For those who are die-hard Major League Baseball fans, you’ll know how Oscar Mercado’s been lighting up the sports newswires and front pages for the last several months. The center fielder and shortstop, now playing for the Cleveland Indians, who chose to play in the minors over a scholarship from Florida State, recently got more credence for overhauling his swing.
With his roots in Tampa, Mercado’s been returning to his hometown, training with the sports medicine experts at B3 Medical at Saddlebrook Sports Performance clinic. We sat down with Dr. Tim Bain, founder of B3 Medical, to learn more about how their specialized programs are a choice training program for seasoned, elite athletes.
Q: Dr. Bain, is there a specific, tailored program for baseball players at B3 Medical?
A: “With every athlete we train, we first begin by looking at the individual. When dealing with a professional athlete, we also look at a neurological-based program, because we’re looking to train the nervous system. Everything is built from that, to train and retrain the nervous system to act and react faster, to do things more efficiently. Baseball is very much dependent on reaction times to be successful at, so we put an emphasis on that aspect of their training.”
Q: What about nutrition? How does that fit into training?
A: “We also look at the biochemistry of the athlete, to see if it’s performing how it should, or if we can do something to maximize the ability of the biochemistry to feed the nervous system, and vice-versa. Everything is connected – we then looking at how the connective tissue and the muscular-skeletal system works together as a unit, and also individually.”
Q: How else is B3 Medical’s Sports Medicine Program Different?
A: “Our program is holistic, multilevel, and integrates several aspects of medicine and science to create a custom training program to help an athlete become as efficient as possible in their sport. We’re looking at is, how do we create a form that will create a function? How is the athlete approaching their position, their thought process, is there are things that we can do through different types of psychological work to assist the athlete when thinking differently in order to improve performance? And is that the basis of the right system? And all of those aspects are looked at individually on the athlete through the lens of increasing and optimizing performance in the sport.”
About Oscar Mercado
Oscar was born in Cartagena, Columbia, on December 16th, 1994. With his brothers, twin sister Nathalia, and parents, he moved to Tampa at the age of 7. He attended Gaither High School, where he was the first player ever drafted from the high school at the high school level. When he was a senior, he made the life-changing decision to accept a career playing in the minor leagues over a scholarship from Florida State University.
In 2013, he was drafted by the Cardinals and was given a $1.5 million signing bonus. In 2017, he was selected to play in the World Baseball Classic to represent his native Colombia. Currently playing centerfield and shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, Oscar’s been working with the sports trainers at B3 Medical for several years to optimize performance and nutrition, minimize injuries and expedite recovery to become overall the best baseball player he can be.
Oscar Mercado Key Stats:
Positions: Centerfielder and Shortstop
H/W: 6’2”, 197 lbs.
Team: Cleveland Indians
Born: December 16, 1994 (Age: 24)
Draft: Drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft from Gaither HS (Tampa, FL).
B3 Medical is a leader in sports medicine, chiropractic care, interventional pain, and regenerative medicine. For more information about how to train your body for the sport of life, contact our medical professionals to schedule a consultation.
