When rosters were announced for the upcoming Florida Prospect League season, one notable Boise prospect was left off: left-handed starting pitcher Kent Montoya. When asked, Spuds pitching coach Jumah Hamid gave the club's reasoning: "Kent threw over 190 innings for our Triple-A club this year, which was sixty more than his workload in 2040. We didn't want to over-extend Kent in the off-season and he was okay with the decision. Kent did let us know he'd be training at MoundMind in Montana during the winter and we thought it was a great decision to get some work in otherwise."MoundMind is a pitching development facility in Whitefish, Montana, one of several new private baseball training centers and biomechanics labs being opened up across the country in recent years. Tucked away from the busy local ski resorts is MoundMind's indoor, 20,000 square foot warehouse where dozens of pitchers, both professional and amateur, make the winter pilgrimage to work on their craft. The facility, which opened in 2038, provides cutting edge technology to attendees, such as TrackMan radars, state-of-the-art image collection like Pitch F/X optical tracking cameras and Rapsodo radar-triggered cameras, and Edgertronic high‑speed video. Additionally, MoundMind features the latest in weight lifting and strength-and-conditioning equipment, along with a full time staff of certified trainers.
Montoya, who turns 21 next month, was traded last off-season from Montreal to Boise. Montoya is coming off his first full-season in Triple-A Salt Lake City after pitching mostly in Short-Season Nassau in the Blazers farm system during 2040. Treasure Valley Sports caught up with Montoya for an interview after his first week at MindMound.
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TVS: So why the decision to visit a facility like MoundMind?
Montoya: First and foremost, I wanted to get a bio-mechanical assessment of my body. It's kinda cool! They put all these dots on you like you're in a video game. I wanted to see how my body moves. Once we got the data back, we could address the things I wasn't doing well and try to correct them.
TVS: What did you initial discover when looking over the data?
Montoya: I had a delivery flaw...my front leg. Going back to game film from this past season, I noticed differences from 2040, especially beginning around June. [Editor's note: In Montoya's first seven starts this past season, he went 4-2 with a 2.96 ERA. From May 11th on, he went just 6-11 with a 6.96 ERA.] When I would land, I was soft on my front leg, as opposed to being firmer. I wasn’t getting through the ball, or what I was taught "create the whip," like a catapult action. I would end up kinda just guiding through my release.
TVS: And I assume you're currently addressing that while here?
Montoya: Absolutely. Now it’s easier to get down the mound. I'd working on making my stride length a little longer so I can get over my front side better, creating more extension and an easier arm path. I do that and I know what the ball is going to do. When I showed up, my cutter in my first bullpen was around 89 to 90 [mph]. Now I'm back up to 92, 93. My velo was down because I simply wasn't using my legs in the proper way.
TVS: Aside from increasing your velocity, what else have you learned and worked on?
Montoya: MoundMind has a great pitch-design class. They graded out all my pitches. They were like "OK, your slider is spinning at this rpm, at this axis" and what-not. Then they go into how I can sequence it all.
TVS: Will you be able to continue your education once you leave here?
Montoya: That's the plan! The Spuds' analytics team is great. After each start, I'd get an email. It would be "Here's the data" but there's a difference between having the data and understanding the data. I never went to seek out what the numbers meant...I need to work on that. The more you know, the better you can put it into action. Before I was traded to Boise, my old club would mostly just have the coaches tell me what they thought but it was all based on their eyes, not the data besides my final pitching line after each game. The education they have here at MoundMind -- the way they teach guys what the information actually means -- is crucial and I'll take that with me for next season. There's info everywhere these days, man. I just need to know exactly what all that stuff means so I can use it and make myself a better pitcher. That’s what I’m trying to do.
MoundMind biomechanically evaluating Montoya during flat ground work using motion-capture censors on his
joints and ligaments.
