It was daunting but exciting when I got
hired for the role. There was no framework.
They gave me the keys to the facility, told
me to get started on building a program
and provided the list of players who would
be actively rehabbing. It was fun to manage
everything from acquiring equipment to
staffing personnel. I was mostly alone that
first year, which felt like five. It was a steep
learning curve.
Would you say your role is similar to a
physician’s, at least when it comes to diagnosis
and treatment?
OLSEN: I wouldn’t compare myself
to a physician, but trainers do need to be
competent in many aspects of care. We have
to make initial assessments and know when
players need to be referred to a specialist.
The luxury we have is we know these players
so well; we’re with them all the time, so our
assessment can probably be made a different
way versus someone seeing a patient for
the first time. We look for changes in the
players’ patterns – say when they start asking
questions about things they normally don’t.
That will give you a window into the player’s
physical being and whether a specialist
should get involved. So in the end, we fall
somewhere between a first-responder and
a physician, but we also have to be like a
therapist or a psychiatrist.What are some of the most frequent
conditions you treat?
OLSEN: With pitchers, you always
have concerns about shoulders, elbows and
sometimes rotator cuffs. Relievers don’t get
as much recovery time as starters; they have
to be ready essentially every day. We do what
we can to get their bodies ready to throw the
next game with treatments like acupuncture,dry-needling and exercise. With position
players, you’ll have shoulder and elbow
issues, but it’s more about core and trunk
muscles since they’re swinging the bat a lot.
Catchers get a lot of contusions, and you
also worry about concussions.
The surprising thing to most people is
that virtually every player is dealing with
something. It’s a marathon season, and
I don’t think people appreciate how few days
off the players receive during the course of a
162-game regular season. Anything you have
to do in your life every day is fatiguing. Now
imagine doing it against the greatest athletes
in the world of baseball, at full speed.Speaking of fatigue, how do you help players
get adequate rest with their demanding travel
schedule?
OLSEN: It’s nearly impossible to get
the type of optimal sleep to play this sport,
especially with overnight travel or when
games go really late due to rain delays or
extra innings. The wearables (like Fitbits)
track sleep, and some guys are interested
in that, but it’s hard. There is free will; we
don’t own them 24 hours a day. So we try
to educate them and promote proper habits.
We have sleep coaching available. We set
up places within the training room and
clubhouses where they can rest or take a nap.
Then it’s a matter of supplementation and
hydration. And if they’re not getting enough
sleep, we’re here to help get their bodies a
little more ready.When does your workday start and end for a
standard 7:15 home game?
OLSEN: I’ll arrive at noon, 12:30 at the
latest. The first wave of players who come in
are those who are rehabbing. Then we’ll see
players from the night before who might be
having some issues, so we’ll get a head start
on understanding their availability for the
game. Then the relievers come in, and then
some position players.
Last are the starting pitchers, who are on
the most regimented schedule. Their body
goes through a lot of trauma. Their body
has rotated countless times; their posture has
changed. The days between starts are aboutRisk management is as important as medical know-how for Olsen, who fastens
body armor to protect Miles Mikolas’ leg after he’d been bruised by a hot grounder.
28 CARDINALS MAGAZINE