wilson Brian Wilson, he was just up and down. He was starting to become that closer.

Nine throwing 99, throwing hard. Yep. This is Barry Bonds last year. Mhmm. You know, they have Molina over there.

So they're they're just starting to turn around. They're about to get Posey and right. They start to turn the corner. Mhmm. And then I go over to Oakland.

When I got over Oakland, they were actually a winning ballclub. I think I got there was to, like, there were, like, eight games over 500. Was this, this was kinda two thousand five, six? '8. Oh, 02/2008.

Okay. 2,008. Well into the team. Baseballs. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Sweeney. Yep. Mike Sweeney was over there, and he was, like, the team leader over there.

And he was really good. He was good for captain. He was a captain. Right? Yeah.

He was he was good for that team. Great for the team. Mhmm. We needed needed him. He was like, man, he was he was really good for the team, especially for me for growth.

Mhmm. He he was a he was the one guy I was like you know, I grew over in in Giants too because, you know, I was, I was with a veteran veteran veteran club. Dave Robertson's on our team. Oh, yeah. Randy Winn.

Mhmm. You know, Barry Bonds. Yeah. Ray Durham Yeah. Ryan Klasco.

You know, we had just a loaded load I mean, Omar Biscale, Richard Milia, Pedro Feliz. I mean Was JT over there, Snow? Was he still there or no? He was it was it was a little bit after him. It was after him.

Uh-huh. But we had some we had some guys that that had a lot of service time. Mhmm. And, you know, I just, you know, I just sat back and watched. I kept my mouth shut.

I didn't say anything hardly. And I just watched watched how these guys and so I had a game where I went over four four punches. Mhmm. Never fun. Yeah.

It was like you know, so Randy comes to me and say, Rash, man, when you don't got it, you gotta fight. You gotta fight more than that. You gotta fight harder than that. You gotta you gotta you gotta good. You gotta you gotta come you gotta we need we need more of that.

We need you to you need to battle. You need to compete. You know? And that was good for me. That was good for my growth because that that actually helped to to to to give me a little little edge.

Right? Okay. You gotta have a little edge on you. Like, man, I'm going up there. I'm gonna do damage.

I'm going up there with confidence. I'm gonna go up there. Because, you know, you're playing best in the world, and and you're playing them every day, and you gotta do do thing all over again every single day. So going to the Giants was was real good for my growth. Going to the A's was really good because they actually let me develop into the player that I am.

Right? I got to play a lot. You know, I earned my spot by just being ready off the bench. Mhmm. Right?

Guys went down. I was ready. Mhmm. Right? I was getting a platoon at first, and then it got hot.

And then, guys got hurt. Guys couldn't stay on the field. I stayed on the field. Mhmm. And then, you know, my second year, I I I was in a platoon row, and then somebody went down.

Next thing you know, I'm playing every day. Hit three zero five, you know, stole the bases. And then the next year, I was just my spot. You know? Hit two eighty four.

Now it's over 50 bags, and now I actually felt really, really comfortable. And then I traded. Yeah. You know, that that was, like, for me, I hadn't I hadn't, like, really, like, learned myself as a hitter. I was learning myself.

Mhmm. But I didn't know who I was as a hitter. Like, I knew what got me success, but when I went to a new team, I tried to be them and not me. Mhmm. So that was the biggest thing.

Did you ever have coaches reach out to you, like, when you get traded? Would they say would they sit you down and say, hey, Raj. You know, this is this is kinda how we wanna see you role wise or, like, did they give you any kind of leadership in that or no guidance? No. There were that's the I I didn't I didn't get any of that.

And, you know, and if I did, I didn't remember it. You know? It it was just it's it's, that's the challenge. That's the challenge, you know, I mean, as you once you get to to to major leagues, it felt like now you're, like, on your own again. Yeah.

You know? But you gotta you gotta realize where you you're not really on your own on on on unless you're not asking for help, if you're not asking the right people, you know, to you know? But, you know, some some some, you know, coaches are just, you know, they're not going to, intrude on your space. They don't want to, you know, you know, step on any toes a lot of times. They don't wanna hurt any feelings.

You know, they just kinda wanna keep things as they as they are. Mhmm. So I think that's the one of the challenges, you know, as a player, if you don't have a new culture. Yeah. And adjusting to different cultures Mhmm.

And knowing who you are as a as a player. So who was the so you mentioned Randy Winn and the Giants. Who of those eight teams had kind of the best welcoming culture where you had players actually reaching out to you, coming up to you and saying, hey, Raj. Here, I got some advice. What what what of those franchises were better at that at the time?

Well, I have to say it was, we had a we had a really good culture with the Giants. I I I I really I really it was a really good culture. I I liked it. It was Bonds Bonds pretty receptive. I mean, he was that was He was definitely receptive to me Uh-huh.

And and Fred Lewis. You know? Mhmm. He was showing me his house, you know, on the Internet. I mean, he was living right next door to Martin Lawrence and Martin Lawrence.

Right around the corner. I said, these are your neighbors? Yeah, man. They come over all the time. We watch reruns of his show.

But, you know, he he was very receptive. We actually had a early session where, you know, this is when he was, you know, you know, about to break the record. Mhmm. And we're in San Diego. We had a early session, just me, him, and Fred Lewis, and we're doing the early work.

And he's you know, he was talking about little things like, you know, how he, you know, kind of just, would position his feet in the box Mhmm. And how he had pressure on this side or that side. And, you know, you know, it was it was really, really unique. Interesting. Yeah.

So what what kind of pressure was he talking about? Like, inside or outside? No. You know how, like, Wett talks about that outside? So he is applying that then.

Mhmm. You know, on the outside part of of the feet. Like, kind of the claw? Like like you're doing? Yeah.

Mhmm. And, you know, so he would have the stability. It would be stable here Mhmm. You know, in the middle Mhmm. While keeping the feet, like, kinda.

But it was, it's pretty unique how he was He was ahead of his time, man. I don't know if that was bad or if he would just super high baseball IQ and he just kinda figured it out or I don't know. Well, I think it was a combination. First off, I believe that when you get obsessed with something and you do it all the time, you you you get revelation, on on things and knowledge comes. Yeah.

I know. And anytime I ever, like, I dive into something, I just get all in, and I'm all in. That's all I'm doing. I get more I gain more, so much more instead of as opposed to when I just try to spread myself thin. Right?

Doing trying to do this, doing that, do that as does as opposed to just focusing on, you know, whether it's just hitting or or or doing the mental skills or, you know, I I just I just I just realized it just flows easier. But he was, like, a six day a week guy who who who who who worked. He worked. He worked. I remember who's fucked.

But he worked very, very, very hard. Mhmm. And, and, you know, he was he was extremely, can you see? Can I see? Yep.

Yeah. Yeah. You're good. Alright. He's just a little lighty lighty behind you.

He has a nice window there. Oh, yeah. Is that too much? No. He should be okay.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But he he worked extremely hard, on his craft. You know, he he I remembered him talking about, you know, him working out six days a week from seven to to 1PM on just his body during season.

And he only took, you know, two weeks off, and he never really took took a break. Where guys take a whole month off, he never did that. Wow. And so he never really lost his swing. Like, when other guys would try to find it, he never really lost it because he was always swinging.

Mhmm. And so, like, his his two weeks off were active. Like, he didn't stop. Never just stop. Mhmm.

Right? So he was con constantly just, getting better every year and and and compounding what he already learned. Well, other guys and when they stop, you know, and baseball is a lot of it. It's feel. Right?

You start feeling differently. It's like, oh, man. What happened? Mhmm. My feel my swing don't feel the same.

Mhmm. You know? Especially if you don't know your swing. Yep. But I don't think he ever let himself.

So he was able to compound, what he was learning in his swing every single year, you know, where where where guys stop and, I think, stop their learning. Mhmm. It's like some of the pitchers who, were the best in the game that really didn't get hurt a lot, never stopped throwing. Mhmm. Never stopped throwing.

Yep. So when they lift, they're always throwing, and so they're they're they they don't get hurt because they're always throwing. Mhmm. And when they get those gains, if they're not throwing, you know, the the the muscles aren't used to that now. Mhmm.

So that's a that's a that's a that's a that's a big, you know, problem, you know, that where where some guys get hurt when they come back to Spring Training and wonder why. Well, maybe that is. Mhmm. Well and that's a big thing that that like, Alan Jager. You know, Jager Bands.

So we had I had him interviewed him for the podcast, and, he's he's a wealth of knowledge on all that kind of stuff. And he's done all the research and looked at the science of it, of throwing. And the problem he thinks, and I and I agree, you probably would too. The problem is throwing needs to happen. You can't not throw.

But I think with the travel ball scene, I think they're throwing game intensity too much. And that's what Alan was saying was that we had a kid on our team who ended up leaving the team because some interesting stuff wasn't had nothing to do with really us. It was just he was playing seven days a week in games. He was on a travel team, was playing on our team, and they were seven days a week. So they'd play on the weekend.

They'd play probably tournament game start on well, we'd have a game on our games were Monday, Fridays. So one game on each day. So we had nice two day weekend break, and then we had three days between the the two games. Right? So we had plenty of break, but he wasn't.

He was playing on a on a league where they play Tuesday, Thursday, and then there was a Wednesday that got added, and then he was playing the weekend. So he was playing seven days. So the moment he quit, he quit those Monday, Fridays, but probably ended up playing Friday anyway. So we had six days a week he's playing. And he pitched he pitched for us a little bit.

I wanted him to pitch a little bit more, but he was starting to pitch for the other team. And then he was also I mean, his arm was was hanging just from playing the field all every all day, every day during the week. You know? Wow. Wow.

I can only imagine. I mean, I mean, what has this game gone to? You know, where if you can't they they think they gotta play seven days. I mean, oh, man. But you can have you you and I, we we're about the same age, I think.

You you might be a year or two older than me because you said you got dropped in in in o one. I graduated I finished my senior year, my last year playing baseball college at 02/2003, so we gotta be close to the same age. You know? You didn't have travel ball growing up, did you? So there was there there was travel ball, but it was, like, for only the elite players.

Yeah. Right. Same here. Same here. Yep.

Yeah. So I wasn't I wasn't part of that. Like, we played Jucos. We played JUCO. Because we're no other teams our age.

Right. Yeah. Right. Right. I definitely played, junior college, baseball.

But, you know, if you played on one of those teams, like, they recruited you. Yeah. And then as soon as you were recruited, like, you threw hard as a pitcher. You hit really good as a hitter. Mhmm.

You would just, hands down better than, you know, a a guy. And they and they and they and they gather them from a wider range of of of, you know, leagues and and and stuff. So, you know, these guys are coming from, you know, thirty, forty, you know, minutes away, right, to to to compile one. Well, now they're they're all coming from the same era. You know?

Right. All teams is like, you know, it's a little different. And you played you played other sports too growing up. Right? Oh, I played all three sports.

I was three sports. Good in all three. And I yeah. Basketball was my favorite sport. Mhmm.

Better than baseball? It it was way better than baseball growing up. If I and I if I was six six, I would have been playing in NBA. My my shot was it was it was, I was 48% from three point shot. You're more point guard point guard?

I was a shooting guard. Mhmm. Shooting guard. I wouldn't work I didn't work hard enough on my trouble. But if I was taller, I would've.

Mhmm. You know? But I but I knew. I I I I had no chance. Once I got to ninth grade, I was like, this is just not going it's not gonna work, basketball, because you just gotta be tall.

Mhmm. And I I would have all the odds against me. Mhmm. Even though even though I I I like to shoot. I like to shoot.

Football, my most natural sport, I could just dominate, just go just step on a court and if you give me an opportunity, I'm gonna dominate. Mhmm. I'll put naturally, I could naturally make you miss. Mhmm. And in practice, they would give me the ball to our against our first defense, and I get to the secondary.

Like and we had less guys to because it's always a hole. It's just like, how do you find it? Yep. You know? So I was I was pretty good, at just seeing that because I played football my whole life.

Mhmm. And and we we played kill the man with the ball, so I I was used to getting away from people. You know, it's you won on 11. Yeah. Yeah.

So I ran like I was scared every time, and, that really helped, for me to dodge a lot of hits. Mhmm. Yeah. But, you know, baseball is something I did. My uncle really wanted me to do it.

I I played it every all the time, you know, in front of my house. I was always swinging my bat. I was always throwing a tennis ball against the wall. I was always doing that. I was always getting better, but, you know, you know, it was just it was just something we we we did.

We, you know, summer, it was spring and summer was baseball season. You know, fall, that was football. Everybody knew we was playing football. And then when best basketball comes, we're going indoors because it's cold up in Connecticut. We gonna stay indoors or we gonna play basketball.

Yeah. And I think, you know, I made the sixth grade team. I made the seventh grade team. When we were in eighth grade, we went undefeated. Our baseball team went undefeated.

We were we were we we were we had a lot of our guys who stayed together Mhmm. All the way up through through the years, and we were really good, once we got an eighth grade. Mhmm. Yeah. I love I love the multi sport thing, and there's some people that they think that specificity specificity, only playing one sport all year round is gonna make you better.

But from, you you know, guys that I talked to, like you, former big leaguers, college guys, and their kids, they're doing the same thing. They got them in rec. They got them, you know, at this age, the 10 u and the 12 u, and got in them playing on all kinds of different sports and not doing the all around thing because my biggest fear for my kid is burnout, mental burnout, because you can't fix that. Once that's done, it's done. Like, yeah, you might be able to take three years off, but by the time you get back, baseball has really fast forwarded.

I mean, you've missed a lot of data, a lot of pitch recognition data and speed and, you know, the game speeds up really quickly in just a year. Could you imagine missing three just because of mental burnout? So, like, for me, it's the mental burnout. Yeah. Yep.

I've and I've I've read some some books about that. I can't remember the name of it, but one of them was talking about, the elite athletes and and how much work the elite athletes get in comparison to ones who get burned out. Right? And and they were saying, basically, from, like, six to, like, 12 or or thirteen, fourteen. Six to, like, 14 years old, these the ones that get burned out, they they're working, like, maybe twice as much as as the the other ones.

And then once they get to high school level, it's about even. This is to talk about elite athletes that Mhmm. Being elite. Comparisons. Even, and as far as how much work they're putting in off the field are, you know, in hours in hours.

Mhmm. And then once they get, like, from eighteen to 21, that's when the the pro the elite athletes to the pro first, they that's where they they they leave, you know, the rest behind as far as what their how many hours they're putting in to training, deliberately, on their on their on their skills. Mhmm. And I think part of that too, which I I remember seeing that study too, that they're that they're propping they're not talking about in that is injury to those those ones that are just playing baseball year round since they were the age of five and that mental burnout. Because part of that, those two players have to drop out.

So that means their workout time goes to zero. Right? Mhmm. And so then your lead athlete who I feel are more prepared body wise, because they've been playing multiple sports, they're more prepared mentally because they play multiple sports. They've had that change.

Right? Where it's a change of venue, change of environment, change of atmosphere. And so they you know, once once you finally settle into one sport and you take that on, now all those hours of football and basketball and baseball all now goes into baseball. Right? And that's where the obsession you know, I think the biggest change the biggest difference between big leaguers, pro players, and, everybody else is obsession.

Like, it's obsession about, like, what you're talking about yourself, Bonds, you know, and I've heard stories. Greg Maddux is just the obsession with the sport which causes, like you said, revelation. You you really get so obsessed with something. And then when you put it down for even if it's a five minutes, ten minutes, it's like, oh, shoot. Let me try this.

You know? It's usually a good thing, not a bad thing. Yeah. Yeah. And and then when you when you're when you're when you're doing something, like, you you you start figuring things.

Like, when you're especially on your own, I I know it's like I used to swing my bat all the time Mhmm. In in front of my house. Mhmm. You know? I might not have had the best swing, but I had the most confidence.

Mhmm. You know? And and I hit three eighty four with just having a lot of confidence, not with the best swing, but had a lot of confidence. I hear one thing that the coach would say, lock out on him, and I knew exactly what he meant. Mhmm.

And I started locking out on him, and I started driving the ball. Right? You know? It was like and not not not nothing mechanic. He says, lock out on him.

Okay. Lock out? Okay. I I know what that means, but I know and I know when it tells my somebody, I I hit, like, you know, four home runs and, like, in the rookie ball. And, like, I wasn't used to hitting the ball out.

Right? But I was driving the ball. I had, like, like, 25 extra base hits. And it was like this was like the turnaround year for me Mhmm. In my rookie ball season.

And, you know, second year of my career, and I'll end up end up going from there, from rookie ball hitting three eighty four, you know, player of the year in in in that, in that level, and then making my journey up. It was it was it was it was it was it was pretty good because I was, like, I was literally I would wake up, you know, and my whole focus would be on on baseball. Mhmm. And a a lot of it, you know, I'll I'd take the stress out. I'd I'd I'd read my Bible.

That would that would really help to to bring some perspective for me. Mhmm. And then I while I was finished my day with what we call the Smitty Swole Program. This is I would do I would do these push ups. I would do these sit ups, because I couldn't work out with everybody else.

I would catch too many cramps. Like, I was playing in Florida. I was just having these cramps. I didn't I didn't have the the money to do the research on, you know, what my body actually needed. But, like, I was constantly swinging in the room.

Mhmm. That was, like, a a big deal for me. Because anytime I did that, I would dominate, like, like, I would dominate the next day. Mhmm. Or if I did it consistently, I would just dominate the league, whatever whatever it was.

Mhmm. But that was the challenge, you know, doing it, being consistent with it because the elite athletes will keep doing it. Mhmm. Me, I get tired of doing it. Like bonds.

Like, you're talking about bonds. Like, where he doesn't take the day off. It's like Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, a lot a lot of good stuff.

And you're still doing okay on time? Because, like, we're we're good stuff, and I'm, like, halfway through my this. Yeah. You know? So not not saying that we're gonna go for another hour, but, I just wanna make sure we're good.

So you're a huge believer in this this section alone. Probably, we could talk for another hour, and I I don't wanna I don't wanna do that because we had some of this conversation already. But you're a huge believer in optimizing the body, especially now with your work with ISOFIT. Right? We're talking about that.

What makes isometric based training like ISOFIT and MAT, muscular activation technique, different from traditional approaches, and how are you integrating it into your coaching or daily routine, now and when you're playing? Yeah. So, when I was playing, the the the the, just being able to work with the neurological system in my body, and be able to send the signals fast enough, I saw immediately, like, impact, MAT doing MAT. But the only problem with MAT, you need a specialist. You need someone who's who who who knows the body, who who knows who knows how the body functions.

And I I started picking out differences in the MAT specialist. I could tell who was actually good and who was actually just been you just you just you just taking money. Like, you just taking money. And I was like, you and, because, anytime I did MAT, it affected my body immediately if they did it the right way. If they didn't do it the right way, then that I would do there would be no change to my body.

And so that was my biggest you know, my thing with with with the MAT specialist. And and so, but they would give us exercises to do, and these exercise were were all isometric exercises. Right? So in order so and and every day, I would start my day. I would I would I would would I would get in.

I would lie down on my back, and I would just look at my body. And I'd see I see I see one one foot like this and one foot like this. Mhmm. I'm like, woah. I got an imbalance right here.

So so let me let me see if I could fix it. So I would I would I would lift up my leg and try to, like, just just hold it there, or I'll I'll push it up against something, try to hold it. The difference between the isometric machine that, was created by Brad Thorpe is is a machine. I could actually do it easier on his machine, which I didn't have then. Mhmm.

I had to try to find something, you know, or get them in a in a in a in a spot where I could do it. Mhmm. But these isometric was how I actually started my my day, and that it would actually loosen my body up. I'm like, oh my god. So I would always, like, see how much rotation I would have.

Mhmm. I just I called I was like, okay. I want a little bit more. Now I press it against something. Mhmm.

You know? And I would just gain right there. I would I would I would gain my rotation. Then every day would it would, I would have to re it would have to it would reset. Right?

I would have to do it again. Right? And those are the things that really help, you know, me stay, I think, healthy throughout my and and have the longevity. If you check the statcast on my speed, which was part of my biggest part of my game. You know, I was I was, you know, running 29.2 feet per second, you know, when I was 35, 40, thirty six, thirty seven, 38, 39.

I was stay I stayed in 29, feet per second. I didn't I didn't go any lower than that in my career. Mhmm. While most most guys, they lose their speed, I was not. And and if I was About the Slow slow Slow.

Finish that thought, but I want you to talk about the instance where you got injured, and there was another I think there was another player you said got injured, and then the difference between how long you stayed on versus him Yeah. The aisle. Yeah. Absolutely. So, you know, I was I was always, open.

What's what's gonna get me and keep me on the field and and get me back fastest? Right? I always wanna be on the field. And if I got injured, I was like, man, it was a it was a it was a it it was a stroke to my ego. It was like it was not a good stroke either.

And I was like, man, I pride myself in being able to be available all the time. And so, I I kinda brought it by myself, but when you when you when you're playing in a long season, sometimes you get fatigue and get tired. So we were playing in a rain delay. Right? Mhmm.

I was a little tired. I was a little fatigued. We started the game, and then we stopped the game. We postponed it. Like, so we we we we're waiting actually, we're waiting in the rain delay, and so we're sitting in the in into, you know, in the in the in the clubhouse, you know, and I and I'm not doing anything.

I'm just sitting around. And so now I get back into the the game, and now we're we're playing, but I didn't really get right. If you caught that part of the episode where Rajai Davis, yes, the same guy who torched a role as Chapman in game seven of the world series, talked about optimizing his movement with David Wecht's techniques, then you already know something next level is going on here. WEC method isn't just about working harder, it's about moving smarter. This is the system that teaches athletes how to connect their feet to their hands, boost rotational power, and improve speed and coordination.

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Let's go. Like I normally do. And that's the that's always the thing. I don't do what I what I what I I do, like, when I begin the game, even if I stop for these these that though that moment, it affects you. Right?

So those are the separate. So and I'm hitting the ball really good at this point. Like, I'm dominating right now. And so guess what? I'm leading off the game.

Guess what? I hit a lead off triple. Right? Mhmm. I'm running.

I get to second. I I put a little bit more on the third. I'm oh, oh, I felt something. Oh, that ain't good. Ah, didn't didn't didn't feel right.

So I get a I get an MRI. It's a grade two strain a grade two, strain on my on my hamstring. And so, you know, I'm out for the grade two strain. You know? You know, normally, for, like, a a grade one strain, it's, like, you know, six weeks, six to eight weeks for grade one strain, hamstring pull.

Right? And so one of the guys that, that was my teammate, he's he's already on the, the I the IL, or the injured the injuredness Mhmm. With the with a hamstring pull. And he's on there. He he had been on there for a while now.

We talked about six weeks. Six six six or six or eight weeks. He's he's already been on there. And they're just working on him slowly, you know, getting him back to ready. And I got a grade two now.

He's got a grade one. I got a grade two, strain. And so I'm doing everything that the the trainers ask you ask me to do at the at the field, but I'm also doing other stuff. Right? You know, I'm I'm I'm calling my guy that, you know, I I that that that that I believe really knows the body.

So he tells me, hey, man. Keep doing this thing. Wrap it. Wrap it. And I'm with Tim Tebow at the time too.

And he was so he's a football player. Okay? And the football, you you know they gonna get on the field. They only got 16 games. Right?

They getting back on the field, and they know how to get back on the field and get back on the field. And they gonna play hurt. He's like Thibault's like, it's not a it's not a matter if you get hurt. It's when you get hurt. Like, he's like, man, I broke everything.

You know? I was like, but we play. We play. We play. And so they know how to play through these things and to get get better.

So he started he started he had this, like, rap, and he started rapping my leg, like, really, really tight with this, like, band really tight band. And I tell you what, it hurt like, like, mother. Like, mother's beating. You know? It hurt.

It really, really hurt. But through through the process of doing it, you know, I got I got better so much more faster doing it a different nontraditional baseball way. Mhmm. And, you know, I was back running full speed three weeks later. Three weeks later, I'm running full speed.

Mhmm. You know? And, you know, it was it was it was a it was a it was just doing things that, were non really nontraditional and and and not like what they weren't popular. Mhmm. But I wasn't trying to be the popular guy.

I'm trying to be back on the field. Mhmm. What what is that? You know? And so, you know, I think a lot of it is you know, and that year was really tough for me because I didn't have all the resources I had.

I actually had to start from zero again. And and as far as my knowledge like, I went eleven straight years of not being sent down, you know, to from from big leagues. So when you're in the big leagues, it's like night and day from minor leagues to big leagues. As far as how many resources you have available, how many people that can, you know, work work out soft tissue, like, you're getting regular workout, and and you they're working on your soft tissue, which helps to, move around that inflammation and blood in your and you got the right foods that you're that you can eat. You can right you can you can take the the the magnesium.

You can take all these anti inflammatories that's gonna help, your body. But you don't have that in my legs, what they said. At our job, we didn't have it. We didn't have that. So now I gotta learn how to take care of myself all over again.

And I'm learning from scratch. And so I'm dealing with issues in my body that I wouldn't normally have to deal with the big leagues because they would just work it out. Mhmm. They would just keep working it out, and we'd have somebody for that. Mhmm.

Or I could I could I could I could, you know, afford to pay somebody to to work it out for me. Mhmm. Mhmm. And that was the difference. I don't even know if I answered the question, but No.

You did. Yeah. No. And and a lot of this is inspiration too for people to seek these things out, especially in the younger the the 12, our kids ages, right, where they're looking at oh, shoot. Seven days a week?

The the the both Raj and Joey are saying that that's not a good thing. They're like playing games seven days a week, you know? And so just to get them raising awareness, and you mentioned mentioned some names in the MAT world that, and, you know, ISOFIT, which I'll have links to. They can go and look and they can start digging themselves into that kind of information. And shoot, I mean, I was just thinking as you were talking about it, you can just tell go to Chad GBT or Gemini or any of the AIs and say, hey, act like an expert in MAT, muscular activation technique specialist, and give me a program to help little league elbow or little league shoulder, you know, and it'll it'll give you good and just say, hey, all I have access to is blah blah blah, whatever equipment, you know, and and you can kinda do it there.

Isovit kinda does from what I've seen, it has a lot of, you know, it's a little bit more pricey than somebody just looking for, like, a massage ball or something. But, you know, it might be some something's gonna go, hey. I got it. You know, I'm getting that. That's that's definitely something that we need to do, you know.

So I appreciate your advice on that and and, others out there, I'm sure too. So your faith in family shows up consistently across your social media. So how did these values ground you throughout the challenges of your career? Now you already kinda mentioned mentioned it, but, especially during slumps, injuries, or moves between teams. So how did your faith and family help you with that?

So my career was started when I was 11 years old, 10 years old. My mom gave me one scripture. She said, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. So that was the one scripture that got me to the big leagues. It got me to professional.

It got me to, the big leagues. It got me to sustain a big league. So anytime, I got into a rough patch, I can do all things through Christ. You know? And so, that wasn't something I just said.

That's something that I lived. Right? That was a that was a daily thing for me. It was a it was a daily prayer. It was a daily reading on the Bible.

It was a daily, refreshing, renewing my mind every single day. I would have a a new fresh attitude going into the field, whether I was starting or or not. Mhmm. And I learned that. I didn't have it at first, but I had to learn that through suffering, through going through sitting on the bench and not being the guy and being quiet and doing your work and not thinking about, oh, this one's playing and you're not forget about all of that.

Focused on what what can you bring to the table when you're ready. Just be ready when your your opportunities you know? And if you're thinking all the time about this one is doing this and that one is doing that, you lose track of what you're doing. What are you supposed to be doing to get yourself better? So that guess what?

When time comes and opportunity will come, are you ready, though, for it? Right? Do you have the right mindset? Do you have the right attitude? Are you are you ready for that?

So faith, and has always been a part of, you know, just my makeup. I I realized that I was one of the smallest guy. I realized that I didn't have the coaching that was needed to, I didn't have the professional coaching at a young age. I didn't have, you know, someone to to walk me through this. I had to trust that, you know, God was helping me.

I had to trust that that he was, you know, he had a plan for me, that he was, you know, ordering my steps. And and and this is all I'm walking through, not knowing the end result, but just trusting as I walk through it. But I was willing to work. That was that's a separate. I was willing to work hard, and I was doing these things religiously, like, every single day on my own.

I'm not I'm not talking about playing games. I'm talking about practicing on my own Right. Swinging my bat, you know, hitting the tires, hitting the swings, hitting hitting the rope. I'm doing all that on my own because of what I had inside of me. Like, I was dreaming, but I was working at the same time.

So I was activating what I was dreaming by working. Right. And I was doing it all the time. And it it it it got got so much, it gets be got to become just a part of who I am. And, you know, it was it was it was tough to separate it.

So, you know, now every now and then, I'll, you you know, I'll pick up a bat, and I'm I'm I'm swinging with no bat in my head. I'm telling people, watch out for your head. Watch your hair. I'm about to hit you. I love that.

And and, you know, for me, you you got you became a follower of Christ a lot sooner than I did. It took me a little bit of time. I had friends at the time in the nineties that were telling you they were going to church and they were on fire for Christ. And they were saying to me, well, you know, if you don't come to Christ, you know, what happens tomorrow if you step off the curb and you get hit by a bus? Where are you going?

And they were it was like this straight arm style of of discipleship. Right? And for me, I was like, what are you trying you trying to this is what being a follower of Christ is all about, you know? And so that this was just kind of my own I'm a researcher. I got to put I'm like doubting Thomas.

I got to put my fingers in the wounds of Christ before I believe. And so I had to do my own digging, you know? And that's just how God made me. So it wasn't until my I took a couple classes in college, and one was exploring religions. I knew I wanna be Christian, but I wanted to see what the other one said too.

So I came to Christ after that, and then I took another philosophy class that was all kind of exploring the four gospels. And and it was pretty cool because it had all four gospels all lined up on one page, all lined up in the actual sequential order. And you can see the difference between Mark Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John. You can see the difference in the writing. It was really, really cool.

So it fascinated me. But it took me until my last year almost yeah. Last year of college or junior year college, I think, until I finally came to Christ. And I wish I would've had it sooner because, like, you're talking about having that peace. And I'm not saying you for those listening out there that you gotta become a follower Christ.

That was just what Raj and I did, you know? But, I felt like that would have been so much it would have taken a lot of the pressure off. Not saying that not saying that you don't have pressure because there's pressure. You mentioned in the World Series and, you know, that kind of stuff. But when when you can trust in Christ to deliver you through the fire, a whole different experience.

And if you don't, you know, you have you have it's the faith. It's something that you can't touch. You know? It's just it's there, and you don't know until you know. So I I yeah.

I love that. And I hope, you know, hope some out there, especially the younger ones, the kids that are listening to this, the younger players can kinda, let me let me kinda explore that a little bit and look into it. You know? Which leads me to the next question, is you were drafted in the thirty eighth round after borrowing gas money to attend a tryout. So what kept you going when the odds were stacked against you?

Was there a moment when you nearly walked away? I had a couple moments. Not sure that was one of them because I would I was so you know, I didn't realize that that that was my moment, because at the time, I was playing I was playing in a wooden bat league. Mhmm. And here here because I wasn't I I was, you know, I was I was I was, you know, going to church a lot, you know, pretty much every Sunday, and I was, you know, doing my, you know, Christian thing.

But hearing hearing the clear message that was being sent was a challenge. Because now I'm I'm in Middletown, Connecticut, which is about thirty five minutes from my house. I'm playing in a wooden bat collegiate level Mhmm. League right now. And, you know, I, I I'm listening to the coaches.

One of the coaches is a scout, and he's telling me, Raj, you you they they wanna they wanna see you at this practice. They want they wanna see you at the workout. Mhmm. And so I'm like, okay. Well, I don't got a car.

I don't have a car. How am I gonna get there? K. Alright. So, finally, the workout's the next day.

I decide I'm gonna go. It's like 09:00 at 08:00 at night. It's it's it's dark already. Mhmm. I'm still in Middletown.

I still gotta get back to my house. So I I catch a ride back to my house. My roommate happened to have a car. He drives me thirty five minutes out of his way, drives me home. I don't give him any gas money.

I I owe him still to the table. He drives all the way back just just being a nice guy. I get to my house. I tell my mom, hey, mom. I I need to go to this to this tryout.

It's in Pittsburgh. It's eight hours away. You know? Because that's MapQuest we had. You know?

We couldn't we have a garment. You know? Yeah. You have to have you've had to navigate it. You had to have to print these things out.

So I printed out my instruction. I said, my mom gave me her gas card. Then, like, oh, man. Now I need a car. So I'm looking for my dad's keys, and he took his keys.

He's he's on vacation. I don't know I don't know where he is. He's in Chicago somewhere. He's, like, visiting family. I'm like, oh, man.

But good thing I had made a copy of his keys the week before. When when you when you could make copies of keys I don't think you could do that anymore, but you could then. And, I made a copy of his keys a week before, and I went back to go look. I was like, oh, there it is. Boom.

So I take the key, put it in the car, and it's a standard. Like, these kids probably don't even know about standard. They're manual. Yeah. They got testes now.

Exactly. Exactly. So I make my trip. I get my, you know, my caffeine. I I got my $60, out of the bank.

That's all that's all I have, and I make my way to Pittsburgh. Only problem is that the directions were very confusing. When I got to New Jersey, things didn't look the same. Right? And they're they're doing construction, so I end up passing the same Dunkin' Donuts, like, three or four times, on the New Jersey Turnpike.

It kept I mean, man, where where is this where is this turnpike? Where am I supposed to go? Finally, I get to a spot where, okay, now I know I'm on the right track. So I pull over, take an hour nap. I wake up.

Everything's foggy. I'm like, where where am I? Where am I? This is, like, scary. Finally, I get back on the road.

I get I hit I hit I hit this sign. It says Pittsburgh, like, a 191 miles away. Mind you, I have two hours to get to, the workout. So I end up work missing the workout. I missed the workout that was supposed to be for, you know, 15 or 16 of us.

Mhmm. I get there. Everything's closed down. I get there maybe two hours late. Mhmm.

Everything's closed down. I'm talking about two hours after they're done. Right. Right. So every everything is closed down.

Mhmm. No nobody's even there. Like, I'm I'm looking in security, like, hey. Let me in. I'm ready.

You know? They're not letting me in. They're closed. And I'm like, man, where am I supposed to go now? I end up calling my scout.

My scout happens to be there. I don't know how he why he was there. He happens to be there. The the one I'm I I've been communicating with. Yeah.

He's there in Pittsburgh. So I call him. He says, hey. Can you get a can you hold get a hotel? I'm thinking, man, get a hotel.

I that's $60. The hotel, you can't you can't stay one night. We got $60. I I can get the cheapest place that you you I can't stay at night. Right.

So I was willing to stay in my car. I was gonna sleep in my car. But he says he he ends up, you know, eventually letting me stay with him in his Cool. He has a double bed. Uh-huh.

Right? So I didn't stay with him. I'm working on my my my switch hitting there. Yeah. I'm working on on on hitting left handed there.

I didn't I didn't hit left handed all year, by the way. Mhmm. Everyone's good now. All of a sudden. But they end up liking it and, drafted me in the thirty eighth round.

Mhmm. Gave me top 10 money. And, you know, I I'm it it was an opportunity. It was an opportunity. No coincidences.

That's what I say. There's no coincidences. And and you coulda and that that's a big quitting point. Right? I mean, you coulda said, I missed it.

I'm two hours late. You coulda just called it called it it. You know? That's it. And drove back, and you you just kept kept going.

And I I love that where you get to a obstacle, and all an obstacle is is it it's an event. Right? It doesn't mean anything. Doesn't mean no. The answer's no.

It doesn't mean any of that. And, I mean, your your reasoning could easily be explained. You know? I mean, it's not like you slept in six hours and, oh, I need to go. You know?

I mean, you were trying to get there. Like, it was very reasonable way you could explain that and said, hey, man. I and you probably did. But, you know, I love that. And and that is the obsessive nature I think of the elite athlete is to just keep keep pushing until you either get the the outcome that you're looking for or the door is closed.

Like, there's just no other option. You know? I got one more question for you, and I think you'll love this one. So now that you're mentoring and coaching, what are three core principles you teach your son's team that you wish that you'd learned earlier in your own baseball journey? Well, number one, they gotta have fun.

They have to have fun at this level, and that's that's huge. And, you know, the number two is, man, if if you're gonna go out there, you might as well put the work in to dominate. You might as well put the work in to dominate. Out there? Yeah.

Why are you out there? I mean, because, like, if you're not there, you're just there to just, be be be be, you know, just to watch the worms. Hey, man. You could do that. You could do that somewhere else.

Yeah. Just put the work in, and and and and and, you know, be the best player that you can be, right, through putting putting your work in. And, you know, those those those two are are really strong, and and the other one would be, you know, just having, a good attitude. Mhmm. The attitude part is is is something that's controllable.

All of these things are, I think, are are in the the control of the player. Having fun out there. If you're not having fun, well well, how can you have fun? Mhmm. You know?

And, you know, sometimes it makes it some coaches make it very tough. Right? But you gotta look at the good in things. Yeah. Where what what good can you find in it?

You know, working working at your craft, working at a skill, working to be become the best as you can be, that's in your control. That's the decision you make. Mhmm. You know? And, you know, so so your attitude, you know, that's something that that you can control.

You can control your your attitude, how you how you respond to people, how you how you act with them. That's that's part of what you what you control. And and if you at least recognize and be aware of it, is is is one thing. Right? So, these things are, I think, things are more controllable on the player, and and players can decide whether, they they they wanna do this or not.

Right? And, you know, if you're gonna do it, you might as well go all in. I I've always been a all in kinda guy. And instead of half, if I'm gonna do something, I'm I'm going all in. Mhmm.

Yeah. And I you know, with the day and age of all playing either one sport all the way through the year or even playing multiple sports at the same time, So my son, we elected, he started playing soccer the year of the World Cup, the latest World Cup. And he just got on fire for soccer. And that was his first year. He was working out on it a lot.

We didn't start doing hitting training. I told him until he was 10, we were gonna start that. I just wanted him, like you said, point number one you made, core principle, have fun. I just wanted him to just enjoy the game. But, you know, as you know with baseball, it's tough, especially the hitting side.

It's not easy. I tell our hitters, it's not easy, but we can make it easier. Right? And so at 10, he decided he wanted to hit. But around that time, nine, ten, he started getting on fire for soccer.

And I love soccer. That was my second sport, soccer. And I did a little mixed martial arts for like three years in the middle of all that. And he got on fire and then it almost like made me go, Uh-oh. He needs to have at least one good year of baseball.

If he's gonna give it up, he needs to have at least one good year. Because then we could say, okay. If you wanna play soccer, I didn't I didn't mind that because I enjoy that game. If you wanted to do that, but we one good year. So 10 years old, start training, and he that that next year sees December birthday, so that next spring, he has a pretty good year.

You know? Has a decent year. And so I think it was good enough to where it would rival the soccer in a way where he could take two things and compare them, you know, apples to apples. So fast forward to this last year. So we had him on a kind of an all year round soccer, but we told coach when it's baseball season, it's baseball season.

Like, we're not if there's a practice and he's feeling okay, then we'll send him. If there's a game and he wants to play, then we'll send him. But this is the first year that he actually we we saw him kind of re recluse a little bit from the from soccer during the baseball season. And so I I told my wife. My wife was more of a soccer player.

That was her main sport. And I told her, I said, we have to keep him one way because he starts getting those mixed signals. You know? Because I started getting confused where you're saying, I'm all in, but all in with that one sport. Because it's like the two sports are two different things, and and and it's hard to be all in on one or the other because you only have twenty four hours in a day to be able to do and and you're sleeping for some of that.

Right? So, so I thought that was kinda interesting to have the two sports being played at the same time and seeing how different that is. And and if you're like, you know, if you're like me, when we were playing, it was when basketball season, it was basketball season, it was football season, it was football season, it was football season. Now you might have been swinging the bat on your own. You might have been doing that on your own, but you weren't out playing games or you weren't doing any of that.

It was just more fun. It was like, hey. I feel like doing it. You know? So, anyway, I love that.

I love that advice, man, and I appreciate your time. I I would love at some point to do a a round two. I know you meant we didn't really get to dig into the performance stuff like the body optimizing. I know we could probably do a whole talk on just that and and some of the things that you've done. But I think you've given given my audience enough things, gold nuggets to to take and, you know, either go research themselves or some good actionable things that they can actually take into their next practice.

So I appreciate your time, man. Did you want did you have anywhere that if people wanted to look you up, that they could go, you know, Twitter and and all those? Man, I do have a website, raise yourspeed, you know Okay. Good..com. Dude, we didn't even get to talk about that.

I'd love to talk about that in a minute. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that that was, you know, that was originally what what what I was, planning to do, just to raise raise the speed, of of players, and then I realized that Is it razor like r a z o r? Like, raise a roof.

Oh, raiseraiseyourspeed.com. Yeah. Okay. Got it. Got it.

Yeah. Yeah. And and, you know, that was that was yeah. I I I I realized that, you know, baseball was, more more more important to to people. So I I kind of, shifted a little bit.

Well, I would love to yeah. In the next you know, if we if we wanna do it if I didn't scare you away, you know, I'd love to do a part two where we talk about speed, where we talk about I would love to dig more into base running stuff. Like, that's so fascinating to me. I love I love that part of the game, and I feel like it's neglected quite a bit, you know, and talking about body optimization. So maybe we can do that in a in another talk.

But, yeah, at least I'll I'll put that link in to the show notes and and so people can can go check that out if they if they want. Any other parting thoughts that you think that we missed? No. Not not not really. You know, I I just think, you know, that, you know, just for me, and, you know, talking with your, you know, your baseball, community, you know, baseball is is just, you know, part of, you know, who I am, what I what what I do.

But I think, what what goes what goes overlooked in baseball is the mental mechanics, is the mental part of the game that, again, I think it's overlooked a lot, because I think that is what really, controls a lot of what we do. We have to tell ourselves what we wanna do, tell ourselves, how we wanna do it, And and that comes from just having the mental mechanics to do so, and a mind to do so. Yeah. I I think that is we've talked on the phone about how important that would be just for our son's age, that 10 u, 12 u time because I think that's there's a lot of emotional things that the the boys especially are going through, the girls for sure, but the boys are really going through and to be able to, help them through those those times and to give them a little bit, I guess, slack if we're talking body optimization. Put a little slack in the system so that, by the time they get into high school, it's almost second nature.

And now, you know, I always talk about the WIC, creating creating a longer WIC for a frustration or disappointment or whatever. Like, you gotta be able to especially to make it to the level you have, you have to have a long WIC. It's not saying that you're not gonna get frustrated or disappointed or whatever. But to be able to push through and get to the next level, you got you you gotta be able to put up with adversity and things like that. Yeah.

I mean, because you're going to deal with it. But if you if you learn to to say, hey. This is for my growth. This is for to help me. This is for me to get better.

Mhmm. It's it's a different kind of and we you gotta go through some kind of challenges. It strengthens that that that mental capacity. Mhmm. I love it, man.

Hey. I appreciate your time, Raj. I hope I can I call you Raj? Or is Raje? It's like Joseph.

Like, I don't want people calling me Joseph. You know? Joe Joey is just fine. You know, my mom calls me Joseph. Is Raje okay?

Raje is that's my baseball name. Okay. All the guys know me in in baseball. But see, Rajesh, I like I like the, you know, the the the two yeah. I tell my my players that if you got more than two syllables in your name, we have to shorten it or give you a or give you a nickname because we're just lazy that way.

You know? That's right. That's right. That's baseball. Alright, brother.

Well, have a good, rest of your weekend, and, we'll keep in touch. I'll get this stuff. I'm gonna try and work on see if I can get this up this next week. So I got this weekend to work on it because just with the work, throughout the day and then we got our all star practices, it's really hard to, like, find extra time. So I'm gonna try and see if I can put this all together this weekend, see if we can get it out this week, and then I'll I'll know I'll let you know.

And and if you need anything, if you need need the recording or whatever, I can send that over to you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Sound like a plan, man? Alright.

Yes. It does. Alright, Raj. They say, give give that boy of yours a big hug because I now remember ten year I remember that ten year old year. Yes.

Yes. It it is it. It is it. This is this is the time. He he he wants to put the work in.

So That's good. It's a good thing. Alright, Raj. Have a good night, bud. Cheers to having me.

Alright. Talk soon. Hey there. Thanks for for tuning in to the Swing Smarter Hitting Training podcast. If today's episode with Rajai Davis gave you even one moment, do us a solid subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

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Keep swinging smarter and we'll catch you next time.

Rajai Davis on Speed, Power & Coaching His Son: Inside the MLB Mindset & WeckMethod Training Secrets

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