What Goes Into a Pro Baseball Player’s Offseason Training?

Spring training is officially upon us. The crack of the bat and the pop of the mitt is in full force both in Arizona and Florida. The Just Baseball tab is front and center on everyone’s computers.

For most of the players, there have been little to no updates on how they have been over the last several months. You watched your favorite big leaguer or even minor leaguer take their last at-bat of 2024 back in September or perhaps October and now they are set to start digging in again.

So what have these guys been up to for the last several months? What does a typical offseason look like for a pro baseball player?

When the Offseason Was Not Baseball Focused

Historically the offseason was just that, a season to be off from the game. Most players would have to get jobs selling cars, furniture, or suites to make ends meet. Some of their jobs were truly bizarre.

They would report to spring training to get in shape, not to fine tune their craft. The idea of reporting to camp in the best shape of their lives was laughable.

That was a different time and age. Today, with the amount of money, technology, and competition for roster spots, the offseason is about anything but being off.

It is a time to get bigger, stronger, and faster while improving the on-field baseball skills.

ROC Performance Training

To help offer some insight on the subject I recently sat down with a lifelong friend of mine Rocky “Roc” Galindo @roc_performance (we even have the same birthday!). He is the owner/operator of ROC Performance Training and part of the robust team at Nuclear Baseball Training in Leander, TX.

He specializes in training elite high school and college baseball and softball players. In addition to his amateur stable of clients, Galindo has a group of pro baseball players that he trains as well.

Those guys currently include the Cleveland Guardians’ Tyler Freeman. Freeman’s brother, Cody Freeman, has also been training under Galindo and is part of the Texas Rangers organization. Cody should be starting the season in Triple-A Round Rock and has an invitation to big-league camp this spring.

Rounding out the current group of pro ball players is Athletics farmhand Shane McGuire. He is a catcher who spent last season with the Double-A Midland Rockhounds.

MLB Organizational Input

Each player has an exit interview at the end of the season. For the big-league guys, this interview is more expansive and includes much more data and raw numbers that can be used to build a program for the offseason.

But even the minor league players have exit interviews. The information might not be as vast, but the overall theme of how the organization sees the player is conveyed. Any areas of improvement are passed along.

That information is not only passed along from player to trainer, but Galindo has direct contact with the organizations. After an initial video call at the beginning of the offseason, there are numerous follow-ups with the teams.

In those calls, all of the progress is relayed to the organizations. It is not surprising that they want to stay up to date on how their players are doing and limit the number of surprises that could come up if there is no communication.

Typical Training Schedule

Have you ever wondered what it is exactly that professional baseball players do in the offseason? They do normal day-to-day things that you and I do, yes. But what do they do from a workout perspective, from a training regiment?

The schedule that Galindo likes to keep is a four-day workout schedule. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, Friday. That gives the body the proper amount of rest while still being able to push its limits during training.

Two days are leg-focused and two spotlight the upper body. Hitting takes place every day and that is done first before the body is tired. Speed running drills are usually performed three times per week.

The average workout sessions begin at 9 am and last until around noon. The only times that they will go longer is when the players start going back out to the field to get their defensive work in.

With the way that the schedule ends up working out, a typical offseason where there are no injuries or long playoff runs deep into October, will be a three-month training period. Galindo likes to break the offseason into three different unique months of work.

Old School First Month, Hybrid Second Month

The first month is all about getting the player’s base back under them. There is such a grind on the body throughout the season that it is sometimes hard to maintain the highest level of fitness throughout the regular season.

After a quick break, the players will spend the month of November going old school. Lots of bench presses, squats, deadlifts. Those basic types of heavy lifting exercises.

Galindo said that he isn’t worried about getting the guys sore during that first month. In fact, if they aren’t getting sore he probably isn’t pushing them hard enough. The key is to get back to a strong state and prepare for what is to come.

As the calendar turns from November to December the workouts start to look a little different as well. There is still a considerable dose of basic lifts taking place.

But in addition to the basics, there starts to be a fresh sprinkling of more dynamic movement exercises. One of Galindo’s mantras is, “move heavy stuff fast.”

“When we talk about moving heavy things fast, we aren’t talking about maxing out. We like to stay in the 50-55% range and move that weight at a rapid pace,” explained Galindo.

These movements are for both the legs and the upper body.

January Is Go Time

As the new year starts, there is no holding back with the training. That isn’t to say that the guys are doing more, but what they are doing is all very dynamic and intentional.

Galindo wants his guys firing on on cylinders just as they are heading off to camp. And even though camp doesn’t officially start until the middle of February, that means he needs his guys ready at the very beginning of the month.

Some guys go out early and even the ones that don’t have logistical issues that they must navigate in order to have things wrapped up in time for them to either head to Arizona or Florida for the next six to eight weeks.

On-field baseball exercises start taking place more often. This includes defensive drills and throwing. The goal is to have the players peaking as their offseason is just wrapping up.

Building Running Backs for Baseball

“[Baseball] is a fast, explosive game. I want my guys to leave the program feeling like a running back. Fast, twitchy, and strong,” said Galindo.

Baseball is a fast game. Some casuals speak of the slow pace of the sport, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Players are asked to throw harder, hit it further, run faster, change direction on a dime, and do all of these things by reaction at any given moment. Many of the best athletes in professional sports are baseball players.

The competition has continued to elevate. With added competition, the pushing of the mind and body by trainers like Galindo is even more important.

Many of the things that we get to witness during the season can be pointed back to a seemingly random exercise in the middle of an off-season workout. There are many layers to baseball and the offseason training regiment of a pro player is a big one.

So enjoy what you get to see on the field this year, and know how much effort by multiple people went into getting the athlete to that point. It takes a village.