This is largely just some quotes, sorry, I just rolled out of bed.
I imagine that Valverde got a lot of ice and stem on his calf, and this probably shouldn't be more than two or three days. Of course, there's no mention of the severity of the strain, so this could be a much larger ordeal than they're letting onto. He also still has a bruise on his right heel from where Hudson's ball tagged him.
In last night's game recap, I mentioned that I didn't blame Coop for leaving Valverde in the game, but I thought he'd broken a bone at that point and was damned if he did or damned if he didn't. I don't know when the diagnosis of muscle strain came up, but if it was on the field, than this exchange becomes untenable:
Valverde, who blew a save Friday while pitching with mild back soreness a day after he couldn’t pitch because of the back problem, refused to come out even though trainer Rex Jones, manager Cecil Cooper and catcher Ivan Rodriguez suggested he exit.
At some point, Cecil Cooper is going to have to learn that player's are not the owner's of themselves on this team; that this franchise pays them millions (not in all instances) dollars to go out and perform. We saw this attitude of deference to your player last year when Roy took the mound in Washington and clearly wasn't OK. Like I said, I don't know if they determined it was a strain on the field or not, but allowing him to continue to pitch on that strain can only have made things worse. Coop was in a tough position, and I'm sure Valverde wanted to keep going because the dude is tough as nails, but this just sees like another instance when Coop took an unnecessary risk.
I guess that's to be expected:
"I’ll take a win almost at any cost. Almost," manager Cecil Cooper said.
At the end of the day, though, we have this to look forward to:
Valverde is optimistic that he’ll be fine Wednesday.
“I’ll be OK,” he said. “It’s sore when I throw. I didn’t try to pay attention to it too much.”
0 recs | 8 comments
Once again...
…another criticism of Coop…can we give this guy a break for once…We won the game…I kno hes not the greatest manager but not everyone is great their first time around…Look how terrible Joe Torre was, now look at him…Just cause the guy doesnt make the greatest baseball moves doesnt mean hes a bad manager…He knows the game, just let him him manage the way he wants to…Ithink were forgetting he didnt ask for this job, he was appointed to it so lets let him do it…sheesh give him a break
The Bourn Believer - April 22, 2009
Fair enough
I’m willing to excuse Coop for some his other hair-brained schemes, and I’ll even give Coop a break if they didn’t know it was a muscle strain on the field. I’d almost let it slide if this was the first instance that Coop displayed an unwillingness to make tough decisions regarding the health of his players. It’s not, and I don’t think this one gets to be filed under “Learning the Ropes.” That file is already full.
Stephen Higdon - April 22, 2009
agreed
i think we are all forgetting, that in grand scheme of things, a baseball manager doesn’t do all that much, in terms of winning and losing games. strategy, etc has little to nothing to do ultimately with how games are won and lost. i can understand concern over his leaving in an injured player, but beyond that we’re just spinning our wheels when it comes to complaining about Coop
Evan Hochschild - April 22, 2009
Cooper wanted the job
Minor correction: Cecil Cooper wanted to manage. He would have left the Astros if he had a chance to manage elsewhere before this opportunity came about.. He was very excited to become the interim manager and then the permanent manager. He (and Phil Garner when Garner was manager) actively promoted Cooper as manager material.
P.S. -Jose Cruz wants to manage too; and he would be a good one.
Joe in Birmingham - April 22, 2009
I assume the muscle strain came from the effort at throwing the ball...
to Berkman. But what about the impact of being hit by a line drive? It appeared to hit his shin or somewhere around there. JD figured that the bone would be swelling there. It almost sounded like the broadcasters could see the swelling, but I may be wrong, and I didn’t see it, even if they did. But my point is that they don’t seem to be saying anything about the impact of the line drive. Maybe it just turned out to be a minor bruise or something.
clack - April 22, 2009
JJO's article says he also had a bruised ankle...
I would assume the bruise was more likely causing his “hopping” around. If his pulled muscle was bad enough to cause that kind of reaction, it may be longer than a day for recovery.
clack - April 22, 2009
about leaving Valverde in the game...I have mixed feelings.
At the time, I felt like Valverde should probably be taken out, based on the way he was hopping around. On the other hand, these “moments of courage” which happen in a game would never be allowed to happen if managers were always prudent. (Heck, I don’t think Schilling pitching with the bloody sock was prudent.) The manager has to make a judgement call about the probable impact on the game outcome and the possibility of further injury to the player. The Astros won the game, and if Valverde is well on Wednesday, then Cooper’s judgement worked out. However, we would be saying something different if Valverde blew the save. And we would be really upset if leaving Valverde in the game caused longer term injury (say, because pitching with a bad leg caused him to hurt his arm).
My concern about Cooper’s judgement on these matters has less to do with this specific incident than just his overall tendency to err on the side of letting the pitcher pitch when there is an indication of injury.
clack - April 22, 2009
Your last point is really what I was trying to articulate
I still don’t think he should have been allowed to pitch with the muscle strain because you just make them much worse that way. The strain is different than just having the bruise or when he took a ball to the face because it’s something you can definitely make worse by pitching through it, whereas the other injuries are what they are.
Stephen Higdon - April 22, 2009
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