Frequently Asked Questions
Roles, education, and training working as a professional baseball physical therapist.
As a physical therapist, you are part of a bigger interdisciplinary team working with certified athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, mental skills, nutrition, soft tissue specialists, chiropractors, physicians, sport scientists, skill coaches, and members of the front office towards providing the professional baseball athlete the best opportunity to perform on the field. There are a variety of roles the physical therapist can work in. 1) traditional physical therapy non-operative and post-operative rehabilitation, 2) preventive maintenance treatments prior to athletes’ field work, weight room, or game, 3) assist the certified athletic trainers on staff as secondary emergency medical help, 4) soft tissue treatments, 5) assist with transitioning athletes in reconditioning and return to play, 6) medical department leadership, 7) medical research, 8) amateur and international draft medical reviews, and 9) sports science. In some instances, individuals possessing licensure and educational background as a physical therapist have also served in the roles as strength and conditioning coach and field coaches in either pitching or hitting.
Physical therapists may be stationed year long at the clubs’ respective Spring Training complex in either Florida or Arizona or may be part of the Major League travel medical staff working in and out of the home city. If working as either a strength and conditioning coach or field coach, you will be assigned to the affiliate level location or big league club depending on job position hired by your organization.
During Spring Training, work hours are long. Morning training room hours usually start as early as 6:00 am and go to 9:30 am getting player treatments in prior to their weight room and sport specific skill work. Team stretch outside on the field occurs between 9:30 am-10:00 am followed by sport skill stations such as throwing programs, pitcher fielding practice, bullpen sessions, base running, team defense, batting practice, and field conditioning. Physical therapists work in both an indoor and outdoor environment with their players. After players come inside, additional training room treatments are continued, strengthening in the weight room, as well as focus on recovery work. If games are scheduled that day, there is 1-2 hours prior to game time and pregame stretch, taping, activation, and dynamic functional warm-ups are provided in collaboration with the athletic trainers and strength coaches.
During the game, the role of physical therapists may differ club to club. If dually credentialed as an ATC, EMT, or qualified emergency responder credential, you may watch the game from the dugout and be available to assist the athletic trainer in a secondary role. Others may stay inside the training room providing non-game player treatments and assist getting reliever pitchers ready. As pitchers come out of the game, post-outing treatments and strengthening are provided to start the recovery process. There is overlap in the shared roles amongst the members of your medical staff. After the conclusion of games, a medical team meeting is typically held to review current injured treatment plans, as well as goals, and any new injuries that pop up from the recent game. The day concludes with administrative computer documentation. It is not uncommon the work day to last 12-13 hours before repeating it again daily for 6 weeks straight with only 3 total scheduled off days prior to Opening Day.
If stationed at your club’s Arizona or Florida complex year long, the start and end times of your work schedule varies based on the needs of the remaining teams and players stationed at the complex but are not dissimilar to the routine as described during pre-season camp. Physical therapists stationed there are typically responsible for the post-operative and non-operative rehabilitation of players assigned to the complex. They work in collaboration with the athletic trainers, strength coaches, and skill coaches with return to play protocols.
Physical therapists that work as a member of the travel medical staff of the big league club commonly report to the field 7 hours prior to a night game and 5 hours prior to a day game for a similar in-season routine and stay throughout the game. It is not uncommon to work 21 days straight before a scheduled off-day and travel to 3 different cities during a road trip. The professional regular baseball season is 8 months long, including Spring Training, with the ultimate goal of having healthy players to compete in the post-season come October for an additional month.
To work as a physical therapist, a graduate physical therapy degree is required. Typical physical therapy graduate programs take between 2-3 years full-time after graduating with your undergraduate degree. Here is a list of accredited physical therapy programs in the United States.
Besides having great clinical outcomes, here are 10 intangible qualities that will allow you to succeed in professional baseball.
1) No ego.
2) Humility and respect for others.
3) Excellent ability to maintain composure under stress.
4) Be professional and maintain that professionalism when working with professional athletes. Do not cross the line of acting like a fan, short for fanatic, immediately asking for pictures or autographs. You have to earn their trust and confidence as they let themselves stay loose and be themselves in private away from the public’s eye. That is a responsibility as a healthcare provider that should not be taken lightly.
5) Have tremendous work ethic. As described earlier about what a typical day is like as a physical therapist working in professional baseball, the regular season is 162 games in 187 days, not including 6 weeks Spring Training and 1 month of post-season games. There is no other professional sports league that has that many games in a regular season and the work demands are challenging and requires a strong consistent work ethic.
6) Ability to effectively verbally communicate to athletes, coaches, co-workers, and front office personnel. As a physical therapist, you are one spoke out of many spokes of a wheel and have to communicate with everyone. Athletes, coaches, and front office personnel come from different backgrounds. You have to be able to speak to them in simple terms they understand using jargon that is easy for them to grasp. It is easier said than done but is a unique skill set that everyone should continue to develop.
7) Ability to develop positive relationships. Baseball is a game of failure and is incredibly difficult to succeed at. The best hitters in the world are considered successful if they hit 3 out of 10 opportunities. Baseball athletes are not machines but are humans. They deal with family, financial, and work stresses just like everyone else. The ability to recognize how the athlete is doing mentally and being available to have conversations deeper than just baseball is critical for the holistic care of the athlete. If you are able to exude a positive attitude every time a player walks into the training room, you contribute to creating a positive culture inside the clubhouse.
8) Excellent ability to work with multiple athletes at one time. Good time management and spatial awareness of the daily schedule, what the athlete has to get to next after they seek you in the training room, and awareness of the available modalities, treatments, and resources to accomplish treatment goals while allowing other practitioners and athletes to get what they need done.
9) Team player and good teammate.
10) Basic ability to speak Spanish to direct and instruct exercise. A majority of baseball players come from Latin American countries. Therefore, the ability to speak basic instructional fundamental Spanish can be very useful in this setting.