BRADENTON, Fla. -- When the Pirates were brainstorming ways to help some of their prospects develop over the offseason, they wanted to do something that went beyond on-field instruction.
Director of coaching and player development Michael Chernow also said the organization wanted to place an emphasis on physical and mental development while fostering competition and team-building.
The result became the Forge High Performance Camp, which is essentially four weeks of activity at Pirate City, expanding beyond your typical instructional league by blending various types of skill acquisition with fun activities designed to bring around 30 Pirates prospects closer together.
“We’ve been prioritizing physical development and have seen positive signal, so this offseason’s camp is an attempt at increasing the scale,” Chernow said. “To the players’ credit, they’ve been engaged in the programming and buying in to the challenge we’ve put in front of them.
“As the camp progresses, we will transition into their hitting and throwing progressions so they have clarity and a head start on their offseason priorities, with the benefit of a month of intense physical development at the onset of their offseason.”
When it comes to physical development, Pirates prospects since Oct. 18 have been going through daily weight-training and agility work, the sessions lasting nearly two hours at a time. They’ve also done sweat testing, yoga and other exercises to increase flexibility.
Along with the physical stuff, there’s important classroom component in the afternoons, where the sport performance team has led sessions geared toward nutrition and sharpening mental skills.
The former has taught players how to properly fuel their bodies to sustain throughout the workday, while the latter has involved mindfulness training, breathing exercises and leveraging visualization to improve performance.
All of it seems to have resonated with Pirates prospects.
“Many times in games, we need those reset moments,” catcher Axiel Plaz said through interpreter Juan Guerra. “I think it’s gonna help us a lot.”
“You get to know yourself better,” outfielder Derek Curiel added. “There’s more than one way to do things, and it’s finding out what works for you.”
Aside from acquiring new skills, players have enjoyed how the experience has brought everyone together. Everyone in the same place, for one. Pitcher Levi Sterling appreciated how he could lift, throw, run, eat and check off a few other tasks without moving his car.
Curiel mentioned how much fun it’s been to have players from New York, California and the Caribbean islands in the same place for a month, working together and growing closer.
Second baseman Chris Rembert, meanwhile, said he’s enjoyed how the entire camp functions as one team, much like it’ll be whenever some of these guys reach the big leagues.
“Meeting new people and guys I’ll be playing with throughout my career has been the biggest thing,” Rembert said. “All of us being part of one big team.”
There’s also been a healthy dose of competition. Participants in the Forge High Performance Camp have been split into three teams -- the Black Knights, Avengers and Real Steel -- and almost everything has flipped into some sort of battle, with scores kept at every turn.
“It makes you think, ‘When I’m lifting, what can I do to push the guys next to me to lift more weight or finish their reps?’” third baseman Murf Gray said.
Apart from weight-room or agility competitions, there’s also been plenty of random challenges.
Pirates prospects took part in crew races at Henderson Park in Sarasota this past weekend, 11 people to a boat.
There was a Pirates history scavenger hunt around Pirate City on Oct. 20, the group will be attending the Buccaneers’ football game against the Falcons this coming Sunday and they’ll play paintball together the following weekend.
“I think it’s really good to do something outside of the field,” outfielder Edward Florentino said. “A lot of the time we just focus on the work. Sometimes we forget about having fun. That’s why we’re here, right? Working hard but still having fun.”
It’s why the Pirates elected to do a little less of the on-field work and emphasize everything else on a larger scale.
After all, these guys spent seven months or so worrying about swing adjustments, mechanics, pitch grips, footwork or any number of issues that exist between the white lines.
By taking a step back, the hope was to create an environment that emphasized the preparation it takes to succeed in that arena, habits that are best ingrained at a young age and mental skills players will carry with them for the rest of their careers.
Plus, if they can bring everyone together and foster a competitive environment, it’s only going to increase the buy-in when it comes to body activation, breathing techniques or proper recovery.
“I think it’s awesome how we’re all here trying to get better as individuals,” pitcher Jason DeCaro said. “At the same time, it’s being structured as a team thing; we’re working to add points to our teams any way we can. I think it’s really cool how we’re trying to get better but also pushing the people around us to get better.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.