Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I'm No Trainer, But This Doesn't Make Sense To Me

The never-ending saga that is Ryan Braun's right ribcage muscle strain continues to not end, and not end, and not end, aaaaaand not end. That's 4 Braun ouchie updates today.

I'll try to summarize for you:

1. Braun tells Haudricourt before today's ST game with LA that he's not 100% but good enough to play.

2. Braun takes batting practice, and tells training staff that he's good.

3. Braun plays in game today, looks at 8 consecutive balls and walks twice.

4. The trainer talks to Braun after his second at bat, then wants him to be examined by the assistant trainer because he hadn't been examined by club personnel since returning from the WBC.

5. Braun leaves game with "right side stiffness."

6. Braun tells Haudricourt after the game that he's not 100% but good enough to play.

7. Fans freak out because the training staff evidently hadn't bothered to examine Braun even though they knew he got hurt at the WBC with an injury that also bothered him last year.

8. Haudricourt defends training staff by saying that they asked Braun how he was and he said he felt fine. Which makes you wonder why Braun told Haudricourt before the game that he wasn't 100% but apparently told a different story to the trainers.

Last year Gallardo pitched with a torn ACL. This year Braun tries to play through an injury during pretend games, even though that same injury dogged him last season.

Perhaps the club should re-evaluate how it treats its star players. I'd start with not believing them when they say that they're fine, and instead, um, I don't know, maybe examining them?

Just a thought. Maybe Paul, our Chuckie Hacks physical therapy consultant, can tell me if I'm way off base on this one.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Maybe Prince should stop sumo wrestling before he gets hurt...