Medical Director for the Blue Wahoos Joins the Cincinnati Reds at Spring Training
February 22, 2017
Juliet DeCampos is the Medical Director for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos Double-A baseball club. She is a sports medicine physician and orthopaedic surgeon at the Andrews Institute, and has taken care of the Blue Wahoos for years.
For the past six years, DeCampos has assisted the Cincinnati Red’s medical staff as well. Right now, she is helping screen pitchers and catchers at Spring Training Camp in Goodyear, Arizona.
DeCampos stated that Cincinnati’s MLB team wanted an orthopedic surgeon to evaluate each pitchers’ shoulders, elbows, hands, and wrists. It is pitchers in particular who are prone to having problems with their upper extremity joints. This is primarily due to the amount of wear and tear taken with throwing so fast so much. According to DeCampos, it is easier to evaluate and correct at spring training than later during the season.
She believes the experience she is gaining by working with the Reds is invaluable. Her passion is connecting with the players and coaching staff, building connections that help her during the season when she is in the dugout with the Blue Wahoos.
“It is not just creating relationships with the players, but interaction with the organization’s coaches, clubhouse managers, and athletic trainers, that are so essential. The main thing I focus on is facilitating the players to be the best players that they can be,” DeCampos continued.
“There are certain players who request me to conduct their physicals now that I’ve gotten to know them as they’ve come up through the organization.”
DeCampos works with nationally renowned sports medicine doctor Timothy Kremchek, the Cincinnati Reds medical director, as well as several other physicians who work with the Reds’ minor league affiliates.
“Last year was the first year that Dr. Kremchek asked me to cover a Cincinnati Reds spring training game,” DeCampos recalled. “There’s a certain level of respect and deference that I have earned over the last seven years.
When the medical staff holds physicals before the players begin spring training, DeCampos is often asked to double-check or verify an analysis. It’s that level of trust and respects that makes her “feel like I’m part of the team.”
In addition to her role in sports medicine with Pensacola’s baseball team, DeCampos is part of the medical team at the Andrews Institute helping local high school athletes return to play. This includes annual pre-participation physicals provided at no cost to the student athletes through the Andrews Institute. DeCampos is the Team Physician at Pine Forest High, and she can often be found on the sidelines at major sporting events.
Her favorite part about sports medicine is developing relationships with the young athletes. She appreciates the big dreams that the kids display. “Their drive to participate is great,” DeCampos reflected. “I’m very encouraged when I see so many young athletes want to continue participating in sports.”
DeCampos views her participation in local high school sports as a way to encourage the student athetes to pursue their dreams. Many of them wouldn’t have access to sports medicine care otherwise, much less the world-class care found with the Cincinnati Reds affiliates.