Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez at IMG

Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez are training at the IMG Academy.   The  renowned acadmey located in Bradenton, Florida attracts almost 200,000 athletes, coaches and spectators from 100 countries the website boasts.

The results for McCutchen were evident in his 2012 season.  It was a monster season.   Cutch put up career highs in batting average, on base percentage, slugging, his, runs batted in and home runs.

Alvarez also had a breakout season with career highs in home runs, runs batted in, doubles, hits, and runs.

We saw Walker in December and he looks to be in the best shape of his life.  (You know the statement will be coming soon, we might as well be the first, right?)  He told us that he started working out earlier than he has in his career due to the injuries that caused him to miss significant time last season.

The story linked below has quite a bit of information on IMG and the players who have invested time in their Pre-Spring Training program over the past decade or so.

"The Director of Baseball at IMG is Ken Bolek.  The MLB Pre-Spring  Training program has been held each year since IMG Academy launched its  baseball program more than a decade ago. Bolek has coached at every  level of the game, and has created an atmosphere that provides  professional training to youth athletes, while providing professional  athletes with a place to call their off-season training home. Alumni of  the MLB Pre-Spring Training Program have included the likes of 2010 AL  MVP Josh Hamilton; 2010 NL MVP Joey Votto; 2009 All-Star and Gold Glove recipient Ryan Zimmerman; 2x All-Star pitcher Chris Perez; 9x All-Star Gary Sheffield; and many others"

Here is the link to the complete story.