2026 Pro Day Recap [16 Signs & Counting]

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Hey guys – Ben Brewster here.

A quick recap on our 6th annual Pro Day, which took place earlier this month at Tread HQ in Charlotte, NC.

I’m always excited for this weekend, starting off the year with a bang after some rejuvenating time with family over the holidays.

But Pro Day (or as it should be called, Pro Weekend) is about more than helping our Free Agent pitchers get signed and continue chasing the dream – it’s also a celebration of our coaches’ skills and knowledge, putting the combined work on display.

Because not every athlete here will land a job, for some, this event also represents closure – a chance to go out swinging, in front of representatives from 29 MLB orgs and numerous international and independent league scouts and representatives.

A few shots of Day 1 Pro Day Participants

A few quick notes:

140+ pitchers threw in the event, continuing to make it by far the largest event of its kind

To qualify, all participants were current Tread athletes training with us year-round and had to hit velocity minimums – 92 for lefties and 94 for righties within the last 6 months.

Attending orgs received same-day data and video, with scouts consistently telling us that this has become a “can’t miss” off-season event.

This year, pitchers threw live, in cleats, against pro hitters. This was a welcome change by both our athletes and by scouts as we hoped to showcase our guys in as game-like an environment as possible.

Athletes from Australia, Panama, South Korea, Czech Republic, Venezuela, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic were represented – that’s pretty cool. You can listen to all of their accents here.👏

We anticipate multiple pro free agent hitters who participated in the event will get affiliate opportunities as well. We opened the event to pro hitters (for free), so it’s great to see some traction for a couple of them as well.

In other Pro Day news:

16 participants have already signed affiliate contracts, with more pending.

Those participants are: Tyler Ras, Mitch White, Michael Gemma, Anthony Patterson, Charlie Barnes, Jack Bowery, Trent Thornton, Robbie Knowles, Ty Bothwell, Dane Dunning, Davis Daniel, Tayler Scott, Dominic Freeberger, Grant Manning, Ryder Ryan and Bryan Sammons. Congratulations to all of those guys who’ve continuously put in the work and earned their shot!

Last year, 20+ Pro Day participants ended up signing with affiliates over the course of the year, out of a total 62 Tread Free Agent signs in 2025.

We anticipate a similar trend in 2026.

This is in addition to a couple of pitchers being snagged from the Pro Day roster before the event started, including Italian-born pitcher Ettore Giulianelli (T98 – you’re legally required to say his name in as Italian an accent as possible).

More names to be officially announced in the coming weeks.

A Few Highlights

We live-streamed all 3 days of the event across every social platform – over 22 hours in total. If you missed it, check out some of the most notable highlights from Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

In all, 27 pitchers hit 95+ mph.

Mitchell White Impressed

Perhaps the most impressive showing of the weekend came from a pitcher who has never thrown in affiliate ball. Watching him pitch, you’d think he was a tenured big league reliever.

The 2025 Frontier League All-Star topped 98+ with carry (99 in warm-ups), showed off a mid 80’s slider, and rocked a nasty upper 80’s change-up.

A few more notables:

KBO pitcher Won-Bin Hong sat upper 90’s with an upper 80’s gyro slider, a mid 90’s sinker, and a low 80’s curve.


Max Green made a solid argument for why he deserves some green. ☘️ The lefty sat 95-96 (up to 20″ VB) with a nasty change (down to 1.5″ VB), a low 80’s sweeper, an upper 80’s cutter, and a sinker.


Paul Campbell looked polished, sitting 94-96 while showcasing a power curve in the low 80’s, a sinker in the mid 90’s, and a nasty split-change that reached into negative vertical break territory.


Rob Knowles was dialed. ☎️ He sat 95-96 (T97.3) with 18-20″ VB, showed a cutter in the low 90’s, plus a mid 80’s gyro and splitter. One of the more impressive displays of pure stuff on day 2.


Nearly three years post-shoulder surgery, Will Saxton returned to the mound to face hitters, with a large group of family and friends there to support him. The LHP flashed a verty heater up to 94.9 from the left side, and a slider at 82-83. 


He was named Tread’s 2025 Comeback Player of the Year and is aiming to return to competitive play this spring. It’s hard to put into words how far he’s come – but we have some content in the works that hopes to do it justice.

We Haven’t Forgotten About The Amateurs.

While this weekend was a celebration of our pros, I can assure you that we haven’t forgotten about our core mission of providing the information and resources to help pitchers -of all levels- reach their athletic potential.

Some lives are set to change after this weekend, but it was the culmination of months (or years) of work.

What connects all of our athletes – from high school freshmen to MLB veterans, is the desire to see just how far they can go.

Tread is equally for all of them – connecting the hardest-working athletes from around the globe with the best coaches in an effort to leave no stone unturned.

That’s what Tread is all about, and this weekend was just a small example of that.

We’ll be releasing more in-depth athlete features and a complete recap in the coming weeks, in addition to resuming standard educational content.

I hope you all are as excited about the future of player development as we are.

Here’s to reaching your potential,

Ben

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P.S. Did you watch the live-stream? Any suggestions for how we can improve this event next year? Let me know by replying to this email.

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