Here’s an interesting bit from Hal McCoy’s Red Notes.
Reds pitchers wonder why the team’s videographer and psychologist sit in on meetings before each series when the opposing team’s hitters are discussed.
Said one pitcher, “The video guy tells us how to pitch to hitters and sometimes says, ‘We have to avoid this guy.’ We? I want to flip him a ball and say, ‘You go get out Jim Edmonds or Albert Pujols.’ The team shrink doesn’t say anything … just stands there and listens.”
Is the videographer a scout also? If he’s someone with baseball expertise his advice could be valuable, but it’s not clear from the note why he gets to comment. Is the psychologist reporting back to the manager on the state of the Reds pitcher’s minds? Or is he there to treat the staff for depression? Given that only the Rockies have a worse ERA in the NL, there are a few pitchers on the Reds who might need his help.
The sport psychologist could be there for a number of reasons. In general, teams employ them to work with players in performance-enhancing exercises (whether it be relaxation, imagery, goal setting, etc). However, it is also possible that a sport psychologist does end up working with a player who might be suffering from something like depression. In severe cases, the sport psychologist will hopefully refer the player to an expert on depression, though part of being a sport psychologist is both helping the player making the transition to another therapist, and continuing to work with the player on his performance issues while the player sees someone else about something like depression.