Strength and Conditioning

[JohnBriggs12]

I've never ever seen a baseball team where every day some guy doesn't make it through the game. It's not from getting hit by high 90's fastballs either. It's from doing normal baseball moves. Is the problem the strength and conditioning coach or is it a roster full of China dolls?

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

I’d guess more roster construction than anything they are or aren’t doing from a strength and conditioning perspective. I mean a lot of the guys that make up the roster have a history of injuries and missing time. Obviously some of it is fluky but some of it is just these guys being who they have been and aging.

[JohnBriggs12]

I’d guess more roster construction than anything they are or aren’t doing from a strength and conditioning perspective. I mean a lot of the guys that make up the roster have a history of injuries and missing time. Obviously some of it is fluky but some of it is just these guys being who they have been and aging.

 

Even by pre PED standards, these guys are not old baseball-wise and the older players aren't even being asked to play everyday, yet they still can't make it through 9 innings without backs tightening up or hamstrings getting sore or whatever. Not to mention the times pitchers have injured themselves hitting. These are athletes?

[CrewFanBrewMan69]

I’d guess more roster construction than anything they are or aren’t doing from a strength and conditioning perspective. I mean a lot of the guys that make up the roster have a history of injuries and missing time. Obviously some of it is fluky but some of it is just these guys being who they have been and aging.

 

Even by pre PED standards, these guys are not old baseball-wise and the older players aren't even being asked to play everyday, yet they still can't make it through 9 innings without backs tightening up or hamstrings getting sore or whatever. Not to mention the times pitchers have injured themselves hitting. These are athletes?

I mean that’s kinda true. But Cain has been hurt for stretches nearly every year of his career except last year, Braun has had stretches of injures the last 3-4 years, Anderson has been hurt his whole career here and there, Yelich has had stretches earlier in his career (I believe), catchers are bound to get banged up so while unlucky it’s not unexpected with Pina and Vogt, I just think it’s mostly who these guys are more than anything.

[Devinep]

I think they’re also overly cautious. With the depth and ability to rotate days off, they should be able to play through small injuries because they can get a day off soon

[3and2Fastball]

There have been a lot of injuries across Baseball, not just with the Brewers.

 

My guess is that there is a combination of issues including Strength & Conditioning approaches as well as rostering injury prone players to a degree

[Boomer5]

These players in general seem more fragile than ever, not just the Brewers.

 

Babe Ruth used to show up to spring training with cigars, whiskey, and hookers. Todays players train 7 days a week and fall apart running to 1B.

[3and2Fastball]

I think teams have learned to shut players down with minor injuries instead of having them try to play through them

 

I don't need a computer program to tell me that a healthy Hernan Perez is more valuable than Christian Yelich when Yelich has a minor oblique injury. But I bet that is what analytics says. And the risk of Yelich reinjuring himself and dealing with the issue all season long is too great. The smart approach is letting him heal up.

 

I don't think players are more fragile. Teams are smarter.

[JosephC]

Just guessing that 30 years ago players probably got grade 1 strains pretty much all the time, and nothing was ever said about it because it's a very mild injury. But for the modern day MLB player, it's almost a guaranteed trip to the 10 day disabled list.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I went to spring training this year. I watched as the strength and conditioning coach tried to get the players to go through the stretching exercises before practice started. Maybe, if your lucky, half the players would do at most 30 percent of the stretches asked of them. It seemed to be chit chat time for the players. I understand these are grown men, but the players could at least do exercises that would benefit themselves.

[BrewCrewBlueDevil]

Enabled? Does Milwaukee babies their players too much? I have no proof but looking at how soft Counsel is on umpires, it makes sense.

[jerichoholicninja]

That's pretty much every team. I'm not saying it's good or bad but teams are way overly cautious when it comes to injuries nowadays. Any discomfort of any kind and the player is coming out.

[JohnBriggs12]

Just guessing that 30 years ago players probably got grade 1 strains pretty much all the time, and nothing was ever said about it because it's a very mild injury. But for the modern day MLB player, it's almost a guaranteed trip to the 10 day disabled list.

 

Except in Milwaukee where "day to day" is actually week to week and they don't mind playing with 22 or 23 man rosters. Pina hasn't played in a week and they haven't brought up a catcher. Ridiculous.

[JohnBriggs12]

I went to spring training this year. I watched as the strength and conditioning coach tried to get the players to go through the stretching exercises before practice started. Maybe, if your lucky, half the players would do at most 30 percent of the stretches asked of them. It seemed to be chit chat time for the players. I understand these are grown men, but the players could at least do exercises that would benefit themselves.

 

I'd say that's on the coach. He's obviously not forceful enough or the manager who doesn't get it across that paying attention to him is expected.

[3and2Fastball]

I went to spring training this year. I watched as the strength and conditioning coach tried to get the players to go through the stretching exercises before practice started. Maybe, if your lucky, half the players would do at most 30 percent of the stretches asked of them. It seemed to be chit chat time for the players. I understand these are grown men, but the players could at least do exercises that would benefit themselves.

 

You attended every day of Spring Training? You saw all the workouts?

[pacopete4]

It may be more of an overworking of the muscles than it is a lack of stretching. Seems like there is more muscle pulls now than ever.

[homer]

I feel we have one of these threads every time there is a rash of little injuries.

[torts]

its also been cold, colder than normal for most of the MLB cities, and that adds to muscle injuries.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Just guessing that 30 years ago players probably got grade 1 strains pretty much all the time, and nothing was ever said about it because it's a very mild injury. But for the modern day MLB player, it's almost a guaranteed trip to the 10 day disabled list.

 

Except in Milwaukee where "day to day" is actually week to week and they don't mind playing with 22 or 23 man rosters. Pina hasn't played in a week and they haven't brought up a catcher. Ridiculous.

 

100% right. The whole reason for the 10-day DL is for this reason, yet the team refuses to utilize it. It even took 3-4 days of Yelich sitting out before they decided to DL him. Why have depth and refuse to utilize it?

[chuckiehacks]

 

100% right. The whole reason for the 10-day DL is for this reason, yet the team refuses to utilize it. It even took 3-4 days of Yelich sitting out before they decided to DL him. Why have depth and refuse to utilize it?

 

This is my issue with the team - why not use the 10-day DL? Pina is the perfect example, they could have brought up a catcher without any 40-man roster moves. Even if Nottingham doesn't start at all, he'd be available to pinch hit. Isn't one AB in the spot where Chacin hit the other day worth the risk that Pina would be out 10 days but ready in 8?

[FVBrewerFan]

I know there's a theory out there that all the weight lifting has contributed to injuries. No idea if that is true, or really could ever be proven. But it does make sense to me. In the "old days" players didn't lift much. These days, most players spend a lot of time in the weight room. You see it in the NFL as well. Maybe there's something to the fact that getting more bulked up than what is natural for your body type can cause strains and tears?

[adambr2]

Just guessing that 30 years ago players probably got grade 1 strains pretty much all the time, and nothing was ever said about it because it's a very mild injury. But for the modern day MLB player, it's almost a guaranteed trip to the 10 day disabled list.

 

Except in Milwaukee where "day to day" is actually week to week and they don't mind playing with 22 or 23 man rosters. Pina hasn't played in a week and they haven't brought up a catcher. Ridiculous.

 

100% right. The whole reason for the 10-day DL is for this reason, yet the team refuses to utilize it. It even took 3-4 days of Yelich sitting out before they decided to DL him. Why have depth and refuse to utilize it?

 

I understand they're playing a guessing game but they're doing a poor job of playing it.

 

As a basic rule I think I would give most guys one day -- if they're not ready to go on day 2, to the DL you go. In most cases if they're even ready on Day 2 they're still not 100% and not as effective as your healthy depth.

 

This 4, 5 days of going 22, 23 guys is ridiculous. If a guy has to wait a few days after healing up to be eligible again, so be it, at least you have capable depth available replacing him.

 

Never should you be in a situation where runs are at a premium and you're letting a pitcher hit with a runner on 3rd when you plan to pull him anyway. That's ridiculous.

[Fear The Chorizo]

In the "old days" players didn't lift much.

 

Players also weren't as big, fast, and strong - all of that leads to more stress on tendons and ligaments, which are critical pieces of a baseball player's anatomy. In addition, very few players made life-changing $, and pre-free agency the last thing an average everyday player wanted to do was sit out a few days or go on the DL with marginal injury that he could play through. Heck, Koufax probably pitched large portions of his career with arm injuries that would certainly require surgery in this day and age.

 

Guys that got injured early in their careers typically didn't have long MLB careers, because they were replaced with someone off the farm back in the old days.

[homer]

In the old days guys took "greenies" to give them a lift.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I went to spring training this year. I watched as the strength and conditioning coach tried to get the players to go through the stretching exercises before practice started. Maybe, if your lucky, half the players would do at most 30 percent of the stretches asked of them. It seemed to be chit chat time for the players. I understand these are grown men, but the players could at least do exercises that would benefit themselves.

 

You attended every day of Spring Training? You saw all the workouts?

 

I attended the 7 days before the games started. I watched as all the played got in a big line as the coach was running the stretching workouts on the field. Then the players broke into groups and went to their respective fields.