Fitness and baseball fans, you’re living in your Golden Era: the long ball is back and it’s here to stay. Don’t let the uniforms fool you. A new wave of ultra-fit baseball players are lighting up the diamond, and very few ballparks can keep them in check. SEE ALSO: Hunter Pence’s Hard-Hitting WorkoutAcross MLB’s 162 regular season games, we can count on these guys show off freakish feats of strength on a daily basis.
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Yoenis Cespedes (Mets)
After being traded from Detroit to that baseball team in Queens, Cespedes carried the Mets into the playoffs, hitting 17 home runs after the trade. Cespedes’ “infomercial” scouting video shows his explosive power, leg-pressing 1,300 pounds and squatting 510 pounds. The 30-year-old, who at 5’10” is the smallest of this group, also possesses tremendous arm strength. In fact, the left fielder’s cannon is so feared that few runners are willing to round third base when he’s holding the ball.
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Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)
The 26-year-old has become synonymous with power in the Show. At 6’6″ and 240 pounds, Stanton hits for the home run trifecta: blasts, bombs, and moon shots, tying his own distance feat of hitting the farthest home runs in 2015, at 484 feet; he hit 27 home runs in only 74 games. Oh, and let’s not forget about his rocket of an arm. During the 2014 off-season, Stanton got his legs in shape by running up a 200-meter-long, 60-degree-incline sand dune wearing a weighted belt—a brutal conditioning workout. He has also incorporated yoga to strengthen his quads and open his hips.
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Bryce Harper (Nats)
The National League MVP will have to use all his strength this season to top his impressive 2015 campaign of 42 home runs, with nearly half of them traveling more than 400 feet. The man behind the 55-inch box jump (one inch higher than Mike Trout) is likely to be the first half-billion-dollar player when he becomes a free agent after the 2018 season. At 6’3″, and 215 pounds, Harper is as shredded as they come. He can squat 405 and power clean 375, so $500 million might be low-balling it.
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Yasiel Puig (Dodgers)
This built-like-a-fullback (6’2″, 255 pounds) right fielder put on 26 pounds of muscle between the 2013 and 2014 season. Despite his power and size, the Cuban defector spends his off-season jumping over croquet wickets and running with a parachute tied to his back. During the season, Puig uses a medicine ball and calisthenics.
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Mike Trout (Angels)
Considered the best all-around player in the game today, Trout went viral this off-season when he posted a video of his 6’2″, 235-pound frame pushing a tractor tire with dumbbells placed inside. Since entering the majors in 2011, Trout has won Rookie of the Year, an MVP, and appeared in four consecutive All-Star Games.
Fitness and baseball fans, you’re living in your Golden Era: the long ball is back and it’s here to stay. Don’t let the uniforms fool you. A new wave of ultra-fit baseball players are lighting up the diamond, and very few ballparks can keep them in check.
Across MLB’s 162 regular season games, we can count on these guys show off freakish feats of strength on a daily basis.
Yoenis Cespedes (Mets)
After being traded from Detroit to that baseball team in Queens, Cespedes carried the Mets into the playoffs, hitting 17 home runs after the trade. Cespedes’ “infomercial” scouting video shows his explosive power, leg-pressing 1,300 pounds and squatting 510 pounds. The 30-year-old, who at 5’10” is the smallest of this group, also possesses tremendous arm strength. In fact, the left fielder’s cannon is so feared that few runners are willing to round third base when he’s holding the ball.
Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)
The 26-year-old has become synonymous with power in the Show. At 6’6″ and 240 pounds, Stanton hits for the home run trifecta: blasts, bombs, and moon shots, tying his own distance feat of hitting the farthest home runs in 2015, at 484 feet; he hit 27 home runs in only 74 games. Oh, and let’s not forget about his rocket of an arm. During the 2014 off-season, Stanton got his legs in shape by running up a 200-meter-long, 60-degree-incline sand dune wearing a weighted belt—a brutal conditioning workout. He has also incorporated yoga to strengthen his quads and open his hips.
Bryce Harper (Nats)
The National League MVP will have to use all his strength this season to top his impressive 2015 campaign of 42 home runs, with nearly half of them traveling more than 400 feet. The man behind the 55-inch box jump (one inch higher than Mike Trout) is likely to be the first half-billion-dollar player when he becomes a free agent after the 2018 season. At 6’3″, and 215 pounds, Harper is as shredded as they come. He can squat 405 and power clean 375, so $500 million might be low-balling it.
Yasiel Puig (Dodgers)
This built-like-a-fullback (6’2″, 255 pounds) right fielder put on 26 pounds of muscle between the 2013 and 2014 season. Despite his power and size, the Cuban defector spends his off-season jumping over croquet wickets and running with a parachute tied to his back. During the season, Puig uses a medicine ball and calisthenics.
Mike Trout (Angels)
Considered the best all-around player in the game today, Trout went viral this off-season when he posted a video of his 6’2″, 235-pound frame pushing a tractor tire with dumbbells placed inside. Since entering the majors in 2011, Trout has won Rookie of the Year, an MVP, and appeared in four consecutive All-Star Games.
