In this, the third article in a five-part series called “In the Heat," Scott Langdon writes about the challenges players face to overcome the oppressive Florida heat during the summer.

You can read the first two parts of the "In the Heat" series by clicking on these links.

Part 1 - Could the Jays' new Dunedin Stadium defy odds?

Part 2 - What do you get for $81 million?

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“If you’re thirsty, it’s too late.”

By Scott Langdon

Canadian Baseball Network

BRADENTON, FL – The Daytona Tortugas’ Morgan Loftstrom watched across the field as the Florida Firefrogs’ first baseman wilted, wobbled and fell over under the heat and humidity of Florida’s summer sun.

Playing up to eight hours a day, six or seven days a week in Florida’s heat is one of the first and continuing challenges for young Canadians and others entering professional baseball in the Rookie class Gulf Coast League and the class-A Advanced Florida State League.

Increasingly, teams are helping their players cope with the climate by focusing on hydration, diet and sleep. It’s all part of the growing influence of sport science in professional baseball.

“Day games can be difficult for some guys to get through because of the heat and humidity,” said Lofstrom, a catcher from Nelson, B.C., drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in 2013. “I talked to the Firefrogs’ first baseman the day after and he told me his problem was heat exhaustion.

“We receive a lot of information about the heat and the importance of staying hydrated on the field and away from it. The basic message is if you’re thirsty, it’s too late. It’s important to hydrate throughout the day and evening every day,” he added.

Toronto’s Eric Senior, an outfielder with the Washington Nationals’ team in the Gulf Coast League, says playing every day in Florida is “tough, especially when you first get here.”

“The humidity hits you. You can be dripping like you jumped in a swimming pool. You have to hydrate and learn to push through, do what you love and just play baseball,” said Senior, a graduate of the Toronto Mets and Midland College who was drafted by the Nationals in 2017. It was 36 degrees Celsius with high humidity at five o’clock following a typical afternoon rain shower in West Palm Beach at the time of the Senior interview.

“We hydrate with water and Gatorade and use Liquid IV,” he added.

Liquid IV is a hydration multiplier, a “non-GMO electrolyte drink mix that utilizes the breakthrough science of cellular transport technology to deliver hydration to the bloodstream faster and more efficiently than water alone,” says the product’s manufacturer on its web site.

Blue Jays’ outfield prospect Brock Lundquist, promoted from Lansing in the low-A Midwest League to Dunedin in early July, is hitting well at the higher level, but it has required one important adjustment.

“I was very excited to get called up,” he said. “The biggest adjustment was the weather. I’ve prepared better with hydration and finding a new routine. I think that has helped out a lot.”

Dr. Jason Berry, Head of Sport Science at IMG Academy, Bradenton, says heat is a stress on the human body and extended heat stress will have ramifications.

“Heat and dehydration have a massive impact on an athlete’s performance and can have a health impact as well. It can impact an athlete’s decision-making ability and reaction time, for example. Imagine the challenge when trying to hit a hundred-mile-an-hour fastball,” he said.

Will Townsley, Assistant Head, Physical Conditioning at IMG, says one of the keys for athletes performing in hot, humid conditions is to do the basic things well.

“Typically, games aren’t cancelled as a result of high temperature and humidity, so it becomes important to reduce exposure to problems by doing the basic things well on a consistent basis to reach optimal performance. By basic things, I mean hydration, diet and sleep,” he said.

Professional baseball is a “late adopter” of sport science, says Berry. But its influence has grown rapidly in recent years, according to Jeff Lantz, Senior Director, Communications, at the Minor League Baseball corporate office in St. Petersburg.

“The application of sport science has spread pretty much across the minor leagues in the last three to five years,” Lantz explained. “There is much more attention to the importance of hydration, diet, sleep and other factors.

“Long gone are the days when the clubhouse attendant would order pizza and hot dogs following a game or when the team’s bus driver would make late night stops for cheeseburgers and fries,” he added.

Sport science is a new area of competition among major league teams, including their minor league operations, says Ken Carson, a Canadian from Barrie, Ont. who is president of the Florida State League.

“Take nutrition as an example. Teams now stipulate what players eat. They all have nutritionists on staff. It has come a long way since the days when I was Head Trainer of the Blue Jays. In those days, we would deal with the heat in a place like Texas by having the players step into an ice bucket to cool off, cleats and all,” he said.

Carson cites the New York Yankees as one of the teams taking an “exceptional, professional approach” to sport science-related issues. Sydney Boehnlein is one example. She is a registered nutritionist hired by the Yankees early this year as the first Nutrition Co-ordinator for all New York’s minor league teams.

“There is a realization that nutrition is a vital part of the overall training protocol and that it plays a vital role in performance. My job is to educate our players, set menus and co-ordinate with catering suppliers across our minor league operations to ensure our players are following our nutrition guidelines,” Boehnlein said. “I visit all of our affiliates personally to make sure everything is working properly and to talk with individual players if necessary.”

She added that hydration is another factor the Yankees focus on.

“We do lot of education and training with our players, including a series of team talks about the importance of hydration and other subjects beginning in spring training and throughout the year. Water and different electrolyte products such as infused water is available to the players all the time,” she explained.

The Yankees also pay close attention to proper sleep.

“Sleep debt plays with muscle recovery. It can impact a player’s mood and energy and cause more potential for injury. We regularly monitor players’ sleep, review the data and present it to players if needed. Sleep monitoring devices are available to the players as well,” she said.

Mitch Robinson, a Surrey, B.C., native who was drafted by the Yankees from the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in June, is playing in the Gulf Coast League. He says a player’s schedule begins with a wake-up call at six o’clock, early work on the field at seven o’clock followed by a doubleheader beginning at 10 o’clock or a single game at noon. It adds up to seven or eight hours daily, six days a week playing in the Florida heat and humidity. Sundays are often a day off from the minor league grind. Robinson appreciates the Yankees’ approach.

“The heat and humidity in Florida is draining. Fatigue takes a toll. The Yankees provide us with all the tools to set us up for success. They want to take care of us, not just as players, but as people,” he said.

Bruce Yari, a first baseman for the Daytona Reds in the Florida State League and a teammate of Lofstrom, hails from Waterloo, Ont. He is another young Canadian who has had to learn to play in hot, humid conditions.

“In my first year of professional baseball, I played in the Arizona Summer League. One day the temperature was 49 degrees Celsius. I learned early that I have to stay on top of my hydration, not just during games, but importantly away from the ballpark as well,” said Yari, who was drafted by Cincinnati from the University of British Columbia in 2016.

“We’re fortunate that the Reds are investing in us as minor league players. We are trained about hydration, have a nutritionist who ensures we eat properly and who monitors our diet because one of the biggest concerns is weight loss. I also wear a sleep monitor bracelet every day to measure my sleep quality,” he explained.

Sport science, defined as the application of biophysical and social scientific methods to study sport behavior, is widely applied in sports such as professional basketball, football, soccer and the Olympic sports, but is a relatively new and growing part of professional baseball.

Attention to hydration, diet and sleep are important parts of the process, but only scratch the surface of what is possible and what is likely coming to baseball.

“Sport science is a process that provides a framework to support athletic performance using scientific methods and data,” explains IMG’s Berry. “It provides evidence to confirm a coach’s approach with a player or players or occasionally contradicts coaching decisions that are not supported by data. It creates a relationship between the sport scientist, coach and player to improve performance. It is evolving into a core function just like strength and conditioning.”

IMG’s Townsley adds: “Performance enhancing drugs were a way to get bigger, better, faster. That’s what sports science can help accomplish.”

Sport science, like the analytics that arose from the Money Ball era, is a new facet of competition in professional baseball. Florida is one place where its benefits are having an impact on professional players.

Next: The role of “soft skills” such as mental conditioning and leadership to help baseball players adapt to higher competition and to improve performance.