🔥What happens when a MiLB Player gets injured🔥

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Athletter

Most people don't know what happens when a Baseball Player gets injured.

In 5 years, I got injured 3 times - and it's never as simple as it seems.

Here's how it actually goes down (behind the scenes):

During the middle of the 2023 season, I felt a sharp pain in my elbow.

I hope its not what I think it is…

My season had been going well so far, and I wanted to compete to get promoted.

The first thing I did was diagnose it, myself.

Am I actually injured? Or am I just sore?

I knew I had to be on the down low.

why?

In pro ball, every thing is recorded.

If get treatment for something that’s bothering you:

It gets recorded into the database… no matter how small.

And for things like elbow pain, teams are very careful.

Rightfully so - The organization sees the long game and want to protect the players they’ve invested in.

The players on the other hand, want to make the Big Leagues… Tomorrow.

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Anyway, I’m stuck with a decision to make.

Do I tell the trainers?

Or do I push through the pain?

I definitely didn’t want to land on the 7-day injured list.

You might not think that’s that bad.

You just take a week or 2 off and you’re right back competing right?

No no no...

Once you take a week off, you need to do what’s called a Build Up.

What’s that?

It’s a program built to get you ready to compete again.

And this - can take anywhere from 2 to 6+ weeks.

All that time you’re away from the game, watching your teammates from the side lines.

You lose playing time, and opportunities to move up.

You can see why players might push through pain.

But the dark side of pushing through pain:

Getting caught in the death spiral.

The Death Spiral:

Player feels pain, take pills and uses red hot to push through the year.

Takes time off in the offseason to recover.

Comes back to spring training less prepared, starts to feel pain again.

Take pills and use red hot. Repeat.

Side note: Ibuprofen and Red Hot are a pitcher’s best friends.

A typical routine of a relief pitcher:

Consume 200+mg of caffeine.

Pop 2 ibuprofens.

Lather arm or somewhere else with Red Hot.

Go throw as hard as you can.

Anyway… what did I end up doing with my arm pain?

I told them. I did the 6 week build up. And came back better than ever before.

You might think that was the best option all along.

But in the athlete’s eyes, its not as simple as it seems.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading!