JUPITER, Fla. -- A little more than a year ago, Dr. Robert Butler left his position as a clinical scientist and assistant professor at Duke University to accept the task of reshaping how the Cardinals organize their medical and strength/conditioning operations.
By bringing all of these areas under one umbrella, the Cardinals envisioned the potential for a competitive advantage. In the same way sabermetrics once changed the landscape of player evaluation, the Cardinals saw the creation of a performance department as baseball's potential next frontier.
The goal?
"One of my favorite lines is the best ability is availability.