Florida RHP JUCO signee goes in-depth on how he’s preparing for next season

On March 16, the NJCAA made the decision to cancel all spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With that announcement, the junior college baseball season came to a close.

One of the players that had his season cut short was Franco Aleman.

Aleman, a sophomore right-handed pitcher at St. John’s Rivers State College, was an FIU transfer coming into this past season. Back on June 18, 2019, he announced he will be continuing his career as a Florida Gator after he's done with JUCO.

During his sophomore season, Aleman made seven starts as he had a 3-1 record with a 3.26 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 38.2 innings pitched, giving him an 11.87 K/9.

Baseball America named Aleman their JUCO Pitcher of the Year and the top JUCO draft prospect in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Without anymore games to pitch, Aleman continues to work and improve on his craft. Aleman gave GatorsTerritory a breakdown of what he does on a daily basis to take his game to the next level and prepare for the 2021 season.

Aleman starts the week off waking up at 8 a.m. to get ready for his busy schedule. He grabs a quick breakfast before he heads to the field to work with his pitching coach, Antonio Romero. If they can’t go the fields, they’ll go to an indoor facility called Next Level.

Aleman has been working with the former Cleveland Indians prospect for a few years. “He finds all of my weaknesses and things I should work on with ease and constantly helps me make adjustments,” Aleman said of Romero.

With Coach Romero, Aleman and a few other professional and collegiate pitchers start their training at 9 a.m. On Monday, they are usually just lightly throwing and getting their arms working and getting their feel back for things. After that, they do their conditioning and are done for the day at noon.

Aleman would then grab a lunch before heading to the gym for a workout. He will either head to Chipotle with the other pitchers he just trained with or he grabs a fruit bowl.

After lunch, Aleman heads to Crunch Fitness to get his workout in. Monday is a full body workout that consists of squats, lunges, dumbbell chest press, lat pull downs and dumbbell rows. After that, they do some cardio to end the workout on a high note.

It’s another 8 a.m. wakeup call to meet with his pitching coach at 9 a.m. Aleman and the rest of the pitchers are long tossing, trying to get as far as they can on a line. Afterwards, they put some air under those throws, really stretching out their arms and trying to get some explosiveness on his pitches.

After working with his pitching coach, Aleman has lunch before heading back to Crunch Fitness for his workout.

Tuesday is solely core and cardio. No weights are involved so he can give his muscles time to recover from Monday’s full-body workout. Once he’s done at the gym, he goes to relax after a long day and mentally prepares himself for tomorrow’s grind.

On Wednesday morning, Aleman is back at it with his pitching coach, Antonio Romero, at Next Level. Wednesday is a lower-intensity day for his arm as he’ll get a light toss in from 130 feet before he does a light flat ground, just getting a feel for his pitches.

After lunch, he gets in another full-body workout at Crunch Fitness. He doesn’t go as heavy with the weights as he continues to build some endurance so he can last longer in games.

Once he’s done lifting weights, Aleman does some cardio work, which is usually 25 minutes of running and some sprints afterwards.

Thursday morning, Aleman is back at Next Level with his pitching coach. It is a little more intense with another flat ground and throwing from 150 feet.

After working with Coach Romero, he’s at the gym continuing to work on his core and gets some cardio work in as well. After that, Aleman is done for the day as he picks up his 4-year-old brother at the daycare on the way home.

On Friday morning, Aleman and some other pitchers work with Coach Romero. After warming up, Coach Romero brings out the radar gun as all of the pitchers, including Aleman, do some pull downs into a net with different weighted balls to build arm strength.

After lunch with the other pitchers, Aleman gets in another good full-body workout. His itinerary at the gym on Friday afternoon includes filling in his large frame and adding more solid weight. Once he completes his workout, Aleman is done for the week and heads home to enjoy the weekend with his girlfriend and family.

Over the weekend, Aleman doesn’t lift a weight or pick up a baseball. He uses the weekend to let his body recover from all of the hard work he put in Monday through Friday. Aleman likes to go fishing either by himself or with some friends.

“It helps me relax and get away from baseball and everything for a little bit,” Aleman said. “Plus, catching a fish is always a great feeling.”

Stay tuned to GatorsTerritory.