In the world of baseball, traditional wisdom often clashes with cutting-edge innovation—and nowhere is this more evident than at Driveline’s training facilities, where the pursuit of excellence has a visible, if controversial, signature. Inside their sprawling 15,000-square-foot space, you’ll find two racks hanging like modern art, each holding 16 battered baseball bats— a testament to the intensity of their training philosophy. Driveline has gained a reputation for transforming player development by harnessing technological insights and extreme training methods, believing that mastering offense in today’s pitching-dominated game demands non-traditional approaches. The broken bats aren’t signs of failure but badges of relentless effort and high standards.
Last week, Edgar Quero, a promising 22-year-old catcher entering his second Major League season with the Chicago White Sox, stepped into the innovation zone. Nearby, he meticulously placed reflective markers on his bat and attached a high-tech Blast Motion sensor. Then, he mounted himself on force plates—platforms equipped with sensors—and took batting swings while being recorded from almost every angle by eight Edgertronic cameras capturing up to 17,000 frames per second.
Quero’s skill set is exceptionally rare: a switch-hitting catcher with a promising offensive profile. He’s highly adept at making consistent contact and staying within the strike zone—a combination difficult to teach. However, beneath this potential lies significant room for improvement: his bat speed is notably sluggish, and his launch angle is suboptimal, both crucial factors that limit his power output. To bridge this gap, Quero traveled from Peoria, Arizona, to Scottsdale’s industrial sector, committing two days to Driveline’s intensive training program—a rite of passage that many emerging players now pursue.
Seven years ago, Driveline shattered the stereotype of being merely a pitching-centric facility by pioneering a revolution that propelled the league’s velocity and pitch movement to unprecedented levels. This success tilted the balance, making pitchers dominant and prompting a strategic response from hitters. Today, Driveline is applying its biomechanical data and innovative training strategies to enhance hitters’ performance, attempting to close the widening gap between pitcher and hitter advantage.
Driveline’s director of hitting, Tanner Stokey, reflects on this ongoing challenge: “It’s never been harder to hit, and those of us here have played a significant role in that reality.”
This reality has sparked a heated debate. Many retired Major League hitters and baseball fans criticize the sport’s current emphasis on optimizing bat speed and launch angle, arguing that such focus has led to a decline in batting averages, an increase in strikeouts, and a less dynamic, more uniform game. Since 2021, four of MLB’s seven lowest batting averages have occurred, with the historic highs in strikeout rates piling up over the same period, coinciding with the rise of faster pitches—average fastball speeds rising from 91.3 mph in 2008 to 94.4 mph in 2025.
The ease with which modern pitchers can improve their spin rates and craft new pitches—thanks to advanced scouting tech like Hawk-Eye—further tilts the scales. “It’s much easier for pitchers to get better,” Stokey observes. “And the connection between hitting the ball hard and offensive success is clear. But hitting well isn’t just about raw power; refined attack angles, bat path, and biomechanical efficiency are equally vital.”
Indeed, hitting success today isn’t only about raw metrics; it demands a deep understanding of biomechanics and data-driven strategy. As analytics permeate lower levels of play and professionals alike, nearly 100 former Driveline employees now work within MLB organizations, including a dozen at the Boston Red Sox. The familiarity with advanced tools, such as HitTrax and Blast sensors, is becoming standard for even high school prospects, accelerating their development.
Back at Scottsdale, a scoreboard tracks the top performances across various physical metrics from players at all levels—like Corbin Carroll’s outstanding squat jump of 61.2 centimeters or Jo Adell’s impressive 60.1-centimeter countermovement jump—showing how physical prowess aligns with skill development.
In Quero’s case, his recent session began with mobility assessments and force plate jumps, which help determine raw power and explosiveness. The data revealed his current limitations: his lower-body strength and quickness lag behind major league averages, which, if improved, could bolster his bat speed and overall power. Furthermore, analysis of his swing mechanics identified issues like early pelvis rotation—often called “leaking out”—which causes a steep attack angle and reduces bat control, especially against pitches out front.
The goal: replicate successful swing paths and optimize biomechanics to produce more consistent, productive contact. To achieve this, Quero practiced hitting with non-traditional drills—like facing same-side breaking balls, which he never encounters as a switch-hitter, and using weighted or variable-length bats designed to promote better hip and torso rotation.
Despite the training, Quero acknowledges a common challenge: adjusting to catching pitches earlier in the strike zone, rather than deep in the strike zone where he's comfortable. This shift requires more reps and comfort catching the ball out in front, beyond his usual zone of practice.
Driveline’s Scottsdale facility, opened in 2022, now includes satellite locations like Tampa, making access easier for players during their offseason. Cost ranges from $7,500 for a two-day professional assessment to $20,000 for a comprehensive yearly program—highlighting how serious athletes are investing in biomechanics and data-driven training.
While Quero arrived just weeks before spring training, the staff’s aim is for him to incorporate their insights into his game, improving his exit velocities, bat speed, and launch angles. His own words reflect optimism: “I’m glad to understand my body better, which will help me during the season by boosting my power and swing consistency.”
But here’s where it gets controversial—as this high-tech revolution accelerates, some question whether it’s changing the very essence of baseball, turning it into a game increasingly driven by data, biomechanics, and engineered swings, potentially at the expense of traditional skills. Do we risk losing the intuitive, spontaneous feel of hitting in favor of mechanical perfection?
What do you think? Is this reliance on biomechanical insights and analytics making the game better, or are we sacrificing something fundamental? Share your thoughts—are we witnessing baseball’s next evolution or its slow transformation into an overly engineered sport?
