My name is Jack Hartman and I was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 4th round as the 108th pick in the 2020 draft. Go Bucs! I want to start this off by saying that my story is nowhere near to be what I consider to be a “finished product.” I have big goals and some were aligned for this year that were cut due to COVID-19. However, without Alec Hammond and Connected Performance, I would not have been able to make the big strides that began to take place this past season and accomplish what I did this year.
My baseball journey has been all over the map and pitching in college was never my intention. To skip along an extensive story, I started pitching full time about half way into my sophomore year at my 3rd junior college. Prior to that, I never pitched before in my life besides maybe 4 or 5 “get me over” innings to help the team in high school. I started off as an athlete on the mound who was just trying to get seen to play at the next level. My pitch mix included my natural “cutter” that ranged in 87-89 T91 and a slider that was at 80-82. I was fortunate to sign with a great program in Appalachian State University who I believed provided me the best value and environment to help me reach the next level.
It was my first year as a full time pitcher and I was thrown into one of the most competitive conferences in college baseball with a loaded non-conference schedule. I was semi-happy with my first season as pitcher against the competition we faced. However, I was not nearly satisfied. My outings were limited because I couldn’t hardly survive past an inning of work, and I never could throw more than once a weekend out of the bullpen. Arm durability really held me back. My pitch mix had improved from the fall into the spring as I stayed with the cutter which sat mostly 91-93 T95 (88-91 in the fall) and a slider that was 84-87. Yet, it didn’t play for strikeouts as much as I had thought it would. The pitches were blending causing me to have longer at-bats. Specifically speaking, the individual hitters never seemed any “better” than my competition in Fl JUCO; however, they were much more able to extend every at-bat longer. I struggled with finishing guys off and getting through innings. It killed my confidence often. Long story short, I wanted more out of my career. I wanted to be better.
Instead of wasting my time in summer ball by competing with the same mix, I went down a new path. I spent the summer training. I made a ton of new adjustments that ultimately led to me developing a whole new pitch with a true 4-seam FB at mostly 92-94 T95 in game, spike CB at 79-82, and a new true cutter at 87-89. My secondaries needed work throughout the whole fall, lots of changes, and the fastball was still cutting some. Was I happy with the results from the fall? Yes. 100%. My arm was feeling better and I was throwing harder. Yet, something still didn’t feel right though and I knew I needed to make an adjustment for my last season.
I needed a different approach, another push to break through some things I still struggled with. I also had my lofty, individual goal this season of hitting 100 mph. My velocity was way up from the prior fall but I needed help to reach that goal in the spring. During winter break we were sent home and I was searching for my best options. I am constantly questioning ideas and I ask a lot of “smart people” their opinions because I’ve always looked to get better. Luckily, one of my friends at Florida Southern had mentioned this guy who had his own remote-training program with a plethora of knowledge. Connected Performance and Alec provided me exactly what I needed. The program made sense to me, he offered completely open communication, and he was a guy who wanted me to be the best I could with the short time we had. My development jumped to another level over the winter break. Alec did a full body assessment and an evaluation of my mechanics. He mapped out a plan that helped with arm health, velocity, secondary pitches, movement efficiency, and overall becoming a better pitcher. I came back to school sitting 95 in my first live at bat session indoors with no cleats. My off-speed was sharper with the better body movement down the mound. I went on to sit 94-96 in my outings topping out at 97 often. My arm was bouncing back even better. At one point during the season I made 5 appearances in a span of 7 days. That may have been my biggest accomplishment disregarding the outcomes in those outings. I was durable enough to sustain a high velocity day in and day out thanks to Alec. Not only did he help on the field, he helped me understand new ways to attack my mental side. Whatever I felt like I was lacking in, Alec had an answer for me. Again, my story isn’t a “finished product.” I haven’t reach all of my goals yet but I feel that I am on the way to some of them, especially 100! Hey, we’ll get there and Alec will be continue to be a huge part of all of it.
This season was truly the beginning for me and I can’t wait to see what else our work together will bring out. One of the biggest things that may get lost in all of this is that Alec truly cares about his guys and will do anything to make them better. Alec is not only a great trainer, he’s a great friend who believes in you. I can’t thank Alec enough!
-Jack Hartman Pirates 4th rd Draft Pick