Congrats to Dr. Kremcheck and the Reds Medical Staff!

October 26, 2012

We would like to congratulate Dr. Kremchek and the Reds Medical Staff on winning the 2012 Dick Martin Award for the Major League Baseball team with the best medical staff!

For the complete story by Jeff Stotts, as featured on Rotowire.com, please click here.

The Dick Martin Award made its debut in 2003, bearing the name of Twins longtime Athletic Trainer Dick Martin. Martin seemed to be a miracle worker and kept the Twins pitching rotation moving with virtually none of the pitchers spending noticeable time of the disabled list.

The objective of the award is to showcase the athletic trainers, medical directors, therapists, and other personnel who contribute most to their team. The metrics for the award nominees include total injury cost, days lost, and averages over multiple seasons to provide the award to the definitively and objectively named “best medical staff.”

For the 2012 season, this prestigious award goes to the Cincinnati Reds medical staff. With Head Athletic Trainer Paul Lessard and Team Medical Director Dr. Timothy Kremchek at the helm, this staff has put up some impressive numbers at injury reduction, returning players ahead of schedule, and generally exceeded expectations. All this done in a year where contention increased the pressure.

While the roster was a blend of returning veterans and rookies, the Reds medical staff maintained the team’s health and balanced what each player needed to keep them in the rotation or get back in the game quickly when injuries did occur. The entire medical staff did a fantastic job of keeping players out long enough to heal fully, but not long enough to jeopardize the team’s contention.

This wasn’t a particularly easy season for the medical personnel. Between Ryan Madson requiring Tommy John surgery, Aroldis Chapman suffering “dead arm,” Scott Rolen’s back injury, Zack Cozart’s elbow problems, and even Joey Votto’s left meniscus tear. Excellent responses and proactive measures from the Reds medical staff are the only reasons the Reds were able to win 97 games this season and graduate to the playoffs.

Congratulations to Dr. Kremchek and his entire staff.