By David Robertson, Los Angeles Angels
In professional baseball – just like in championship football – you don’t win by accident. Winning takes alignment across every part of the organization. Two of the most critical roles in that process are the team manager and the strength and conditioning coach. One is responsible for the strategy and execution on the field. The other ensures that players are physically and mentally prepared to compete at the highest level, day in and day out. If those two aren’t in sync, there’s a problem. Teams that win consistently have a process, and that process includes close collaboration between these two roles.
Player Performance Starts with Unified Preparation. The best teams don’t just train hard; they train with purpose. The manager and strength coach need to be on the same page when it comes to how players prepare. If the manager wants to play fast, aggressive baseball, then the training program must build speed, quickness, and recovery. If he prefers a more endurance-heavy style, it must be reflected in how we design conditioning and manage workloads. That’s called alignment. It’s not random. It’s intentional.
Injury Mitigation Is a Team Responsibility. Availability is everything. A great player who’s hurt can’t help the team. The strength and conditioning coach and manager must communicate daily about the condition of each player. You can’t wait for something to break. You must spot the warning signs early – tightness, fatigue, compensation, etc. That only happens if both sides are plugged in and speaking the same language. Rest, rehab, and load management aren’t luxuries. They are necessities if teams want to play deep into October.
Build a Culture Where Everyone Is Bought In. Players feed off consistency and clarity. When the strength and conditioning coach and manager present a unified front, players buy in. That creates trust. That creates culture. When the culture is strong, players commit to the process and train harder, recover smarter, and compete with confidence because they know everyone is rowing in the same direction.
Example: The 2016 Chicago Cubs. In 2016, Joe Maddon and Tim Buss didn’t operate in silos. They ran a connected program. Strategy and performance worked together, and it paid off with a World Series title. That doesn’t happen without shared vision, data-driven planning, and full trust between leadership roles.
Bottom line. If you want to build a winning organization, the manager and the strength and conditioning coach must operate as one unit. No egos, no silos, just a shared commitment to doing things the right way, every single day.
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David Robertson, CSCS, RSCC, is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Los Angeles Angels AA affiliate, Rocket City Trash Pandas. He joined the Angels organization in 2023 after spending 14 years in the US Army. David also worked as a professional baseball umpire for five seasons. He received the Northwest League Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year award while working for High-A Hillsboro in the Arizona Diamondbacks system in 2022.