How A Pro Pitcher Fixed Fatigue And Found More Velocity

A pitcher can feel great in the first inning and still be fighting his body by the third. That’s the problem we dig into with Red Sox pitcher Austin Arlocker calling in from spring training, where the goal isn’t just throwing harder, it’s holding velocity, recovering well, and staying healthy across a season. Austin shares what the last few years of arm issues felt like, including nerve-type symptoms running from the neck into the arm, and why “no pain” didn’t mean “no problem” when fatigue kept showing up and the radar gun kept slipping.

We get specific about what changed. We talk upper trap dominance, how a constant shrug can crowd the area under the collarbone and irritate the nerves, and why a simple drill like supine scapular depression can be a game changer when you do it consistently. Austin also breaks down how he blends band work, posture training, plyometrics, and just enough strength work to match his body, plus a surprising tool that keeps his arm feeling athletic: shooting basketball.

Then we zoom out to pitching mechanics and pitch design. We cover why forcing an arm slot can backfire, how correcting early drift can improve timing so the arm isn’t always late, and how those changes show up in real numbers. Austin talks hitting a lifetime PR 97.1 and averaging mid- to upper-90s, plus the process of building a harder sweeper, shaping a high-movement changeup, and using team analytics to understand where each pitch plays best for swings, misses, and weak contact.

If you care about pitching velocity, arm health, reducing arm fatigue, and command that holds up deep into outings, this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a pitcher who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest change you’ve made to stay healthy on the mound.

Transcript

Welcome From Spring Training

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey everybody, this is Dr. Kevin McGovern, and we got another Velocity RX podcast, and today we have a special guest, Austin Arlocker, all the way from Red Sox spring training camp. People know I'm a Yankee fan, but you know, I like to try to help everybody, including including Red Sox. And hopefully this young man will one day pitch at on Yahoo, which I mean called Yaquke Way, but that's a whole nother story. But anyway, Austin, thanks for coming on the show. I appreciate it. You and I got into contact a few months ago because you were having some arm issues. So why don't you tell a little bit about your story and your history and how we got connected?

Upper Trap Dominance And Scap Depression

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Yeah, I've kind of been dealing with injuries in the past two, three years. I finally had a season where I got through the whole thing and pitched well, but it still felt like I wasn't at my best. So kind of just experimenting with different things in the offseason and saw your I saw I was seeing your Instagram like through the season, just here and there, and then just a lot of things you said made sense. So I ended up just asking you a question because I was still dealing with some of that nerve issues coming down from my neck and kind of recovered from the elbow stuff a few years ago, but it still bothered me here and there. So send you a text and we we kind of got going from there, but it's been it's been good. I felt healthy, so glad we uh got connected.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Yeah, so when we first got together, obviously we went through the game test and we looked at that shoulder coordination test where you know I saw a lot of you know, kind of like everyone has upper trap dominance, you know, that you were that was kind of your first move was to was to shrug. And and some of your problem was that you got fatigued, right? What what would happen after like inning four? What what what would go on with you?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Yeah, I mean, really it was like getting to inning three, just VLO would drop, stuff would you know, go down, command wasn't wasn't the same. So I think I only went five innings like two, three times, and you know, three to four was my was my range, and yeah, I just kind of had the VLO dropped after the third and just got pretty fatigued. So when when you're talking about all the upper trap stuff, then I kind of looked at my mechanics and look at how I moved, obviously with the game test, it made a lot of sense and made even more sense why your exercises work so well for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Yeah, so we you know I noticed, you know, two two things, but you know, certainly the kind of the drift that we'll talk about. But yeah, you know, the upper trap was big because that you know the shrug there is gonna really kind of impinge on the on the nerves, right? Because your your brachial plexus and and the nerves that create or that get impinged during that thoracic outlet are kind of right underneath your collarbone.

unknown 2:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

So then we kind of gave you this really kind of inane, I know, boring exercise called supine scapular depression, where you're pinching your shoulder blades down and back. And how many, you know, we start off, I think, with 50 or so. How many you're doing now a day, or how many, how many more, how many do you think you've done in the couple months that we've working together? If you had to total it, yeah, it's probably thousands.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Thousands, right? Um yeah, it's uh about a hundred pretty much every day. And I'll kind of find myself doing it throughout the day, just like I'll have sessions where I'm just on the ground, like doing it like the video, but kind of throughout the day. I just if I catch myself like shrugging up like that, it's just kind of let them down and and it's uh helped a ton, but yeah, I've probably done thousands.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

And are you doing any other upper extremity strengthening or exercises other than bands? Like what else are you doing, or is it just really that those kind of scapular stabilizations?

Basketball As Arm Health Training

SPEAKER_01 3:58

Yeah, I mean, I'll do bandwork. I'll work with this uh like guy that helps with posture. I've been working with him for a while, so I'll take some of his exercises and implement them, and then my trainer back home with his strength stuff. So I've kind of incorporated everything into my own my own routine, but I've uh found that I don't I don't need as much lifting to be honest. Now it's I feel like I'm a pretty twitchy athlete, so like for me a lot of plyometrics and body weight stuff is what uh translates to the mound. The most for me, and then I I just think your exercises made like made sense to me and and was easy for me to like translate it to the mound. So it's it's been good to like find my routine and integrate everything else I've learned in the past few years and make it my own.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

And you do stand six five. Yeah. Also in college, you played basketball. I did. So I made you also do a hybrid of shooting baskets, right? To keep your elbow and arm healthy, right? Which is something you probably never thought of.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Never thought of it, but it was well still doing it a little bit. I was I was shooting around quite often offseason. So when you told me that, I was I was glad that you thought it was a good idea too, because I always I always felt better to be honest, like when I'm playing basketball.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

So I mean, there's no there's no better exercise, you know, non-baseball related to promote extension and strength. You know, you do 30, you can hit reach the rim from 30 feet as a set shot. I it's definitely correlates directly correlates to velocity. There's no an arm strength. There's it just does.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

And yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

So with that, so when we first met, you were what 91, 92, or what what would what would you average last year?

SPEAKER_01 5:49

My average basketball was like 93 last year, but kind of like I said, it would range pretty heavily. Like I'd have I mean, I'd have games in the first inning last year. I remember in Charleston, I was like 94 to 96 in the first inning, and then it really just dropped off from there. So like I'd have games where my average was you know 92-5, but I'd I'd hit 96-1 or something like that. Just pretty huge variation. So yeah, average view was around 93, and then when I'd get into the third, fourth inning, it would be you know 91-93 for the most part.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

So and were you when that was going on, did you have pain? Like what did it feel like?

PR Velocity And Natural Arm Slot

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Yeah, it wasn't really pain, it was just like I'd get pretty fatigued. Just like my arm, like just wouldn't feel the same as the first inning. Like fatigued is pretty pretty much the only way I can put it. Like, there wasn't really any pain, but like sure, yeah, it'd be little drop and stuff would stuff in command would be be a little worse as well. So just got really fatigued.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

So fast forwarding now to yesterday, yeah. Tell us about what where you where you're at now, numbers-wise and fatigue, and you know, what did you throw yesterday? And kind of let everyone know about that.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah, yesterday was probably my best day. Well, not probably, it was my best day ever, VLO-wise. I was averaging 96.5 and hit 97.1, which is lifetime PR.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

So that was a lifetime personal record. Congratulations, man. That's great. You've worked very hard. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah, and yeah, I think my average VLO and spring training is probably above 95, probably 95.3, which is which was my goal for last year. So it's it's cool to see that. And I'm I'm like, I'm holding it pretty well. So it's it's been a huge jump.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

And how do you how does your arm or your body feel comp like? I mean, are you strained? Do you feel like it's fluid? Like what is it, what what does it feel like to you?

SPEAKER_01 7:48

Yeah, I'd say I'm definitely more fluid, don't have to like think about my throw as much, especially with the tal drills, like learning how to throw with my my body and not you know starting with the arm. It just feels more fluid and then I recover better for sure. Just after games, I feel like I'm you know I'm obviously sore, but like I'm not thinking, oh gosh, I have a bullpen in two days, like be good. So it's uh recovery's been better, and I just feel more fluid overall. And then my arm slot's gotten more natural too. I got pretty over the top. Yes. And in the season, and uh it's dropped a little bit naturally, and that's where I feel comfortable.

Fixing Drift To Improve Timing

SPEAKER_00 8:27

So and that's the big thing you said naturally, and a lot of people asked me about arm slot, and I I did you seevich there, that's the name from Toronto. You know, someone asked me about him, and I did a review, and I'm like, back in November, I think it was, and I'm like, yeah, no one throws like that naturally. He's he's forcing that, and that's gonna catch up to him. And unfortunately, it did, you know. I mean when on the DL, I mean the arm slot has got to be a naturally occurring, and everyone's got different arm slots depending on the shape of your shoulder blade, the size of your chest, your height, everything. And you just can't you can't force it. If you force it, you're you're gonna you're gonna get yourself you're gonna get yourself in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Yeah, that's all.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

All right, so the next big thing we're working on is is really kind of reversing what's kind of being taught out there, which I think is a huge, huge issue, which is kind of drifting or or getting your center of mass moving linear towards home plate before you go down. And yeah, what has been how has that worked for you? I know we're still still you know, I think if you move linear, as we can prove, your arm just never has time to catch up. It just doesn't. And you know that. And so what what has been you know, what's working or what's been the struggle, or how how's that talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Yeah, I mean at first it just like feels foreign because I've thrown this weight for so long. So it was a little difficult at first, just like feeling that move, it feels a little unnatural just because I've been doing it the other way for so long, but just looking at mechanics, it's like my arm just gets away from my body and I'm not able to be on time, so it's it just is what it is. I need to stay back longer, and the more I do it, the more comfortable I get with it. And I felt pretty good with it the other day and through the hardest out of throne.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

So that's that's like awesome.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Yeah, it's because well also like what I feel doesn't necessarily translate to like what the actual video is. I like I haven't I actually haven't looked at the side view from from yesterday, but I felt like I was staying back a little bit more, but I'm sure I was still joking a little bit, so it's still a work in progress, but yeah.

Building The Sweeper And Changeup

SPEAKER_00 10:42

I mean, everyone's got you know, it really it literally just it's kind of like chain reaction. It's not like you've got to go all the way. I mean, but you just have to start it and then obviously you have to go linear towards home, you know, but we just want to go down before we go there. And if you look at all the all the guys that have been stayed healthy, the Roger Clemens, the Nolan Ryan, the Bob Gibson's, the Bob Fellers all went down first before they went linear, and you know, I mean the slope's gonna make you go linear, so right. That's the whole point. Yeah, yeah. So now what are you working on? What do what do you I mean, I got some video of this new pitch, the sweeper. Yeah that we're working on, arm, which again goes back to timing, but where how do you feel comfortable with your pitches? Where where do you think you're at now?

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Yeah, I feel pretty good with them. Sweeper's been one for me that's been a little bit off and on. I can throw it really hard, but the movement's not there sometimes and commands a little what is your what's your sweeper at? It's been like 85. So really solid velocity, and I can get it to where I need it to be sometimes, but the consistency isn't isn't there yet. And I I think a lot of it's timing, just being able to get my hand out in front. So really just working on that. And I'd played around with some grips and I'd some might be a little bit better for me, but I think it's really a timing, a timing issue that when I'm a little bit late, it just it just kind of pops out and gets that gyrospin and can't really get it out front. So I know it's gonna be a good pitcher for me for me, just gotta keep throwing it and uh and uh keep working on it. But feel uh feel good, change-ups been good, slider's been good, and fastball's obviously gotten a lot better.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

So and what's what's your changeup at?

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Vivo?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

Uh it's 89.91, so it's a harder good, harder change-up, but pretty big movement separation.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

A lot of movement. I saw that a lot of movement. Yeah, right.

Team Feedback Plus Data-Driven Command

SPEAKER_01 12:48

So it's it's been a good pitch, I think. Without like the speed separation, I'd I have to have that that type of movement. So the fact that I can get it is is good. It's been a good pitch for me so far, especially with lefties and start through it varieties now.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

So great.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

So now what has the you know what has the organization said about your you know that that place you work at there? What what what's the team again you play for? Oh yeah. So what have they what have they said about your progress? I mean, they've got to be happy, right? I mean, you're healthy, you're yeah, five, six miles an hour harder, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Yeah, super happy. Their goal for me was hydrogen 95. So it's been uh it's been great, obviously for them to see that I'm training in that direction and getting there uh week after week. So they've they've been happy with it.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah, it's just it's been good.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

So what do you what's your next thing that what are you really trying to work on now? What uh what's it this you know, what's your biggest thing that we've got to fix?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

I think commands have been been better. I think just learning how to you know pitch re-hitters, just figure out where where throwing these pitches where it's most effective. And Red Talks do a pretty good job of like telling you like this is where it's been most effective. So let's let's throw it here. And it's just been a good learning process for me just to see like this is where I need to throw it, and that just allows me to trust my stuff a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

So yeah, it's amazing the videos you show with all the numbers and the I mean they got every I mean I mean like 3,000 cameras on you for crying out loud. I know, I mean command is one thing, but like knowing where you're gonna throw it and knowing that that spot's gonna be the most successful is so they'll they'll actually tell you like you know, this spot and this, and like you know, like where where the contact is less. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Yeah, swing and miss, contact, hard hit. So it's been good to see that. And I talked to him about it a few weeks ago, and it it just helps like visualize on the mound and be able to trust my stuff. So that's fantastic. Yeah, that's probably what I'm working on the most, just being able to hit those spots.

Goals Ahead And Closing

SPEAKER_00 15:00

All right, man. Well, I'm not gonna take any more of your time, but I hope in you know, not now because it's a little cold in Maine now still, but you know, the double I'm in I'm in Boston actually, so that you know the double A and triple A affiliate are are are very close to me.

SPEAKER_01 15:14

But yeah, triple A is real close.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

I hope to I hope to see you in Worcester.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Yeah, I hope so too. In August. Yeah, that'll be the goal.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

You can come to my office, I'll adjust your neck and we'll head down the road to the game.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

That'll be the goal.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

All right, man. Well, I really appreciate you coming on and thank you. And you worked really hard, and I wish you the best of luck this season and all all the success in the world. Thank you for for coming on. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Of course, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

You got it, man. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Yep, all right.