Ahh, so we finally have Troy Renck writing about Helton this morning. And in so doing, he shows that the Cooler is a "man in denial".....
Quote:
"If I bat somebody else in Helton's spot, who else gets intentionally walked twice (on Friday)? Maybe (Matt) Holliday. But he's having the best year of his career where he's hitting now," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Todd's been grinding for a few weeks. But he can jump and bite you, and I think he's getting ready to do that."
Helton said last week that his "eyes were sore" from watching his bad swings. While his lack of power has bothered him at different times this season, he's not being muscled by Hurdle. All the manager wants is for the first baseman to score runs and drive them in.
"Just getting back to squaring the ball up, that's the key," said Hurdle, who pointed out that a primary reason for not considering Brad Hawpe for the cleanup role is the fact he's no longer starting against left-handers. "The questions get asked about Todd. But I have to do what's best for the ballclub."
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So Hurdle's justifying keeping Helton at cleanup because he got two IBB's from Bobby Cox on Friday. As if that happens with most managers, most of the time. What, is Hurdle deluded??? Does Helton have 200 intentional walks this year? And what evidence do YOU have, Clint, that Helton is about to "jump and bite" anyone?
Umm, Earth to Clint. You don't sacrifice RUN PRODUCTION from your cleanup spot for the occasional brain cramp that Cox displayed in fearing that Helton is in his 2001 form. Our manager is so disingenuous, and intellctually dishonest, that it truly makes me sick.
EDIT: Oh, and to add to the insult to our collective intelligence, the Cooler is starting Helton and batting him cleanup against the lefty, Chuck James, today while siting Brad Hawpe. Apparently, Hurdle thinks only Hawpe is the platoon player, and he never saw the ISO charts that Jackass showed us the other day.