White Sox closer Bobby Jenks claims his season-ending calf injury occurred while covering first base. His employers insist it happened during pregame stretching. If I were Jenks, I’d figure the answer for 2010 to be “no more stretching”, but in the meantime, the Chicago tub of goo fireballer considers himself to be “an easy scapegoat.” To which skipper Ozzie Guillen seems to suggest, why not make it less easy? From the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)
”The first time I told him he was overweight, I told him to his face,” Guillen said. ”When you have that size, you don’t perform, all of a sudden you have weight problems. He can’t deny that his weight is a concern. Come on, he’s a big man.
”I’m surprised he said we don’t talk to him. We love this kid to death. I want him to stay in the organization, we all do. But if Kenny has something in mind, that’s part of the game.”
”He’s not on an island,” Guillen added. ”He has his manager backing him up. But his manager will always be honest. Right now, that kid is going to carry that cross the rest of his career because of his size. Even when he’s in shape, he looks like he’s not in shape.
”He has been great for us. He has my number, [pitching coach Don] Cooper’s number, Kenny’s number. We’re not hiding from anyone. In the meanwhile, he has to take care of himself. Not for the White Sox, for his family. Bobby can have a broken arm and not be able to pitch anymore, and the first thing people will say is he’s out of shape. That’s life.”