It is not a secret that the 2019 season was a difficult one for the New York Yankees when it comes to injuries. The team lost players such as Dellin Betances, Luis Severino, James Paxton, Aaron Hicks, Didi Gregorius, Ben Heller, Miguel Andujar, Giancarlo Stanton, CC Sabathia, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Jonathan Loaisiga, Domingo German, Luke Voit and Brett Gardner, Jordan Montgomery, plus others, for different periods of time.
Tommy John surgery, strained and pulled muscles, shoulder issues, knee maladies and lots of other ailments plagued the Yankees all season long during 2019. Prior to this season, the organization decided to make it all change and brought one of the best in the strength and conditioning department.
New strength and conditioning coach Eric Cressey was hired to help the Yankees get rid of the dreaded injury bug. Have the team found the antidote to that problem? It may be too early to tell, but the early returns are promising.
Last year, the Yankees set a Major League record with 30 players (39 stints) appearing on the injured list. That figures to change this time around.
The Yankees got a specialist
Cressey is very famous in the world of performance coaching. He has helped stars such as Corey Kluber, Noah Syndergaard and Max Scherzer while emphasizing kinesiology and biomechanics.
The Yankees new head of strength and conditioning is also famous for his Cressey Sports Performance training centers, located in Hudson, Mass., and Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Even pitching coach Matt Blake, the club’s new pitching coordinator, occupied the same position for Cressey Sports Performance.
Both men were brought in as reinforcements by the Yankees to modernize their methods and approaches towards training and pitching. And there is nothing wrong with using up-to-date methods.
So far, the only notable injury in summer camp was Tanaka’s mild concussion, and that one is fluky and impossible to prevent. Let’s hope the Yankees can enjoy better health going forward thanks to Cressey.