Roundtable: Aramis Ramirez

Aramis Ramirez hasn’t looked that good and more importantly than that he’s looked like he’s playing in a great deal of pain. Is this something he just needs to play through or should the Cubs take a few weeks and put him on the DL to see if that gets him closer to 100%? Or is this just to be expected after missing 2 months? Wreckard: I can’t say I understand why they bothered bringing him back before the All-Star break. That said, they know more about it than I do. There’s always pain involved when recovering from an injury, even when things are going well, so I’ll give the Cubs training staff the benefit of the doubt here. berselius: This is jsut to be expected. They do need to rest him more than they have though - playing both games of that DH was probably not a good idea. I don’t think he’s really ‘back’ until August Women’s Fitness: I think this half-week off will be all he needs. He came back way too early, but I think everyone was freaking out and “needed” him. Aramis is used to playing in pain since his legs suck. I think he’ll be fine. Trajan: I’m not overly concerned with Ramirez yet. He hasn’t looked great, but i’d chalk it up more to rustiness and not playing in 50 games. He’s not going to be 100% at the rest of the year, but i’d rather have him at 80-85% then not have him play. He’s taking some good cuts, and let’s see what happens in the next two weeks after the all-star break. If he doesn’t start hitting more doubles and HR’s by then… I’d start making other plans for october than watching cubs games. DylanJ: If he is hurt he needs to hit the DL. Jake Fox can handle it over there. If this is just normal soreness then keep him here. It’s really on the Cubs medical staff and Aramis to decide. Suburban Kid: I don’t think we’ve seen enough to make that judgment. I would watch him closely the next 10 games or so and keep an eye on who’s available at the deadline in case it just doesn’t work out for Aramis. I do not feel comfortable with banking on Jake Fox or Jeff F. Baker full time for a contending team, however, if the medics think Aramis could come back healthier after a few weeks of rest in August for a September stretch run, then they might work out as a stop gap in this divisional race. johnny_abrego: Short of a bad 2nd game of the double header, has he really looked that bad? Maybe I’m crazy, but I liked what I saw for a guy shaking off so much rust. If I were the manager, I’d put him out there and let him get back into the swing of things. Aramis has never been a huge play with pain guy (which I have no issue with), so it’s not like he wouldn’t let the team know if he were hurting bad enough that the whole team was worse off with him in the lineup. Of his 24 ABs since coming off the DL, 14 of them have come against; Jair Jurrjens, Javy Vazquez, Rafael Soriano, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. This would be like Dirk Diggler trying to get back in the game starting in a scene with John Holmes, am I right? Mercurial Outfielder: I think he will and should play through it. It’s either play through it, or have season-ending surgery. 15, 30, 0r 60 days on the DL isn’t going to make it any better. He needs surgery. If he feels like he can go, let him go; if he feels like he can’t, give him the surgery, and get on with the season. Seems to me like Ramirez feels he can go. He hurts, but only on his follow-through. He can still hit the ball hard. He’s still the same hitter he was. So, if he wants to go, you run his ass out there, because he’s a better all-around player hurt than Fox or Fontenot are healthy. nittany cub: Aramis Ramirez hasn’t looked that good and more importantly than that he’s looked like he’s playing in a great deal of pain. Is this something he just needs to play through or should the Cubs take a few weeks and put him on the DL to see if that gets him closer to 100%? Or is this just to be expected after missing 2 months? I don’t think Piniella, or anyone on the coaching staff, would want to sideline Ramirez for even more games. The Cubs are horribly mediocre without him. However, Ramirez can’t solve everything; even if he were playing for all of the first half, the guy wouldn’t have been worth anything more than 2-2.5 wins. The anemic offense is predicated upon all the hitters performing badly. So, yeah, what is him being on the sideline for a couple more weeks that will supposedly make him feel better? If the latter is true and he is indeed playing in pain, definitely sit him back a couple games. MB21: I know I recently said I thought they’d put him back on the DL, but let’s face it, the Cubs know what they’re doing. Aramis Ramirez knows what he is doing. If Ramirez says he is fine then you play him. So far Ramirez has said he’s fine so he’s going to play. I’m not expecting him to hit for much power the rest of the year, but he is hitting and his presence helps. 4 or 5 years ago the Cubs training staff was considered to be awful, but over the last 2+ years this team has remained relatively healthy and they’ve had no problems that I’m aware of after someone came back from an injury. scarymonsters85: When a player comes off the DL it’s tough to assess his recovery. I don’t think they should DL him, but rather use him sparingly. But this is completely contingent on the Cubs getting rid of Patton and Miles. The Cubs can’t afford to carry a 22 man roster. If you’re not going to use a player on your roster (ala Patton and Miles) it should be for a good reason. A rehabbing Ramirez is a pretty damn good reason. shawndgoldman: No way should he go on the DL. There are a number of things that could be causing his slow return from the DL: a rush back to the lineup caused by the team’s hitting woes, the potential for his timing to be off, small sample size, and a few good outings from some great pitchers. Only put him on the DL if his injury demands it, not because he’s had a bad week since his return. cwolf: No doubt Aramis is playing in a lot of pain right now and I think that’s to be expected after an injury that severe. His swing and timing look better than I expected them to after eight weeks. The big question is whether he will be able to hit for power at any point this season and I have no idea if strengthening the shoulder by playing through it or going on the DL is the better solution. I hate to sit on the fence but I have to take a wait and see approach on this one (dying laughing). I think we’ll see in the first few games after the break if he’s healed well enough to keep playing or if he needs some DL time. I do know that Ramirez would go out there and play with one arm falling off so I hope him and the team are smart about it. I wouldn’t mind seeing Fox’s bat in the lineup and although it’s a matter of time before his defense hurts the Cubs, Aramis is going to be limited defensively for awhile also. thisyearcub: I think it’s to be expected. I figured this would happen, not saying he came back too soon, but it was almost the minimum time missed for an injury such as his. I think he’s a little tentative at the plate, and with good reason: he doesn’t want to create any further damage for an injury that he’s already said he’ll have surgery on in the offseason. I think once he hits his first home run, that fear will subside a little bit and he’ll get into a decent groove. It’s also about getting his timing back. Hitting off a tee and facing Single A pitching isn’t going to help too much, so I kind of treated last week and possibly the next week or so as continued rehab. Hopefully facing the Nationals’ pitching will help.