Meet Our Team
Ryan Crotin
Ph.D., CSCS, RSCC
Ryan has a wealth of baseball experience being a coach either in skill or strength at all levels from youth to the Major Leagues. He completed his PhD at the University at Buffalo studying altered stride lengths and their movement and physiologic effects in baseball pitchers to model fatigue and compensation impacts on throwing performance. His post-doctoral fellowship was at the University of Pennsylvania focusing on throwing health and he was part of a team that developed a throwing clinic for Penn Orthopedics. Ryan has held past positions as Director of Performance Integration and Player Performance Coordinator for the Los Angeles Angels overseeing strength and conditioning efforts and applying physiologic-based data to improve the way athletes train, receive clinical care, skill coaching, as well as innovative approaches to scouting athletes. In his free time, Ryan enjoys playing ping pong with his wife and chasing around his two sons who are his greatest joys in life.
Adam Balan
M.Sc., B.Ed., CSCS
Adam has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of education, professional sport, and strength and conditioning. He is currently an Academic Coordinator and full-time Professor in the Fitness and Health Promotion diploma program at Centennial College in Toronto, Canada. He completed his Master's degree studying parental attitudes towards arm injury prevention in youth baseball. He also holds two Bachelor's degrees in Education and Science from California University of Pennsylvania. His role as an educator is augmented by 12 years in the strength and conditioning world where he primarily worked with youth, collegiate and professional hockey and lacrosse players. As an athlete, Adam played professional baseball seasons in Europe and Australia and earned NCAA DII Academic All-American Honours in college.
His current academic pursuits lie in research on injury, most notably with the Baseball Injury Prevention Initiative, and the benefits of sleep in learning. He also works alongside his brother, Ryan, for the Balan Baseball Academy. Adam is an advocate of all movement; he loves dancing, air-drumming and playing with his two-year old daughter.
Daniel Escobar
CSCS, RSCC
Danny is the Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for the Cincinnati Reds. He completed his Bachelor's Degree in Exercise Science in 2013, specializing in Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation. Soon afterwards, Danny joined the Los Angeles Angels as the Rookie Level Strength & Conditioning Coach. After 3 years as an affiliate coach, Danny was promoted to the Return to Performance Strength and Conditioning Coordinator. He assisted in creating this role after analyzing organizational injury trends. The following year, he served as the Minor League Performance Coordinator, overseeing the Physical Performance department. In this position, he was directly involved in multiple projects within performance enhancement, sports science, health initiatives, and staff development.
Danny currently serves as the Assistant Coordinator for the Cincinnati Reds, directing performance work for the Rehabilitation program. He enjoys dancing with his wife, Steffani, and walking their dog, Beth. Danny enjoys just about all physical activity, especially working out, sprinting, hiking, and bowhunting.
Ryo Naito
M.Ed., CSCS, RSCC
Ryo has 14 years of experience in professional baseball as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. He spent 8 years with the Baltimore Orioles Major league team as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. He is currently working for the San Diego Padres as a Minor League Strength and Conditioning Coordinator. He completed his Master’s degree studying Applied Exercise and Sports Science at Springfield College. He also has Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences from Oregon State University.
While he was working with Orioles, he was training athletes with deep knowledge of Strength and Conditioning; speed development, running mechanics, mobility and flexibility, nutrition and recovery methods. He just welcomed his first son in end of September 2021. He enjoys playing golf and tennis.
Abdullah Zafar
B.Sc.
Abdullah has nearly 10 years of experience in professional sport as an athlete, coach and analyst. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Vision Neuroscience, investigating how the oculomotor system integrates with perception and cognition in order to facilitate efficient motion processing in athletic populations. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Toronto, where he completed a double major in Mathematics and Physics. He holds a position as an applied mathematician at Sport Performance Analytics Inc., where his work revolves around working with professional and national sporting bodies to model and analyze team movement dynamics, as well as translate deep technical knowledge for implementation in the training environment. Additionally, he holds a position as a software engineer at the University of Toronto, working with scientists and doctors at the Toronto Rehab Institute to develop clinical diagnostics tools powered by computer vision. In his free time, Abdullah enjoys reading, producing digital art, playing the piano, and traveling with his wife.