How MLB Players Achieve Work-Life Balance

By Frankie Wallace
Updated: June 19, 2019

Professional baseball is a particularly demanding field of work. With everyone striving to be better than their competition, teams work day and night to perfect plays. This is especially true during the busy baseball season, where teams play a larger number of games than in any other sport as they battle to the finale to see which team will be named the top players.

However, baseball players are just like any other person. They require time to sleep, spend with their families, and mend their bodies from the strain of such a physical career.

MLB Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is one of the most important lines to walk as you seek fulfillment. Jobs can demand your time and energy to a point where you stop forgetting what you cared about before dedicating yourself fully to your position. Players in the MLB have thousands of fans cheering them on, counting on them to bring their teams to the finish line. Team members are also relying on them to pull your weight and follow through on plays.

This is a lot of pressure to put on a person, which can lead to disruptive behavior for someone who doesn’t know how to balance the pressure of a major league position. However, baseball coaches are often aware of this and make it a part of their job to ensure players get the relaxation they need to do their job well and maintain positive mental health despite all the pressure.

In order to baseball players to be in their best shape, their bodies and minds must be cared for, which is why they regularly receive therapeutic massages and counseling services. Furthermore, excessive stress could lead to workers’ compensation claims, meaning this care is also important for the longevity of baseball teams themselves.

Similarly, many major league baseball players have families who are depending on them. Their jobs pay well, and their families are depending on their livelihood, so they can begin to feel that they should put their jobs ahead of their families when they feel they aren’t performing at the level they’re expected to. If pro players feel they’re failing their team, they may begin neglecting their families during the season. Inevitably, they’ll feel disappointment spread throughout all areas of their lives.

This can become overwhelming for some players and cause them to skip baseball seasons in order to address symptoms of anxiety and depression. A few years ago Taylor Buchholz of the New York Mets did just that, skipping the 2012 season to address his mental health after it started affecting his personal relationships and how he was feeling on a daily basis. However, the Mets were gracious, handling the situation with care and giving him time to mend.

Mental health is one of the most important areas for a sports player to have under control. There is a certain level of composure that must be maintained, especially in baseball, which is almost as important as the players’ level of physical strength and well-being. For baseball players who don’t take care to maintain their mental health as part of their work-life balance, work addiction could become a problem. The pressure of baseball never goes away throughout the season, and not taking steps to control anxiety about it could result in serious work addiction symptoms.

Finding Balance During Baseball Season

Some baseball players worry about the relevance of the sport down the road. What used to be the American pastime has been getting lost in the short attention spans of modern society. All of the games that are played throughout the baseball season can be too much for some people to keep track of, which has caused a decrease in eyes on the sport. Between 2016 and 2017, only a quarter of millennials watched baseball, which is lower than the percentage of this generation’s interest in other sports.

With less viewership than they’ve had in the past, some baseball players worry about the popularity of their sport. However, players need to make a point of prioritizing their mental health throughout the baseball season. Even if they wish to ignore their mental health, as well as any personal problems that may arise throughout this time, they will be unable to do so without eventually affecting their performance on the field. The pressure is difficult enough, but when it’s mismanaged, it will eventually creep up on them and come out on the field.

However, before it gets to that point, it could manifest in a variety of ways:

Changes in appetite
Being unable to sleep
Nightmares about playing baseball
Feeling more anxious, depressed or uneasy than usual
Being highly reactive
Being told you’re never around by your family members
Getting sick more often than usual
Forgetting to drink plenty of water
Refusing to take a break

These symptoms can have serious effects on a player’s ability to play the game. However, there are ways to manage the stress of being an MLB player and find work-life balance. Even during the baseball season, it’s important for players to take a break every now and then. Stepping away sometimes can be better than continuing to work hard to achieve something, and it’s important for players to recognize when they won’t be able to achieve their goals without a break.

The following are a few other things baseball players keep in mind to keep their stress under control, and they apply to most people’s work lives as well:

Identify the problem
Understand the process
Get a hobby
Visualize success

Taking a moment to step back is one of the most important things a person can do. It provides perspective as well as a moment to think about the problem and figure out what’s wrong. MLB players are under a lot of stress in many areas of their lives, including from their team, fans, and family. However, by prioritizing their mental health and finding ways to cope with the pressure, they’re able to lead happy and successful lives doing what they love the most.