Jankowski hopes to help local baseball players carry the weight
It was like every other offseason day for Jordan Jankowski and Jordan Steranka. Like previous years, the two professional baseball players were helping each other through baseball-specific offseason workouts when Jankowski, a Peters Township graduate, raised a point.
“How far would we be now if we were doing this type of training in high school?” Jankowski, a 26-year-old relief pitcher for the Houston Astros’ Class AAA affiliate, asked.
They weren’t just thinking about themselves. High school baseball players in Western Pennsylvania are at a disadvantage. Weather often restricts their outdoor workouts and ability to play as many games as other states and they are often lumped together with other athletes when it comes to training.
“Everyone was taught the same way and there wasn’t baseball-specific weight training. We thought if more kids had this, they’d go a lot further,” Jankowski said. “You get strong overall, but baseball strong and overall strong is completely different. There are things you need to work in baseball that you won’t work when you are just lifting. Too many kids are topping out in high school.”
The conversation ended when the two parted ways, preparing to leave for spring training.
Steranka, a Mt. Lebanon and Penn State graduate, later got a phone call that changed everything.
Jankowski wanted to open a facility near Pittsburgh to serve youth baseball players. There would be an emphasis on individual skill development, baseball-specific weight training, plus skill and agility camps. It would give them an opportunity to use the knowledge they gained in professional baseball, plus offer them a career outside of baseball.
Pittsburgh Pro Performance, which is set to open its doors Sept. 28, was born.
“This is something that was definitely missing when we were younger and growing up,” said Steranka, a 25-year-old first baseman in the Pirates’ organization. “I still think there’s a need for it, especially hands-on skill development combined with baseball weight training and speed training. You can’t find it anywhere in our area.”
Their eyes were opened when they reached professional baseball. Jankowski and Steranka witnessed what training like a professional entailed.
Workouts began with individual skill development then baseball-specific weight training that focused on different body parts for both players. Jankowski developed strength to increase velocity, while Steranka learned to harness power in his swing.
They left those first workouts physically exhausted and with eyes opened to possibilities.
Following his first season of pro baseball, Jankowski attended Cressey Sports Performance in Hudson, Mass. – a high-performance training facility that features baseball-specific training – where he was placed on a similar, yet rigorous, five-day program. When he arrived at spring training, he found himself in better shape with a fastball three miles per hour faster than before.
“I got on that five-day program and I’d say 80 percent of the lifts I did I had never done in my life,” Jankowski said. “It was eye opening. I had done the wrong thing my whole life. I thought to myself, ‘How do people not know about this?'”
Throughout the current minor league season, the duo has exchanged text messages and emails with ideas for the business, equipment to purchase and eventually, a location, which will be 970 Cochran Mills Road in South Park. When the two arrive after their seasons end this fall, they’ll quickly immerse themselves in the business, installing an exact replica of the off-season program they have in professional baseball – offering the same to high school and youth players while tailoring it to specific positions.
“It’s something different. It’s a new approach. We’re younger professional baseball players who have experience at a higher level,” Steranka said. “It’s something fresh that kids in the area will enjoy and they’ll be excited about.”
There will also be travel baseball teams – ages 10-11 on Sept. 20 and 12-18 on Sept. 27th.
Derek Law, a Seton La-Salle graduate pitching in the San Francisco Giants’ organization, and Cory Mazzoni, a Seneca Valley graduate playing for the San Diego Padres’ Class AAA affiliate, have agreed to work as instructors.
It all began with a conversation, but it’s becoming a reality. Tarran Senay, who was drafted out of South Park High School and had a standout career at North Carolina State, will help run the business during the minor league season next year.
As the plans began to come together this summer, Jankowski followed the Major League Baseball Draft. Only one player who competed in the WPIAL last year was drafted. It’s the goal of he and Steranka to help change that.
“We know the talent is good enough in the WPIAL, but we don’t think it’s getting developed the right way,” Jankowski said. “We think that by mixing a program with baseball skills and strength training, we can really help get the area back to where it should be.
“We know we’ll be able to help develop players and we know we’ll be able to help baseball in Western Pennsylvania.”