Thursday is the saddest day in American sports.
Every year, there are 1-2 days following Major League Baseball’s All-Star game, which takes place tonight in Texas, in which there are no games scheduled in any of the major team sports. Though Major League Soccer rescues the sports zeitgeist with a full slate of games tomorrow, Thursday is an empty slate.
It is a collective crisis for the American sporting public.
All kidding aside, baseball’s All-Star break represents the lone extended respite in the longest journey in American professional sports – the 162-game MLB regular season. Twice as long as the longest regular season in any other major sport, baseball’s campaign is a test of strength, endurance and health both physically and mentally.
On the physical side, how to help players reduce or prevent injuries is a constant topic of conversation. Whether it’s a debate about increased weight training and conditioning, innings management or new rules like the pitch clock, each year seems to bring a new wrinkle to the challenge of keeping players healthy over the course of a six-month season.
Mental health, on the other hand, has become a far more prevalent discussion in MLB, particularly after the COVID-shortened 2020 season and the yearlong hangover it seemed to cause injury-wise throughout baseball. Last season, MLB instituted a rule allowing mental health coaches to actually sit on the bench during games. And the Major League Baseball Player’s Association announced a revamped mental health program that focused on greater access, particularly for Latin players, and 24/7 crisis support.
A tipping point occurred at the start of the 2023 season, when Colorado Rockies closer Daniel Bard, Detroit Tigers outfielder Austin Meadows and Oakland A’s reliever Trevor May all opted to begin the season on the injured list (IL) with mental health or anxiety issues. All three were met with universal support from teammates and MLB.
This was a stark contrast to past years like 2009 when a New York Times article questioned – with support from an accredited mental health professional – whether MLB players were using mental health challenges as a way to cover poor performance on the field.
There is a cohort of MLB players currently using or testing alphabeats. Most are focused on integrating the product into their rest/recovery schedules while others are experimenting with it as part of their practice and prep routines. Baseball players are notorious creatures of habit, always looking for an edge in an unforgiving sport that can see a player like the New York Mets’ Jeff McNeil hitting just .216 at the break after winning the MLB batting title two seasons ago.
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