The offseason yoga pact of young Mariners 1B and 72-year-old IF coach

Feb 22, 2025, 10:03 AM

Mariners Insider, Seattle Sports

Tyler Locklear, like many young players who get their first opportunities at the big league level, was all eyes and ears in the just under three weeks he spent with the Seattle Mariners last season.

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“It’s a big learning experience,” said the 24-year-old first baseman. “You are able to see what these guys do on a day-to-day basis. You are able to learn about yourself a little bit, how you fit into the big leagues, learn from your mistakes, and grow as a person.”

The 49 plate appearances he received is hardly a big enough sample to gauge just what he could be at the big league level. His line of .156/.224/.311 for a .536 OPS not what he wanted, but much was learned. While admitting the emotions that come with the excitement of the situation got to him a bit in his first few games, he knows who he has been at the plate and where he needs to be.

“It’s about the pitch selection, swinging at the pitches you are comfortable handling and driving it to the outfield, gap to gap,” he said. “When I am going good, the ball is back spun, the takes are aggressive, the walks are up. Everything is just flowing.”

Flowing at the plate. At first base, it turns out a different flow was needed. Yoga flow – which, to Locklear’s surprise, was prescribed to him by infield coach Perry Hill. A bigger surprise, he wouldn’t be doing it alone.

“We were doing it together because he told me he wouldn’t make anybody do something he wouldn’t,” Locklear said.

The yoga pact

The 72-year-old Hill signed up for Yoga classes in Michigan, and his young pupil did the same near his home in Bel-Air, Calif.

“I thought it would just help his flexibility and elongate things instead of being so muscled up,” Hill said. “It worked.”

“I think it’s helped a lot,” Locklear said. “I’m more flexible, and as we call it more flowy, rhythmic around the bag.”

The two checked in with each other every week or two during the offseason to see how the other was doing and if the other was still doing it. They were, but with different enjoyment levels.

“I just liked that it was a different way to work out,” Locklear said. “It was about kind of learning about your body, being more flexible, something I have never really harped on.”

Hill didn’t quite have the same enthusiasm.

“It didn’t work out for me,” he deadpanned. “I didn’t get the same results.”

Locklear has bought in and plans to look into a program during the regular season.

“It’s about being strong with your body,” he said. “Really focusing on yourself and being in that Zen state they kind of preach over there. It’s kind of helped me work on my breathing a lot and just kind of relaxing and staying calm.”

The Zen element, an added benefit for Locklear. Did his coach perhaps benefit from the Zen as well?

“I think he did,” Locklear said with a laugh. “He’s still yelling and everything like he does on the field, but he said he’s more flexible and he’s moving well. So he was really happy with it, had a lot of fun.”

Really? Perhaps not. When asked to sum up his yoga experience, Hill answered, “Subpar, at best.”

So no Zen? None at all?

“No. Zero. I hated it, but it worked for him,” Hill said.

For Hill, that’s what matters. What’s good for the pupil does not always have to be good for the teacher, as it is ultimately about the player. Hill’s reward is seeing the progress, and to that end, he saw the difference when he first set eyes on Locklear in Peoria.

“I saw it right away, and he saw it,” Hill said. “His body works like it should work.”

"All these drills play right into the game!" – @PHill_bone @RipkenBaseball hit #MarinersST earlier this year to spend a day with the legendary @Mariners infield guru. pic.twitter.com/355P8Hsw1V

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) March 20, 2020

Where this takes Locklear remains to be seen. First base for the 2025 Mariners is currently occupied, but things happen in a 162-game season. For a young player, the name of the game is to keep improving, and according to Hill the yoga should help.

Locklear himself is a believer.

“Oh, I didn’t think it was going to be as beneficial as it ended up being, so I’m really happy with how it turned out,” he said, “because it was something that I’d never really like looked into or been much of a fan of because I’ve tried it before. And then actually buying into it, I was really, really happy with how it went.”