The story of Andre Ethier goes on: According to the LA Times’ TJ Simers, Andre Ethier has been playing hurt all season..
Quotes:
Ask Ethier if he should still be playing on a right knee that will require off-season surgery, and he says, "If you’re expecting me to do what I’ve done in the past, no, there’s no possible way I can do that right now. You can say tough it out and give it your best shot, but it’s not going to happen.
“It’s only going to get worse from this point. I’ve dealt with it all season long, but as the season goes on my body wears down. That’s just the way it is — I keep getting put in the lineup, so what am I supposed to do?”
…why not make a change in right, shut down Ethier and wheel him into the operating room?
“A million-dollar question,” Ethier says before catching himself. “But I think there is a value in finishing anything you start.”
“What am I supposed to be concerned about?” General Manager Ned Collett says. “That he has those numbers [since the All-Star break], that he’s hurt or contends he’s hurt?”
Ask Colletti if Ethier’s poor performance works to the Dodgers’ advantage, and he says, “Maybe a touch,” before going on to say, “Ethier’s consistency is far greater than six weeks.”
So hasn’t Ethier made himself clear?
“Other than going into the training room every day and saying my knee hurts,” Ethier says, "and having six-inch needles stuck into it to make it feel better, I’ve told them my mechanics are messed up because of my knee. They know.
“But they’ve told me, ‘Grin and bear it.’”
Mattingly, the Dodger manager held a press conference before the game to say that in no way has he ever played a player that has said that he is hurt. Mattingly said that when he takes Ethier out of the line up, Ethier argues his way back into the lineup. And that there is no effort to save any money by making Ethier play while he’s hurt.
So who knows. TJ Simers is not at all above misrepresenting what people say. He’s done it before and he’ll do it again. Which is why I don’t normally read him, it’s usually just some bullshit that’s mostly in his head. Naturally if Ethier is hurt, then his reduced production has some reasonable explanation. But it’s up to him to not say one thing to the press and something else entirely to his manager. This is one of the reasons I don’t like him as a player (not his stats), he does shit like this because he thinks he’s entitled to .
