How biomechanics expert and former Idaho Falls Bandit Anthony Brady helps MLB pitchers stay elite

IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO (KIFI) — Long before Anthony Brady was helping some of the best pitchers in baseball understand the smallest details of their deliveries, he was spending his summers playing American Legion baseball with the Idaho Falls Bandits.

Brady says those years helped shape the career he has today.

“Legion was huge,” Brady said. “Those summers were just the most fun summers I’d ever had.”

Playing for the Bandits gave Brady a chance to compete, win and experience baseball at a higher level. More importantly, he said it deepened a love for the game that never really went away.

“Ever since then, I’ve just always been chasing the next level and competing and winning at the next level,” Brady said. “It started with the Bandits.”

That pursuit did not come without setbacks.

Brady underwent Tommy John surgery during his freshman year of college. Then, in just his third appearance after returning, he tore his elbow again.

The second injury meant another long rehabilitation process and cost him his sophomore and junior seasons. Brady admits the second comeback was much more difficult, and even after putting in years of work, baseball did not immediately reward him for it.

He struggled when he returned.

“The game humbled me very quickly,” Brady said.

But the injuries also sent his career in a direction he never expected. Brady had entered college interested in areas like math, physics and engineering. Spending so much time rehabbing his arm introduced him to exercise science and biomechanics — essentially giving him a way to combine those interests with baseball.

Brady eventually earned his master’s degree in biomechanics and went to work at Driveline Baseball in Seattle as an early research and development employee.

Driveline gave Brady a chance to work around some of the biggest names in baseball. He recalled being around players including Shohei Ohtani, Tarik Skubal and Mookie Betts during his time there.

It also helped create the connection that eventually took him to Philadelphia.

Brady had previously worked with Caleb Cotham while Cotham was still a player training at Driveline. Years later, with Cotham serving as the Phillies’ major league pitching coach, an opportunity opened for Brady to join the organization.

He initially worked remotely from Seattle, handling biomechanics and analysis. Eventually, the Phillies wanted him closer to the players and inside the clubhouse.

That is where Brady’s job becomes much more than simply looking at numbers on a computer.

On a typical game day, Brady can arrive at the ballpark hours before first pitch. His day includes meetings with coaches, medical and strength staffs, reviewing the condition of players, studying that night’s opponent and preparing information pitchers might need.

Sometimes a pitcher wants to know how an opposing hitter handles a certain count. Other times, someone may feel something slightly different in his delivery and ask Brady to look at it.

Brady can then use video, data and 3D biomechanics visuals to compare how a pitcher is moving.

At the major league level, Brady said the goal usually is not to rebuild a pitcher’s mechanics. It is often about catching small changes before they become bigger ones.

“You’re kind of just trying to keep these guys on the rails,” Brady said.

His approach is also built around trust.

Brady knows the players he works with have already reached the highest level of the sport. Instead of immediately telling a veteran pitcher what he needs to change, Brady tries to learn what each player wants, what questions they are asking and where he can help.

That relationship has become especially noticeable with Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler.

Brady describes Wheeler as a visual learner who likes being able to see his delivery through 3D models. During a stretch where Wheeler was working through some issues, Brady and other members of the Phillies staff began searching for answers.

Brady noticed trends in Wheeler’s biomechanics and some new movement patterns. Instead of handing him a long list of mechanical changes, Brady tried to simplify everything.

He focused largely on Wheeler’s setup and the way he began moving down the mound, then used visuals to help Wheeler connect what he was feeling with what his body was actually doing.

The work eventually earned Brady some unexpected attention when Wheeler gave him a shout-out in an article published by The Athletic.

Brady’s reaction was simple.

“I just laughed,” he said.

The moment meant a little more because of how far their relationship had come. Brady recalled Wheeler returning to the clubhouse after one difficult start and telling him he needed Brady there to help “get me right.”

Afterward, Brady went back to work, put together a few things for Wheeler to look at, talked through them with him and watched as Wheeler took some of those ideas into his next bullpen session and eventually back into a game.

For Brady, that is what all the technology and information ultimately comes back to.

He does not view analytics or biomechanics as the final product. They are tools that can help players perform and help a team win.

And despite a career path that took him away from playing, Brady has still ended up exactly where he once hoped baseball would take him.

Almost every night, there is another major league game. Brady is in the clubhouse, working with players and experiencing the competition he fell in love with years ago with the Bandits.

“That’s a place that I dreamed about being as a player,” Brady said. “The fact that I could be there and still be involved and help out in any capacity is awesome.”

It may not be the route Brady pictured when he first started chasing the next level in Idaho Falls.

But he is still chasing it.