The rush to get Ryan Zimmerman back in the lineup pays off tonight:
"I don't think he's coming back 100 percent ready to go. It might take him a while to get the bat going, but he's such a great player." (Jim Bowden, via Washington Post, 7/22/2008)
Why rush him, then?
Why rush him, then?
It rhymes with "Jim Bowden's ass is on the line"
Posted by: Brian | July 22, 2008 at 07:41 AM
Brian, yes, now I see it...
I've probably said it here at least five times before, but based on the team's track record this season, I fully expect Zim to be heading in for surgery in four weeks. Hate to be pessimistic about it, but this makes me really, really, nervous.
Posted by: The Nationals Enquirer | July 22, 2008 at 08:31 AM
I hate to defend JimBow on anything, trust me on that. But I don't think the 100 percent thing is physical, I think he was talking about batting stroke, timing, etc. Which makes it a fairly stupid statement because who does come back from almost two months off at 100 percent there?
I think they think he's 100 percent physically. He better be. Like the poster above, I fear surgery in four weeks.
If he is not 100 percent physically, there is zero need to do this. The team can finish last just fine without him.
Posted by: MikeHarris | July 22, 2008 at 09:32 AM
I think they think he's 100 percent physically.
Hope so, Mike. But I certainly don't trust their ability to judge whether he's 100% physically or not...
I'm *still* holding out hope for fourth place. Better to be an also-ran than to finish last...
Posted by: The Nationals Enquirer | July 22, 2008 at 09:55 AM
The terrible thing is that Bowden is doing this to save his backside from the slow steady march to our glory days with Rizzo as GM but, if he'd just stop, let Ryan have surgery everyone in the organisation would think more of him as a manager. We're aren't pushing for a pennant, better to have Zimm back %100 to undershoot his lofty expectations when we have a decent team for him to play in.
He is not a manager who does or can think long term. So he is wrong for this franchise. Very wrong.
Posted by: Ben | July 22, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Only Ryan Zimmerman can decide to have surgery on any part of Ryan Zimmerman.
And how will Zimmerman's return to the lineup save Bowden's or anybody else's job?
Posted by: L Streett | July 22, 2008 at 02:15 PM
Presumably the increasingly ludicrous looking assumption that he will be in any way productive, and that this will lead to us winning a few more games. Neither assumption has much basis in fact.
Posted by: Ben | July 22, 2008 at 03:48 PM