Podcast: Hops/NEB Pitching Coach John DeRouin on development

From left, Dan Guttenplan, John DeRouin and Matt Feld on The Base Path Podcast. (Photo: Steve Safran)

The latest guest on The Base Path Podcast is one of the fastest-rising pitching instructors in the nation.

John DeRouin has been churning out high-profile MLB Draft prospects out of Hops Athletic Performance in Rhode Island as well as North East Baseball’s travel program. Just in the last six months, he has been credited for developing New England’s highest high school draft pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, Ben Brutti, as well as recent USA Baseball U18 National Team gold-medalist Alex Clemmey.

DeRouin shared his philosophy on development with hosts Dan Guttenplan and Matt Feld.

“The most important piece is the relationship with the player, but the technical information that you’re giving to each guy is extremely important because everyone learns differently,” DeRouin said. “Everyone presents with a different anatomical physiological structure, in a different bandwidth that we have to work with. So, I think for me going into this, I knew I wanted to build something special here in New England. I knew we had an untapped market of high-level arms that could play at a really, really high level. That was my goal going in.”

DeRouin started working with Clemmey, a Vanderbilt commit, just before the start of the pandemic. The left-hander has since added almost 15 mph of velocity and emerged as a legitimate 2023 MLB Draft prospect.

“I say this to people all the time; Alex Clemmey was a nobody,” DeRouin said. “Ben Brutti was a nobody. A lot of those guys started off as players nobody knew about. But they had this unmatched desire to want to get better. That’s kind of what I look for in a player. There is no telling how far you can take this. All of these guys that people see who’ve had high levels of success, their were very low points in their careers too. What you get out is what you put in. I’m going to invest in you, and I’m going to help you take this as far as you want to take it.”

Listen to the entire podcast with John DeRouin.

The New England Baseball Journal podcast is brought to you by the University of Nebraska High School.

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