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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Ready in the sense that he had a reserved flight Lately, his financial resources were good and he felt healthier than before, and he had a new plan: the 25-year-old pitcher in the & nbsp;Seattle Mariners"The system was hoping to recover after a few successful leagues in the majors." data-reactid = "17"> Ready in the sense that he had a booked flight and his suitcases packed. Lastly, his back was working well. In addition, he had a new plan: the 25-year-old Seattle Mariners pitcher was hoping to turn into a reliever after a successful couple in the recovery of the major leagues. Relays.
But Whalen was not ready to train in the spring, because every time his friends and family asked him if he was excited – excited about the start of the season, excited about putting his new plan into practice – it was a lie to say it.
"I could not look them in the eyes and felt like I was telling them what they wanted to hear," Whalen told Yahoo Sports. "I was trying to convince myself that I was excited."
That's how he found himself at the 11th hour, about to take flight, calling Jerry Dipoto to say to the Seattle general manager that he was retiring from baseball. Dipoto did not answer, so he called Andy McKay, Mariners Director of Player Development. McKay did not pick up either, but he answered by SMS.
"I just wanted to call and inform the organization that I had decided to retire and move on to a new chapter in my life," Whalen explained in a text. "This decision weighs heavily on me for some time but I know my heart is elsewhere," he thanked for his opportunity to play baseball and to "take care of a lot of my b.s.
"I would have liked to be in a better season of my life in Seattle," he concluded, which was true. But also, as Whalen later explained to Yahoo, "the situation with [the Mariners] The loss of love for the game was crucial … they really put the nail in the coffin for me. "
***
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Rob Whalen was drafted in the 12th round on high school in 2012 by the & nbsp;New York Mets. After several knee injuries and an exchange at & nbsp;Atlanta Braves, it all started slamming in 2016. He signed a 2.49 ERA in Double-A, launched well for a brief stint at Triple-A and was promoted to his major league debut at 22 – a moment that should have been the happiest. of his lives. "data-reactid =" 24 "> Rob Whalen was selected by the New York Mets at 12th High School in 2012. After multiple knee injuries and an exchange with the Atlanta Braves, it all started 2016. He signed a 2.49 silver medal in Double-A, played well for a brief stint at Triple-A and was promoted to his major league debut at age 22 – a time that should have been the happiest of his life.
"It was not what I thought I was," said Whalen. "I did not have that momentum of satisfaction. I thought, wow, I just reached my goal of always going to the big leagues, and all I could think of after that was how hard it would be to stay there. I was already panicking, so I could never enjoy it.
Growing up, Whalen had been described as an unsafe child, but he had always thought that he would come out growing up. Now, "all I did was under a microscope and the feeling that there were always people coming after your work and that you're just trying to say up there."
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Before the season 2017, & nbsp;Whalen was traded to the sailors. At the end of the season, he struggled to get up from bed and started the year with Triple-A with a feeling of loss of form and motivation. Talking to the coach about the team's mental skills helped a bit, but Whalen had to fight more than nervousness on the pitch. Anxiety – the nights before his cold sweaty debut, the staging of everything that could go wrong on the mound – began to consume him and the disaster spread beyond the baseball. "Data-reactid =" 27 "> Before the Whalen was traded to the Mariners during the 2017 season. Outside of the season, he struggled to get up from bed and started the year in Triple- A, feeling healthy and unmotivated.Anxiety – the nights before his debut, sweat-sweated, throwing anything that could go wrong on the mound – began to devour him and the disaster spread to beyond baseball.
He invited his girlfriend then to join him for a series in Las Vegas. "It was maybe four months away from the [Las Vegas] shoot, and that was all I could think of, "said Whalen. "There is this huge crowd, people who could create a problem at any time, and I say to myself," How can I get out of this? If something goes wrong, how can I get away from it? "
Rob Whalen made his way to the majors in 2018, but was returned to the miners after an appearance. (AP Photo)
At a Halloween party in the streets of Orlando, he could not help but think of how one of these masked revelers could commit a dangerous crime, and no one would ever know who he was. was. "That's what I felt all the time," said Whalen. "I've always found in my head a bad situation that I was trying to prepare myself for. I did not like what was happening. "
According to Whalen, McKay offered him a week off to take care of his anxiety, but after a few days, Whalen received an SMS explaining that he would be replaced on his list if he did not return immediately 'team.
"I did not have the whole week and I think it was the worst decision I made," said Whalen. "But [McKay] promised that the organization would help me during this time because I said, "I do not think I can do both, play and get the help I need." . " And he said, "We can absolutely help you while you play." We will be there for you every step of the way. "But that never happened. have never received a phone call, never had a conversation. "
Whalen did not record these SMS, Yahoo Sports could not confirm the exact exchange. In addition to Whalen's departure from the team, the Mariners provided a statement on their "Employee Assistance Program", which offers confidential assistance on "a wide variety of personal issues". The statement notes, however, that "many, if not most, staff and players would not want to disclose a problem to a Mariners employee. On the contrary, they would be more comfortable discussing sensitive issues with an outside professional. "
The Mariners refused to make anyone available for an interview.
A few weeks later, after experiencing several disappointing starts, Whalen gave Reno five points in five innings and something broke. After being removed from the match, he put away his locker, went back to the hotel and booked a return flight for the next morning.
Whalen and the sailors do not agree on exactly what happened next. In a statement provided to Yahoo Sports, the Mariners said that an employee was on the phone with Whalen for more than four hours to ensure his safety and that "the team worked to connect him to our [Employee Assistance Program] program. In addition, the team worked to find, recommend, and connect Rob with an external professional who specializes in his problems and has experience with professional athletes. "
Whalen says the conversation was much shorter than that, less than an hour, during which he told them, "I need help, I have to do it for myself, I am not well placed mentally, baseball is a secondary activity. for that. If I want to love this game again, I have to understand it. "
He was placed on the shortlist for the last two months of the 2017 season. During that time, he asked for and received contact information from a clinical advisor near his hometown in Florida, but he still felt largely abandoned. "Throughout the off season, I have never received SMS from a coach, never a call, a text message from a player," he said. "Nobody has ever contacted me."
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "With his therapist, Whalen decided not to take medication against anxiety, partly because he was worried about MLB restrictions on prescription drugs and the waiver application process after months of therapy and recovery With links to his church, Whalen felt better and he weighed 20 pounds less when he declared camp in 2018. That spring he started & nbsp;speaking in public& nbsp; on his fight against anxiety, as well as the Mariners. "data-reactid =" 63 "> With his therapist, Whalen decided not to take anti-anxiety medication, in part because he was worried about MLB's restrictions on prescription drugs. After months of therapy and reconnecting with his church, Whalen was feeling better and was 20 pounds lighter when he showed up at camp in 2018. In the spring, he began to talk publicly about his struggle against Anxiety, and the sailors too.
<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" I'm probably as proud of him as I'm part of of one of our players "," manager & nbsp;Scott Servais said in February 2018. "He stepped back and made some adjustments, not only physically, but mentally. It's nice to see his smile back on his face. "" Data-reactid = "64"> "I'm probably as proud of him as one of our players," said coach Scott Servais in February 2018. "stepped back and done some adjustments, not only physically, but mentally.It's nice to see the smile on his face. "
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "He made his way to the majors, and the 15th In June, the United States allowed a hit and no point in four rounds of recovery during a game against the Boston Red Sox.After the match, & nbsp;Servais told reporters"You have to let everybody know in our player development system. A player goes through what he's been going through last year, reaching the low points, what he's been living off the field, our organization has embraced him and really has him allowed to transform it. "" Data-reactid = "65"> He returned to the majors and, on June 15, he gave a hit and did not lead four times to relieve the Boston Red Sox. After the match, Servais told the press: In our player development system, a player goes through what he experienced last year, reaching the low points, what he experienced out of the field, our organization l wrapped in his arms and really allowed him to knock him over. "
It was his last appearance in the major leagues. Three days later, he was sent back to Triple-A.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "These public comments are still eating away Whalen because they certainly have n & # 39, had not felt as sailors wrapped their arms around him. It was as if baseball was not worried, and beyond that, as if he had compromised his career by asking for help. After leaving a car trip early to return to Tacoma to remedy his anxiety, he was demoted to Double-A for the remainder of the 2018 season. Maybe it's just baseball – he had spent three weeks on the DL earlier that season with an embarrassment in the shoulder and had posted a 5.16 ERA in 20 starts for Tacoma – but for Whalen, it seemed the Mariners were saying that he was not welcome the game. "data-reactid =" 67 "> These public comments still gnaw on Whalen, as he certainly did not felt as sailors wrapped their arms around him. It was as if baseball was not worried, and beyond that, as if he had compromised his career by asking for help. After leaving a car trip early to return to Tacoma to remedy his anxiety, he was demoted to Double-A for the remainder of the 2018 season. Maybe it's just baseball – he had spent three weeks on the DL earlier that season with an embarrassment in the shoulder and had posted a 5.16 ERA in 20 starts for Tacoma – but for Whalen, it seemed the Mariners were saying that he was not welcome the game.
"I just thought that I was very open and vulnerable with a lot of people in this organization these past two years and, in some ways, I had the impression that it had been used against me," said Whalen.
***
Whalen is better these days. He spent a few weeks with his former baseball coach in Pennsylvania, helping out at home and coaching youth baseball. He wants to regain his degree in the Orlando area. The MLB has set aside his scholarships when he left high school, but he will look for courses online that he can follow while keeping a job. After all, there are still bills to pay. And now that he's out of the competition, Whalen and his therapist are going to reopen the prescription drug debate.
But he is not ready to close the door to baseball forever, he always throws a ball while watching television. "Whether in one or two years, or maybe never, if I get it again," Whalen says, then he surprises himself. "I mean, obviously I love the game – but that desire to go to work and fix it and maybe come back up there someday … I really think that there has outstanding business on that side. "
Despite his frustrations, Whalen is anxious to say that what he experienced as a problem with the Mariners would probably have been true for most if not all organizations. "I'm not trying to create a drama or hit the teams, it's just the truth," Whalen said. "I did a lot of this work alone for the past two years, just trying to find peace off the field by myself."
Rob Whalen is not ready to close the door to baseball forever. (AP Photo)
<p class = "web-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Mike Majarma, former player of the Mariners system that was also open on & nbsp;his mental health struggles before retiring& nbsp; of Triple-A and who overlap with Whalen in the minors, agree. He did not have the same litany of grievances and insisted on the Mariners wickets, knowing that it was well-intentioned. But they were asked if they handled mental health problems well, it was unequivocal. "They do not do it," he said. "I do not think they knew how to handle this," noting that it was a problem affecting the entire industry. "Data-reactid =" 93 "> Mike Majarma, a former player in the Mariners system who was also open about his mental health problems before retiring from Triple-A and who rode with Whalen in the miners, agreed He did not have the same litany of grievances and insisted the Mariners' offices because he knew it was well-intentioned and he unequivocally managed the mental health problems "they do not do it", he said, "I do not think they knew how to do it," noting that it was a whole-of-the-art problem. sector.
And even if the Mariners had provided more practical help to access the treatment, there would have always been contempt for other players – such as when he heard a respected veteran talking about him in the locker room. and to call him a "psychopath" when he thought that Whalen was not there to hear him. "It's really where we are in sport; it's a global society problem. It is this stigma: "You are fragile; you are a head. "
Ultimately, there is no evidence that an organization cares enough about the well-being of its players – or even that it behaves like a benevolent organization in the interest of getting a significant return on its investment. Whalen's feelings of maltreatment are not enough to charge the sailors, either as an organization or individually. And yet, that's all that really matters here. If we take for granted that a certain segment of the professional baseball player population is struggling with serious mental health issues, it is helpful to listen to what one 's looking for. between them says that the remedy in place for these people is an alienating experience and that it is unacceptable to remain in the system. incompatible with health.
This societal stigma makes it difficult for anyone to speak up when they are fighting – especially in a hyper-masculine environment, especially in an area where your market value is related to your perceived health. And the best thing that baseball can do, as a cultural force and as a great employer of hundreds of young men who spend their adult years completely engulfed in the system, is to make sure that guys do not do not open about mental health problems t fall through the cracks.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "More from Yahoo Sports:"data-reactid =" 97 ">More from Yahoo Sports:
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