By David Nathan

There’s only one grade that seems appropriate to give Bobby Stachura ’13 for his performance as athletic trainer for the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team: AAA.

After all, the Boston Red Sox entrusted him with helping to improve the performance and maintain the health of the top four prospects in the team’s farm system. Stachura and the coaching staff of the Double-A team fulfilled their responsibilities so well that highly touted young players Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Roman Anthony, and Kyle Teel earned late-season promotions to AAA Worcester, one step away from the big leagues.

“It’s really satisfying to know that I helped develop those guys so they could be the best baseball players they can be,” Stachura says from Maine’s Hadlock Field, his baseball home for the last two seasons.

While he assisted the players on their way to the majors, they unknowingly helped Stachura on his own professional journey.

“The players at this level are so athletically gifted and so committed to the game that it challenges me to be the best at my job so I can support them,” says the 33-year-old, who has spent the last two seasons in Portland after first joining the Red Sox in 2017.

Athletic training today is much more than taping ankles, massaging sore muscles, or stretching tight hamstrings. Stachura has access to player data that can pinpoint movement inefficiencies, muscle weakness, and fatigue so he can build individualized programs to maximize performance and reduce the likelihood of injury.

Stachura credits Lasell for providing the foundation to succeed in a highly competitive field. The athletic training major played for the Lasell baseball team, thrived in small classes, and developed close relationships with several faculty, including Cris Haverty and Ron Laham. Through a progression of internships that concluded in his senior year working with the Boston College hockey team, Stachura chose to pursue a career training professional or NCAA Division I college athletes.

“I am privileged to be in this position and hope to join the players with the Red Sox at Fenway Park someday,” he says.

Image by Todd Dionne