Eugene Bleecker is the Founder and Director of Player Development at 108 Performance, a state-of-the- art Baseball research and training facility now located in Knoxville Tennessee. After opening in October of 2014, 108 Performance skyrocketed due to the tangible, on field results he and the 108 team were able to achieve with players on both sides of the ball, at every level of the game. As a result, Eugene quickly established himself as one of the leading experts in the baseball player development industry. His relentless search for truth, objectivity and results helped Eugene build a unique training model that effectively bridges the gap between the “Old School” feel generation with the “New School” integration and application of data and technology. Eugene developed this approach by bringing sports scientists, biomechanists, strength coaches, physical therapists and coaches under one roof, collectively studying movement sciences, biomechanics, motor learning and skill acquisition, combining them with foundational movement principles he discovered, and then developing and applying those principles while training thousands of athletes, constantly iterating with a clear focus on objective results in health and performance. Eugene’s ability to analyze human movement is second to none, but more importantly, his ability to effectively communicate these principles to athletes and coaches in a way that creates actionable on field results is what sets him apart.

In February of 2018 after the professional offseason was over, Eugene was compelled to write a book sharing his discoveries and experiences. Four months later, Eugene published his first book, Old School vs. New School: The Application of Data & Technology into Baseball, which quickly became one of the most impactful and sought after books in the baseball industry. Due to the success of the book and the curiosity of what was going on at 108 Performance, Eugene and the 108 team released their level 1 foundational movement, hitting and pitching courses later that same year. The courses go into greater detail on concepts introduced in the book and provide coaches with a framework they could use to start implementing “The 108 Way” into their training. Hundreds of coaches from MLB organizations began getting certified and some MLB organizations had their entire S&C, Hitting, and Pitching departments get certified.

Eugene does regular consultations and educational seminars for MLB organizations and has worked in the hitting, pitching, sports science, and strength and conditioning departments. He is also one of the most pursued speakers in the baseball industry, having spoken at Lantz Wheeler’s Pitch-a-Palooza five times, at Gestalt Performance’s World Pitching Congress three times, and once at Ron Wolforth’s Texas Baseball Ranch Coaches Boot Camp as well as Professor Rob Gray’s Skill Acquisition Conference at Arizona State University. In 2021 Eugene was also blessed with the honor of being the keynote speaker at the MLB Winter Meetings for the MLB S&C Society. He was also featured in the book Swing Kings, articles in Sports Illustrated and the Los Angeles Times as well as various other publications, and was named as one of Brent Strom’s eight “go-to coaches” in baseball today.

To date, we have had over 20 former employees end up in Professional Baseball with 5 currently in the Big Leagues.

Many of the best organizations, coaches, and players choose to train the 108 way.

2023 was a landmark year, with 4 players that train The108Way taken in the 1st round, including two players we’ve been training since they were 13, going 1st & 12th overall respectively.