Meditation may seem tailor-made for a sport built on repetition and waiting, but baseball is still wrestling with how—and whether—to embrace it. In the Athletic, Andy McCullough and Rustin Dodd explore why pitchers like the Yankees' Gerrit Cole and Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal quietly swear by daily breath work, while others, like Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, flatly reject the idea. The science on meditation's benefits is promising, and MLB teams have expanded mental performance staffs, yet the practice still bumps up against clubhouse culture, ideas about masculinity, and a "that's too weird" stigma. "Anything that has sort of a woo-woo perspective to it, anything that feels a little bit soft, kind of gets degraded," Traci Statler, a mental performance coordinator in the Philadelphia Phillies system, tells the outlet.
The value in the practice is there, she says, but if she tells a player recuperating from surgery that meditation is in the works, "if he's not fairly open and aware, he's going to look at me like I've lost my mind." Coaches and psychologists say the hurdle is often the word "meditation" itself. A former Giants "breathing specialist" discovered players were more open to his suggestions once his title became "human performance coach," even though his methods didn't change. Others avoid the term entirely, instead asking players to sit quietly, feel their feet on the ground, or "stay present." Many athletes already do meditative routines— walks, music, detailed pregame rituals—but resist labeling them as such. Read the full story for a nuanced look at the issue.
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