The New York Yankees
today announced that they
have restructured their
Player Health and Performance
staff, which will be
led by new Director of Player
Health and Performance Eric
Cressey. Also joining the organization
are Assistant
Director of Player Health
and Performance Donovan
Santas and Major League
Strength and Conditioning
Coach Brett McCabe. Assuming
new roles in 2020 are Director
of Sports Medicine &
Rehabilitation (ATC/PT) Michael
Schuk, Head Athletic
Trainer Tim Lentych, and
Director of Medical Services
Steve Donohue.
“After a long and thorough
review process, we’re proud
to welcome Eric Cressey to
the New York Yankees to
oversee our player health and
performance team. Eric is a
highly accomplished coach
in the fi tness world and has
a strong reputation in the
baseball industry in regards
to athlete training, performance,
and player care.
Among his responsibilities,
Eric will have a large hand in
staffi ng, assessments, facility
enhancements, equipment,
continuing education, and
technology. We’re excited to
have Eric join the Yankees to
best serve our players across
the organization,” said Yankees
Senior Vice President
and General Manager Brian
Cashman.
Cressey, 38, will oversee
the club’s Strength and Conditioning
program in his fi rst
year with the Yankees. Since
co-founding his company,
Cressey Sports Performance,
in 2007, he has worked with
athletes of all ages and levels,
from youth sports to professionals
and Olympians,
helping them reach the pinnacle
of performance in their
sports. However, his most extensive
work has been directing
the offseason training
regimens for more than 100
professional baseball players.
He will continue serving
as president of Cressey
Sports Performance, which
specializes its training programs
on kinesiology and
biomechanics and has facilities
in Hudson, Mass., and
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Cressey Sports Performance
previously employed newly
appointed Yankees Pitching
Coach Matt Blake as a pitching
coordinator.
In addition to authoring
more than 500 articles, he
has published fi ve books and
was a co-author for the International
Youth Conditioning
Association High School
Strength and Conditioning
Certifi cation. A Certifi ed
Strength and Conditioning
Specialist (CSCS) through
the National Strength and
Conditioning Association,
Cressey earned his Master’s
degree in kinesiology with a
concentration in exercise science
through the University
of Connecticut, the nation’s
top ranked kinesiology graduate
program. He completed
his undergraduate work at
the University of New England
with a double major in
exercise science and sports
and fi tness management.
Santas, 42, will join the
Yankees as the team’s Assistant
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,60 JANUARY 24-30, 2020 BTR
Director of Player Health
and Performance in 2020, becoming
the fi rst person to
hold the position for the club.
It will be his 20th season
working in professional baseball,
having spent each of the
last 17 with the Toronto Blue
Jays. He most recently served
as Toronto’s Head of Strength
and Conditioning, overseeing
all areas of the fi eld for the
organization. Santas earned
a Bachelor of Science degree
in exercise and sports science
from the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse and is
a National Strength and Conditioning
Association Registered
Strength and Conditioning
Coach with Distinction.
Additionally, he serves on
the Board of Directors for
the Professional Baseball
Strength Coaches Society.
McCabe, 40, will join the
Yankees this season as the
club’s Major League Strength
and Conditioning Coach. He
most recently spent six seasons
(2013-18) in the same role
with the San Diego Padres.
Prior to his time with the Padres,
he spent seven seasons
(2006-12) with the Arizona
Diamondbacks, where, as the
minor league strength and
conditioning coordinator,
he oversaw the strength and
conditioning programs for
each of the organization’s affi
liates. From 2003-05, he was
a strength and conditioning
coach in the Blue Jays system,
working at Double-A New Haven
in 2003 and Triple-A Syracuse
from 2004-05. McCabe
earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in movement science
at Grand Valley State University
(Mich.) in 2002, and is a
licensed massage therapist,
registered strength and conditioning
coach and Certifi ed
Strength and Conditioning
Specialist.
Schuk, 37, will begin
his fi rst season as Director
of Sports Medicine and
Rehabilitation in 2020 after
spending six seasons as
the team’s Physical Therapist
and Assistant Athletic
Trainer from 2014-19. Before
joining the Yankees, Schuk
worked on the THOR3 initiative
from 2012-14, a program
designated to aid the physical
and mental abilities of
Army Special Forces. Prior
to his work with the Army,
he served as an athletic
trainer in the Cleveland Indians’
minor league system
in 2006 and again in 2010.
He graduated from the University
of Central Florida in
2005 and earned a Doctor of
Physical Therapy degree at
Nova Southeastern University
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,
in 2010.
Lentych, 41, will serve as
the Yankees’ Head Athletic
Trainer in 2020, his 17th season
with the organization. He
spent the last four seasons
(2016-19) as the Yankees’ Assistant
Athletic Trainer after
serving as the club’s Minor
League Head Athletic
Trainer from 2012-15. He began
his Yankees career in
2004 as the trainer for shortseason
Single-A Staten Island
before holding the same role
for Single-A Charleston from
2005-07. From 2008-11, he was
the head trainer for Double-
A Trenton, earning Eastern
League “Athletic Trainer of
the Year” honors in 2009. Lentych
earned his Bachelor’s degree
in applied sciences and
technology with a concentration
in athletic training
from Ball State University in
2001 and worked as an athletic
training intern with the
Baltimore Orioles that year.
He earned a Master’s degree
from the University of Tennessee
in 2004.
Donohue, 63, will begin
his 42nd consecutive season
in the Yankees organization
and fi rst as the team’s Director
of Medical Services in
2020. He served as the team’s
Head Athletic Trainer for
the last eight seasons (2012-
19) after spending 26 years
(1986-2011) as the Yankees’
Assistant Athletic Trainer
under Gene Monahan, during
which time he shared MLB’s
“Athletic Training Staff of
the Year” honors in 1990 and
2010. In January 2020, he was
inducted into the New York
State Athletic Trainers Association
Hall of Fame and in
January 2018, he was named
the winner of the “Most Distinguished
Athletic Trainer
Award” by the National Athletic
Trainers Association.
He began his athletic training
career in 1979 at the Yankees’
Double-A West Haven affi liate
before being promoted to Double
A Nashville (1980-81) and
Triple-A Columbus (1982-85).
Donohue is a 1974 graduate
of Cardinal Spellman High
School in the Bronx and a 1979
graduate of the University of
Louisville. He is a member of
the National Athletic Trainers
Association and on the organization’s
public relations
committee, and is also a member
of the Eastern Athletic
Trainers Association.
The Yankees have also fi -
nalized their 2020 coaching
staff. The staff under Manager
Aaron Boone will include
Pitching Coach Matt
Blake, Bullpen Coach Mike
Harkey, Bench Coach Carlos
Mendoza, Third Base Coach
Phil Nevin, Assistant Hitting
Coach P.J. Pilittere, Quality
Control and Catching Coach
Tanner Swanson, Hitting
Coach Marcus Thames and
First Base Coach Reggie Willits.
Yankees Announce Player Health And
Performance Staff And Restructuring
Sports Performance which tant Director of PlayerHealth
r
d
S
S
h
t
R
t
t
p
T
jo
w
t
d
c
A
t
h
t
d
in
H
v
2
P
N
Call 718.260.2555
..to sell your car in our
CLASSIFIED SECTIONS
& get...Real Results!