Playoff eligibility
Playoff eligibility
The ExCo has voted unanimously to allow Yadier Molina to play in the playoffs for the Pirates, as his MRI has came back clean and we determined that he was just shut down for rest with the Cards being out of the race.
ExCo has decided by a 3-2 margin (JP doesn't vote) after a week of looking at it that Justin Upton is to be deactivated for the playoffs. He's registered 7 at bats all of September and seems unable to swing a bat. He appeared as a pinch runner for the Diamondbacks over the weekend but his labrum tear has sidelined him from swinging or appearing in the field.
It's obvious (to me anyway) that if the (real) Dbacks were heading to the post season, Justin would be playing!
by Bob McManaman - Oct. 3, 2010 05:39 PM - The Arizona Republic
LOS ANGELES - Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton hasn't swung a bat in a game since mid-September, and the plan is for him to gets some batting practice in the instructional league before he shuts it down for good this off-season.
That way, Upton will have a better feel, physically and mentally, about the strength and recovery of a left-shoulder injury he aggravated Aug. 30.
Upton has been used recently as a pinch-runner, but interim manager Kirk Gibson said the club didn't want to let him hit until everyone is convinced the injury is healed.
"I'm pretty confident with where I'm at right now," Upton said. "Hopefully I'll be able to get some swings in before shutting it down, because that's the best-case scenario. If it doesn't go that way, obviously we'll re-evaluate the situation and go from there.
"But I don't want to not pick up a bat and go home not knowing if I'm 100 percent."
Gibson agreed and also has issued a challenge to Upton.
"We've talked about it, and he understands he can't come back and be successful and play just 130 games," Gibson said. "He's too big of an asset, too important to this team. He's got to do some things different with the way he keeps himself ready to play."
by Bob McManaman - Oct. 3, 2010 05:39 PM - The Arizona Republic
LOS ANGELES - Diamondbacks right fielder Justin Upton hasn't swung a bat in a game since mid-September, and the plan is for him to gets some batting practice in the instructional league before he shuts it down for good this off-season.
That way, Upton will have a better feel, physically and mentally, about the strength and recovery of a left-shoulder injury he aggravated Aug. 30.
Upton has been used recently as a pinch-runner, but interim manager Kirk Gibson said the club didn't want to let him hit until everyone is convinced the injury is healed.
"I'm pretty confident with where I'm at right now," Upton said. "Hopefully I'll be able to get some swings in before shutting it down, because that's the best-case scenario. If it doesn't go that way, obviously we'll re-evaluate the situation and go from there.
"But I don't want to not pick up a bat and go home not knowing if I'm 100 percent."
Gibson agreed and also has issued a challenge to Upton.
"We've talked about it, and he understands he can't come back and be successful and play just 130 games," Gibson said. "He's too big of an asset, too important to this team. He's got to do some things different with the way he keeps himself ready to play."
