Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ramirez Moons Over His Hammy

Our infatuation with the World Baseball Classic has prevented us from posting on spring training with regularity, but needless to say it was not good news to read that Dodger slugger Manny Ramirez aggravated his hamstring injury in today's spring training game:

PHOENIX -- Manny Ramirez was removed from Sunday's Dodgers game in the fourth inning after aggravating an injury in the area of his left hamstring.

Ramirez, playing his first game of the spring in the outfield, said he felt tightness while running into the left-field corner trying to cut off a double by Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki in the top of the fourth inning. Ramirez was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the inning.

Earlier in the game, Ramirez grounded out in his only at-bat, running easily to first base. He also ran gingerly after a sinking fly ball by Joe Koshansky that fell at his feet. Ramirez said his leg felt fine on both of those plays.

On Thursday, Ramirez was scratched from the starting lineup when he felt his hamstring tighten during baserunning drills. Ramirez played in his first game Friday as designated hitter, walking twice with a single and a run scored.

He reported to training camp 2 1/2 weeks after the rest of the club, agreeing to a new $45 million, two-year contract 10 days ago.

"Age is catching up to me," said Ramirez, who turns 37 in May. "Maybe it's a bad investment. I just have to be patient, that's what I've got to do. Only God knows what's best for me. I have to just try to get healthy."

The Dodgers have not been lucky with spring training the last couple of years, with Jason Repko and Rafael Furcal getting tweaked before the season even began. Let's hope Ramirez' injury isn't serious.

The Dodgers lost to the Rockies with a Dolly Parton-esque 9-5 score, with Eric Milton and Claudio Vargas both getting rocked (4 and 3ER, respectively; each over a full 3 IP).

3 comments:

Jimbo said...

And he wanted four years!

Eric Karros said...

An aggravated hamstring worries me less than Manny himself saying "Maybe it's a bad investment" only 10 days after inking the deal.

Yikes.

John High said...

Not To worry. Manny is a very hard worker and will be just fine...
John