SAN DIEGO — Like many people, pitcher Robert Gsellman, a surprising and emerging force in the Mets’ bullpen, loves playing video games. His console of choice: Xbox One. The games in heavy rotation: FIFA, Call of Duty: WW II and, until recently, NBA 2K, which he ditched because he grew tired of losing to his friends.
But a problem with the way Gsellman, 24, was playing those video games undermined his pitching. In front of a screen, he hunched over, elbows on his knees. “I was sitting like that all the time,” he said.
This poor posture, Gsellman believed, developed after surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left (nonthrowing) shoulder before the 2017 season.