:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50158537/usa-today-9390893.0.jpg)
Three torn UCLs in one year. Another pitcher coming back from TJ surgery. It was suggested in a forum thread that the Angels have a weak medical staff because Arte is cheap. It got me thinking - how DO the Angels compare to other teams in terms of medical staff? Granted, it's often about quality, and not quantity, but it's an interesting comparison nonetheless.
Most of the time, it seems, medical experts are blaming over-pitching while young as the main cause of the rash of TJ surgeries. I didn't do the research on all the Angels pitchers to see what they did when they were younger.
Also included in this list are the Milwaukee Brewers who have received the Martin-Monahan award two years in a row. The Martin-Monahan Award winner is selected using a number of statistical measures including days lost, injury cost, and multi-year average. The Brewers haven't had a Tommy John surgery for 6 straight years. You can see the full list of award winning teams here. You'll notice that the Angels have yet to make that list - though many teams are absent.
Mariners Medical Staff (6 total)
Medical Director
Team Physician
Senior Director of Athletic Training
Athletic Trainers x2
Assistant Athletic Trainer - Rehab
Rangers Medical Staff (7 total)
Head Trainer
Athletic Trainer
Physical Therapist
Team Nutritionist
Team Physician
Internist
Assistant Team Physician
Angels Medical Staff (8 total)
Team Physician
Team Orthopedic Physician x2
Strength and Conditioning Coach
Head Certified Athletic Trainer
Physical Therapist x2
Athletic Trainer
Athletics Medical Staff (11 total)
Head Trainer
Assistant Trainers x2
Strength & Conditioning Coach
Major League Massage Therapist
Coordinator of Medical Services
Team Physician
Team Orthopedist x2
Arizona Team Physician
Astros Medical Staff
Head Athletic Trainer
Assistant Athletic Trainer x2
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Massage Therapist
Head Team Physician
Team Chiropractor
Team Physician x3
Team Dietician
Sports Psychologist
EAP Director
Brewers Medical Staff (11 total - for comparison)
Head Team Physician
Team Physician x2
Director - Medical Operations
Director - Psychological Services
Head Athletic Trainer - Major League
Assistant Athletic Trainer x2
Coordinator - Medical/Performance
Major League Strength and Conditioning Specialist
EAP Provider/Sport Psychology Professional
So perhaps the Angels DO run a bit of a thin ship in the medical department, but not as thin as the Rangers and Mariners who seem to have skeleton crews (at least listed on their website under staff).
Some findings:
- Most of the teams with more staff have 3 total athletic trainers to the Angels 2
- The higher staffed teams also have 1 more doctor (4 compared to 3)
- The Angels don't have a massage therapist
- The Angels don't have a sports psychologist
- The Angels don't appear to have anyone doing employee assistance
Whether the lack of staff and/or lack of proper training and conditioning led to these problems is definitely up for debate. But if the Angels aren't at least taking a long hard look at who is on their staff AND training, conditioning, rehab plans, pitching mechanics, etc., then they are doing a disservice to their players.
Looks like, according to Mike Scioscia, that the Angels are going to be doing exactly that:
"What we're looking at is just looking in the mirror, saying, `What is going on (that) we have so many back to back?" Scioscia said. "You definitely look internally. You analyze everything from the throwing program to how you monitor guys, and we're going to do that. ... So this might be a fluke thing, but naturally you have to look from within to make sure that the process is correct. We've always been confident with it, but when you have injuries like this, then naturally we look to see if there's any cause."