Tucker Holland works to make Maryland pledge
By David Kehrli
Posted Jul 25, 2020 at 8:00 AM
The willingness to work has always been a key component along the path of Tucker Holland’s baseball development.
It’s a trait he has come to rely on, and combined with top-notch resources, The Burlington School pitcher has realized a moment he said he’s always dreamed of.
The rising sophomore left-hander committed to play in college for Maryland last week.
“What really stood out about Maryland is the culture and the academic piece of it there,” Holland said. “The bond of the commits and the players and the coaches just all together. I’ve never seen it before. We have a group chat on Snapchat and we stay in touch with each other every single minute. We do a lot of Zoom meetings together, just the commits; we set that up, the coaches don’t. It was something I really wanted to be a part of since I really started this whole recruiting process.”
Holland’s fastball previously had a sidespin to it that decreased the velocity and took away from the ride that causes hitters to swing and miss. Holland routinely hopped into the TBS team’s training facility to work to improve that pitch and others.
June 12, 2020
“We have this awesome machine called Rapsodo at our facility,” he said. “We use it to take pitch analytics and sort of develop an arsenal for yourself and help improve the arsenal whenever needed, but I’ll find my fastball has really been the big improvement. It was spinning sideways a little more than we had wanted to and you kind of want backspin on the fastball. So I’ve managed a dramatic improvement in the fastball spin.”
The result was a fastball with more velocity that missed hitters’ bats more often.
“This is where the Rapsodo comes in,” said TBS coach Chad Holland, who is Tucker’s father. “Schools didn’t like his inefficiency. He cut the side of the baseball creating some sidespin, which killed not only his velocity, but the vertical ride that misses barrels. It really affects the hitter and he has, using the Rapsodo, cut that sidespin out. That’s why we’ve seen the velocity jumps up to 89 (mph) from 84. He’s immediately done away with that sidespin, and he’s created more vertical ride.
“Rapsodo immediately identifies how the ball was released out of your hand, it gives you a spin axis. Whether a guy throws a true forcing fastball, whether they throw a true two-seam fastball. ... And that’s what colleges are looking for, guys that can spin the ball very efficiently and maintain a certain plane. And then they have the data that hitters really like and then they look for guys who get hitters out, certain data that plays into that.”
Wagner Morrissette, a rising junior at The Burlington School, committed to Maryland last month. Tucker Holland said while that wasn’t why he decided on Maryland, it’s a welcome plus as the two have been best friends since he transferred to TBS in the sixth grade.
“It’s just kind of an amazing bonus to have my best friend go to the same school,” Tucker Holland said.
For Chad Holland, who has balanced being a dad and coach, it’s a special moment for everyone involved in Tucker’s progress.
“I was very emotional. It brought me to tears,” he said. “This has been a long process. Tucker’s never been the best player on the field at any moment during his youth career. I know we all want to think that with travel ball and stuff like that, but he’s always had something to work on or something to improve in and we just kind of every offseason, tried to attack all his weaknesses.”
By David Kehrli
Posted Jul 25, 2020 at 8:00 AM
The willingness to work has always been a key component along the path of Tucker Holland’s baseball development.
It’s a trait he has come to rely on, and combined with top-notch resources, The Burlington School pitcher has realized a moment he said he’s always dreamed of.
The rising sophomore left-hander committed to play in college for Maryland last week.
“What really stood out about Maryland is the culture and the academic piece of it there,” Holland said. “The bond of the commits and the players and the coaches just all together. I’ve never seen it before. We have a group chat on Snapchat and we stay in touch with each other every single minute. We do a lot of Zoom meetings together, just the commits; we set that up, the coaches don’t. It was something I really wanted to be a part of since I really started this whole recruiting process.”
Holland’s fastball previously had a sidespin to it that decreased the velocity and took away from the ride that causes hitters to swing and miss. Holland routinely hopped into the TBS team’s training facility to work to improve that pitch and others.
June 12, 2020
“We have this awesome machine called Rapsodo at our facility,” he said. “We use it to take pitch analytics and sort of develop an arsenal for yourself and help improve the arsenal whenever needed, but I’ll find my fastball has really been the big improvement. It was spinning sideways a little more than we had wanted to and you kind of want backspin on the fastball. So I’ve managed a dramatic improvement in the fastball spin.”
The result was a fastball with more velocity that missed hitters’ bats more often.
“This is where the Rapsodo comes in,” said TBS coach Chad Holland, who is Tucker’s father. “Schools didn’t like his inefficiency. He cut the side of the baseball creating some sidespin, which killed not only his velocity, but the vertical ride that misses barrels. It really affects the hitter and he has, using the Rapsodo, cut that sidespin out. That’s why we’ve seen the velocity jumps up to 89 (mph) from 84. He’s immediately done away with that sidespin, and he’s created more vertical ride.
“Rapsodo immediately identifies how the ball was released out of your hand, it gives you a spin axis. Whether a guy throws a true forcing fastball, whether they throw a true two-seam fastball. ... And that’s what colleges are looking for, guys that can spin the ball very efficiently and maintain a certain plane. And then they have the data that hitters really like and then they look for guys who get hitters out, certain data that plays into that.”
Wagner Morrissette, a rising junior at The Burlington School, committed to Maryland last month. Tucker Holland said while that wasn’t why he decided on Maryland, it’s a welcome plus as the two have been best friends since he transferred to TBS in the sixth grade.
“It’s just kind of an amazing bonus to have my best friend go to the same school,” Tucker Holland said.
For Chad Holland, who has balanced being a dad and coach, it’s a special moment for everyone involved in Tucker’s progress.
“I was very emotional. It brought me to tears,” he said. “This has been a long process. Tucker’s never been the best player on the field at any moment during his youth career. I know we all want to think that with travel ball and stuff like that, but he’s always had something to work on or something to improve in and we just kind of every offseason, tried to attack all his weaknesses.”
