Major League Baseball dugouts will feature massage-therapy guns and other recovery devices intended to improve player health after the league entered a partnership with a company that plans to make San Diego Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. one of its faces.
The league's deal with Hyperice, whose products use percussion, compression, heat and ice therapy to aid in muscle recovery, will allow in-game treatment with the technology. Injury rates across baseball spiked in the pandemic-shortened season, and certified athletic trainers regard recovery devices as vital to players' health. The deal was announced on Friday.
"I think we can actually improve the game positively," Hyperice CEO Jim Huether said. "If athletes can recover faster, if they can play longer, if they can feel their best, you're going to see the highest-level performance."
Tatis, the company said, invested for a small stake and will be a featured athlete alongside Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tennis star Naomi Osaka and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. Other investors, according to the company, include Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis, Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Chris Paul, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, golfer Rickie Fowler and surfer Kelly Slater.