Josh Collmenter teaches D-backs teammates physics
Feb 23, 2016, 3:49 PM
Photo by @Dbacks
Josh Collmenter has carved out a pretty nice career as a Major League pitcher, appearing in 185 games over the last five seasons and posting a 35-33 record with a 3.49 ERA.
He has bounced around between the starting rotation and the bullpen, but wherever he’s been, the right-hander has done well.
But if he ever needed to do something other than play baseball, a career in teaching would probably work out pretty well.
The 30-year-old has actually taken a stab at educating his teammates the last couple of days, going over a variety of topics.
For those who want to take notes. #DbacksSpring pic.twitter.com/aNNtor5F8A
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) February 23, 2016
#Dbacks Josh Collmenter teaching teammates about Newton's theories. No, really he is. pic.twitter.com/oAaP9djKu6
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) February 23, 2016
More video from #Dbacks Josh Collmenter's morning class for his teammates. pic.twitter.com/R3LJJJNkRe
— Steve Gilbert (@SteveGilbertMLB) February 23, 2016
Collmenter was getting into gravitational pulls and the space-time continuum pic.twitter.com/7FPr4wPaO8
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) February 23, 2016
Uhh, what?
“Probably five or six days ago when camp started, it was just five guys in my little stretch of lockers, younger guys” Collmenter explained to Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Tuesday. “So we were talking, and something about history came up.
“And I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to teach you guys something each and every day.’ And it’s something whoever wants to stop by, and we just have little teaching sessions.”
Collmenter said he is open to going over any topic his teammates want to learn about.
On the first day of his “class” they went over the beginning, as in the evolution vs. creation debate.
“And then today got into a little physics, especially with the discovery of gravitational waves recently, how that was theorized and can actually been proven,” he said. “So it’s been fun. It’s not all going to be in-depth like that.”
Collmenter, who will start this season in the bullpen, said most of the topics will be more light-hearted, expounding on a few things. The idea is to get the mind moving in the morning.
Apparently the pitcher’s lessons are sticking, as according to Archie Bradley, “if he was my physics teacher in high school I would have had all As.”
Bradley entered the Diamondbacks organization out of high school, and the 23-year-old vouched for professor Collmenter’s ability to impart knowledge on his pupils.
“Not only his teaching, but his visuals,” he said. “I’m a visual learner, I have to see things — I just can’t hear it — and he busted out a couple props today and I’m like, ‘that makes perfect sense right there.'”
So while topics like Newton and Einstein as well as how a boat floats could be confusing to some, the young D-backs hurlers emerged from class a more learned group.
“It’s incredible, the guy’s amazing,” Bradley said.
