Chicago White Sox starter Michael Kopech suffered an injury before taking the mound in the game against the Kansas City Royals on Monday.
He actually hurt himself during warmup throws.
His manager, however, failed to protect him when all signs were there that he was having some physical issues.
He was removed from his start after facing four hitters, with a hamstring issue.
“Warm up discomfort wasn’t enough. Velocity way down wasn’t enough. TLR needed Kopech to face 4 guys w/o retiring one to understand what is going on. It’s ALWAYS something,” Marc Silverman, from the Waddle and Silvy Show, tweeted.
Warm up discomfort wasn’t enough.
Velocity way down wasn’t enough.
TLR needed Kopech to face 4 guys w/o retiring one to understand what is going on.
It’s ALWAYS something.— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) August 22, 2022
TLR, of course, is White Sox manager Tony La Russa.
La Russa Has Had His Fair Share Of Blunders
La Russa has been in the center of controversies more than he would probably like in the last couple of seasons, for several reasons.
Last year, he failed to protect Yermin Mercedes and publicly criticized him.
This year, he has forgotten baseball rules, given intentional walks to guys that he has at pitcher’s counts, and several other blunders.
The most recent one, however, is failing to communicate with his player and not removing him when his velocity was down and he was clearly playing hurt.
During a pre-game visit from La Russa, Kopech wanted to stay, but ended up throwing just 19 pitches (nine for strikes).
Nobody knows if he’ll be ready to make his next start on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but it’s baffling how his own manager failed to prioritize his health.
Kopech also deserves some blame, even though players often downplay their own injuries.
Ultimately, however, his skipper should be there to make those decisions.
Tony La Russa either doesn’t get it or he doesn’t care!