Report: Detroit Tigers make changes to medical staff

The Detroit Tigers are making some changes following an injured-riddled 2022

The Detroit Tigers had an ungodly amount of injuries during the 2022 season, causing them to use a whopping 17 different starting pitchers, which tied a major league record. This has seemingly caused the organization to make some changes to its medical staff.

First reported by Evan Petzold of the The Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Tigers will not renew the contract of senior director of medical services Kevin Rand, and head athletic trainer Doug Teter will transition to a role in Lakeland. Strength and conditioning coach Steve Chase will also not return.

All season, fans were calling for Teter’s head. They were blaming him for the all the injuries, as well as others on the training staff.

A.J. Hinch made some comments at the end of the season about the team’s training staff, saying he didn’t feel it was their fault, adding that he felt it was more about the organization’s process. From Petzold’s report:

“I don’t think the injuries can be associated with the strengths and weaknesses of our medical department or strength department,” Hinch said Oct. 7. “It was a really rough year, and those guys worked tirelessly. They were dealing with something every single day of the season.“So we’re going to look at our processes behind our coaching decisions. We’re going to look at our processes and see where we can get better, what we do well, what we do below average and try to address all of that.”

As of Sept. 18, Detroit Tigers players had missed a total of 1,358 games on the IL, which was fifth most in the league at the time. Many of these injuries will carry over into next season as well, with Casey Mize set to miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and Tarik Skubal set to miss at least a good chunk of the year. After seeing a number like that, the organization decided that something needed to be done, so these changes were made.

It’s not yet clear whether the team has hired a new head athletic trainer. Hopefully these changes will lead to fewer injuries for the Tigers in 2023 in beyond.