Alumni Report: Former RBHS baseball star Peabody paying it forward

John Peabody is one of the best baseball players to ever take the field at Rancho Bernardo High School.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound power-hitting outfielder and dominant pitcher started all four years for the Broncos before graduating in 2003.

He was offered a full scholarship by several college powerhouses, including Texas and LSU, before ultimately committing to the Tony Gwynn-led San Diego State Aztecs.

Peabody never got there though, electing to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates after they selected him out of high school in the 10th round of the 2003 MLB Draft.

And that’s where Peabody, who was recently hired as the head varsity baseball coach at Santa Fe Christian, says he made a mistake.

“Honestly, the money made me go,” said Peabody, who lives in Poway with his wife Michelle and two children, Wyatt, 3, and Anelise, 1. “That is something I convey all the time to people. If you don’t get something a lot larger than the 60 grand I signed for, then go to school. I learned the hard way. I took the first offer around the dollar amount I wanted. I left two days after I signed. I had the attitude, ‘give me money and let me go play.’”

Peabody, who turns 30 on Aug. 24, saw his professional career last four years before the Pirates released him in August of 2006. He was never able to get going after an ankle injury suffered during his senior year at Rancho Bernardo kept him off the field for 14 months.

“I got to minor league ball hurt and it put me in a funk,” he said, “and I was never able to get out of it. Physically and mentally I was just shot. It was the beginning of the end to be completely honest. I was never the same after that ankle injury. I put so much pressure on myself to come back. It just wasn’t good.”

Peabody’s experience in the minor leagues was a difficult one, but it ultimately helped lead him to where he is today: teaching young baseball players the mental and physical sides of hitting.

“I had no idea I was going to coach,” Peabody said. “I was just looking for a way to make money without getting a 9-to-5 and still possibly train for baseball. I put something up on Craigslist and a guy called me and I worked with his kid. Then he wanted me to work with a travel ball team and then I started working with the Little League in Solana Beach in 2007. We were one game away from reaching the Little League World Series.”

In 2007, Peabody also officially started his own business, Peabody Premier Baseball Club. He does one-on-one lessons, group or team lessons, camps and coaching clinics.

His brother, Thomas, who was a star pitcher at Rancho Bernardo and was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005, does pitching lessons.

John has worked with several San Diego players and has even traveled outside of the state to work with young, aspiring hitters.

He has quickly become one of the go-to hitting coaches in San Diego and he did it with no advertising, only word-of-mouth.

“I am busier now than I have ever been in my eight years of doing this,” he said. “I think if you do a good job people will talk, especially in the baseball world. Parents like to brag about how good their kid is and sometimes about how good their hitting coach is.”

John’s passion for the mechanics and mental sides of hitting shine through on his Twitter account (@peabodybaseball).

He constantly is posting slow-motion swings of professional hitters who display proper technique. And get John going in a conversation about swing mechanics and he will talk your ear off.

“I wish I could tell you it comes from having an awesome hitting coach in the Pirates organization, but I can’t,” John said. “It comes from hitting .230 in the minors and people saying you should hit this way and that way. I am not saying they are wrong, but I went and watched videos of Ted Williams, Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds and so forth. These guys are the best hitters ever to play, and they really do the same thing. And a lot of those things are not being taught to kids.

“I have guys in Triple-A talking to me about swing mechanics because they see my Twitter and tell me, ‘my coach is not teaching it that way.’”

One local star John has worked with for several years is La Costa Canyon’s Mickey Moniak, who is expected to be a first-round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft.

“I have known John since I was about 10,” Moniak said. “He is a great guy to work with and he knows his stuff. If my swing is a little messed up, he is the first guy I go to.”

Even though John takes pride in watching his students like Moniak succeed, you won’t hear him take any credit.

“It’s fulfilling and I am proud, but at the end of the day, I know the kids have put in so much work to get to college and the pro level,” he said. “I did a little something, maybe found a way to get in their head, but that player is hitting the ball and putting in the extra hours. Not me.”

So who was the best high school hitter, as far as mechanics goes, that John has ever seen?

“Alex Jackson. 100 percent. And it is not even close.” he said, mentioning the Rancho Bernardo graduate who was selected out of high school by the Seattle Mariners with the sixth overall pick of the draft in 2014.

“I would tell you Alex Jackson is the closest thing I have seen to a perfect swing. What I saw from him last year was jaw-dropping good. I didn’t get to work with him, but I got to know him.”

John is gearing up to be an even busier man with the addition of running the Santa Fe Christian program.

That position will be on top of running his own business and being a consultant for the San Diego Show Baseball Club, a program designed to develop and assist players in their careers.

But baseball and young people are two things John never seems to be able to get enough of in his life.

“I have always had coaches that were trying to help me get to the next level,” he said. “I want to pass that down and I don’t want people to make the same mistakes I did. I just have a passion for hanging out with kids. I just love kids.”

John says he plans on being at Santa Fe Christian for many years. Although, he did mention there is one job in San Diego that could pull him away.

“The only other place I would contemplate coaching is Rancho Bernardo,” he said. “And that is just because I am from there. Other than that, I don’t see why I would leave Santa Fe Christian.”

For those interested in getting lessons from John Peabody, visit his website at peabodybaseball.com.