Give me your thoughts on a few baseball items...

[CadaverDawg]

Cohen is really starting to concern me with these weak lineups. Many on here have talked about how important winning these midweek games is for RPI and # of wins. We don't need to drop games to any of the upcoming midweek opponents, and we have some pretty tough ones coming up.

If Cohen continues to keep Rea, Porter, and Slauter on the pine midweek, I feel like it will eventually cost us. Porter is a damn DH, why would you not let him hit tonight? What about Rea, why couldn't he DH since he hasn't gotten as many swings due to injury this year? I found that odd.

I understand wanting to build depth, and gain experience, but sprinkle a guy or two in every now and then. Don't leave 3 of our top 5-6 hitters on the bench in the Same game...that's asking for a loss. Why not build a 10-0 lead with your best hitters, and THEN substitute? Batting Pirtle 5th? Maybe I'm a little hard on Pirtle, but even if he plays he should never bat 5th.

I know this was just Alcorn, and nobody anticipated trouble, so I'm just curious to get others' thoughts on it. If it was still the first 10-12 games I wouldn't be bringing it up, but this was game #24. When I played, continuity was a big part of winning, and our guys have no knowledge if or where they will be in the lineup game to game. I'm probably reading too much into it, I just wish there wasn't quite so much drastic change from game to game now that SEC play has begun.

Thoughts?

 

[ronpolk]

I agree. There are many things that I like about Cohen but the constant shifting lineup is awful. That is one thing I liked about Polk, once he settled on a lineup he stuck with it.

 

[MSUDC11]

NT

 

[MSUDC11]

Obviously we played poorly, but there were some positives.

1) We overcame a 5 run deficit
2) Holder and Girodo pitched well after struggling recently
3) Ammirati had a good hitting night
4) We didn't lose and our RPI won't plummet because of it

I can see us not being motivated for a 4-17 SWAC school, but that doesn't mean it's ok. Need to play much better at UK and somehow come away with 2 wins.

 

[JacksonDevilDog]

I know that he was 3-4, but we are not the same team with Amaratti behind the plate. It seems like our pitchers aren't as confident and we seem to struggle more. I know that Slauter calls the game, but I'm not sure if the coaches call it with Amaratti plays.

 

[57stratdawg]

We need to pull our head out if our *** once and for all..

Stop making errors
Stop walking people
Stop the wild pitches
Stop leaving runners on 3rd with less than two outs

 

[skb124]

I want Amaratti playing every midweek game. There is no reason to put the strain on Slauter every game like we did last year. I would much rather him be as fresh as possible for weekends. I wouldn't mind throwing him at first in midweek games though. Generally catchers can play first base pretty well, also.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I understand rotating your catchers, but not the other moves, even Robson for Henderson. Makes no sense to me.

 

[Steakonastick]

I have zero problem with ammo catching mid week if we let slaughter catch all 3 weekend games. If we wana rest him on Saturday let him catch the midweek.

I also want him to catch woodruff next time. Maybe that can get him going.

 

[CadaverDawg]

I understand rotating your catchers, but not the other moves, even Robson for Henderson. Makes no sense to me.

Agree. I can live with Ammarati, but having no Rea, Porter or Henderson is just dumb.

And the "matchup" fetish that Cohen and Butch have is over the top. I agree that matchups are important in some situations, but before too long Cohen will pinch hit Pirtle for Renfroe with bases loaded in a tight game, just because the opponent brought in a righty and Cohen wants to "out-maneuver" their coach. At some point you have to realize that pinch hitting a .175 Pirtle for say a .375 Norris doesn't make sense regardless of which side of the plate they stand on.

Just ready for the tinkering to taper off now that we're 24 games in....it's time for big boy baseball, so our best players need to sac up and play every game. This isn't a MLB schedule, and these aren't old men.

 

[Todd4State]

My thoughts

1. It was Alcorn. We should be able to beat them with out back-ups having an off night. That's about what happened tonight. Frazier got robbed of a home run by the douchebag umpire- who knows how much of a difference that would have made?

2. Catcher- We HAVE to catch Slauter more. I understand resting him. I get that- I know how physical catcher is and we caught him too much last year. BUT I think we are actually resting him TOO much. We are essentially platooning Slauter and Ammirati. It should be Slauter catching 2/3 of the time and Ammiratti catching once. Amiratti is very average, and he does not handle a pitching staff all that well- and I think it's 17ing us over with Woodruff when we keep trotting him the two of them out there together. Woodruff NEEDS Slauter, and I don't know why Butch and Cohen don't get that. They have pulled Ammirati out of a game TWICE in the middle of an inning during his career because he keeps 17ing up. What I would do is use Slauter for Lindgren because he is young, Slauter for Mitchell because he has the concentration of a gnat looking at a light bulb, and use Ammirati on Sunday with Graveman because Graveman is a veteran and know what the 17 he is doing. I would use Slauter on midweek because he will always have a day off on Monday and then two days off after the game. Oh yeah, and because Woodruff would be pitching maybe.

Woodruff with a tired Slauter > than a well-rested Slauter and no Woodruff and starting Evan Mitchell.

3. Rea being out tonight I can understand. He just got back last weekend, and I don't think he is quite 100%. From here on, as long as he stays healthy, he will start. Him being out tonight hurt us, but again, it was Alcorn. If we need Rea to start against Alcorn, we should be happy with making a regional.

4. Cohen likes Pirtle. IF Pirtle hits- and he has shown that he is a better defender and has more power than Sam Frost, he is the best option over Sam Frost. If he doesn't hit, we need to start Frost. Pirtle has been playing pretty well lately, so we will use him until he cools off. I actually wish he would scrap switch hitting and just focus on one side because I think that would help him.

5. Norris is our best option at third base all-around. It would help if he knocked a few out of the park- maybe he will hit one out against UK and it will get him going. Cohen is not going to tolerate a guy making a ton of errors- and that's why he sat down for awhile. I wished we had gone after Kaleb Barlow, but we didn't. I think we will see Norris play and start most of the year going forward.

6. Frazier- can't argue much with Cohen on this one.

7. Renfroe- can't argue much here either.

8. CT- seems like he has broken out of his slump. Another good everyday player.

9. We sat Demarcus simply to give Robson some playing time and because Demarcus has been struggling. Right now, Demarcus is the better overall player than Robson, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Robson turn it on at the end of the SEC season. We'll see. Robson had a good game tonight as well- 3 walks and an RBI.

10. I think Detz should be the DH unless he just goes real cold. As Will James says, he is an on base machine, and to be honest- at this point he has shown about as much power as Trey Porter. So, unless Trey starts getting some big flys, I can't see how we justify starting Porter over Detz UNLESS it's a team that Porter hits well- like LSU OR a small ballpark- like UK. Why we started Derrick Armstrong? WTF knows? If it were me, it would have been either Rea, Slauter, or Porter. The only thing I can think of is maybe Cohen wants to see if he starts to hit and maybe he could be another option in left field?

 

[Todd4State]

Polk was the opposite extreme

I agree. There are many things that I like about Cohen but the constant shifting lineup is awful. That is one thing I liked about Polk, once he settled on a lineup he stuck with it.

We kept trotting Rutledge out there even though he kept making errors and kept striking out just as one example. We didn't bench Bunky Kateon until he literally cost us a series against Auburn single handedly. At least Cohen will TRY something different if it isn't working. Polk did it to the point where players got complacent.

 

[engie]

Agreed with everything Todd just said and to add...

1. As a former collegiate catcher -- that caught all 18 innings on conference doubleheaders my freshman year in JUCO(actually caught all but maybe 2-3 games on the entire season) -- Slauter is fine -- and he doesn't need a "break" twice a week. Yes, 18 innings is extreme and excessive -- and I found myself losing mental sharpness after inning 13 or 14 -- but the physical side was fine.

Maybe in game 4 or 5 of the SEC tournament we can revisit this -- or game 3 of a 4-game weekend. But not with a typical 3-game set and a midweek. 9 innings 3 days in a row with our pitching staff is f'n easy. Maybe we talk about it again in June when the temps are in the high 90s...

2. I don't like us catching Ammirati. At all. But this is a dead horse. What I don't understand is -- if we were going to platoon catchers, why not get Daniel Garner some experience? He's as good as the other two right now as a hitter, with more power -- and he's heir apparent as starter next year coming off a redshirt with zero experience. That's a bad recipe if you ask me. So, if we are "sacrificing" by not starting Slauter, I think Garner should be getting those reps -- and should have been all along.

3. Derrick Armstrong HAD to just play himself out of any more offensive reps. 2 backwards K's with the bases loaded and two outs? He left a small village on the base paths tonight with the bat on his shoulder. Inexcusable. Go down swinging, and I wouldn't be complaining...

4. I like the continued use of Pirtle. His bat is heating up and his glove is a known commodity. Over his last 3 games, he's:
5-9 3runs 3RBI 3BB 1K 1HR... Did he get another one robbed or am I thinking about someone different?

5. Put Norris at 3rd and make him royally, royally mess up before you pull him again. He's our best option there overall -- and he would hit for power if we'd leave him in long enough to let him find a rhythm.

 

[chefdawg]

Could be worse! The mighty UK wildcats lost to WKU tonight-not that the rational sports world is in play here

 

[Lettucexxxx]

+1

 

[bulldogcountry1]

I didn't like the lineup when I first saw it, but I understood. It's Alcorn. What I didn't understand was PHing Slauter against a RH pitcher with Porter on the bench. You know...match-ups and all.

I also don't understand why Ammo wants to talk to the pitchers so much. Every other pitch, he's trotting to the mound for a pep talk. They've had to re-sod it, for goodness sake!

I was really rooting for Norris to do well. There were a couple of "hits" in his area that he didn't come up with, but he did okay defensively. He just doesn't seem to have much range and the quickness required for a 3B, but he's the best option. I don't really like his swing, though. It's really short, and it looks like he doesn't follow through enough. For a guy his size, you would expect more of a power swing, especially early in the count. He did come though with an RBI double.

 

[patdog]

#2 - Slaughter needs to take a game off only once every other midweek game. So more like 7 games for Slaughter to 1 for Ammareti. That's still only 7 games behind the plate in 14 days for Slaughter, or barely more than half the games he would catch if he were playing minor league ball right now.

 

[dickiedawg]

We have got to quit booting the ball around. Putting up way too many "crooked numbers" in the E column.

 

[ronpolk]

We kept trotting Rutledge out there even though he kept making errors and kept striking out just as one example. We didn't bench Bunky Kateon until he literally cost us a series against Auburn single handedly. At least Cohen will TRY something different if it isn't working. Polk did it to the point where players got complacent.

True.

 

[Philly Dawg]

I don't understand the argument that "it's Alcorn." I think you make every effort not to change your mindset depending on who you play. I understand different lineups against righties and lefties, and giving your catcher occassional rest. But this is not the major leagues, where they play almost every day and every player needs an occasional rest. Every non-conference game is equally important.

To me, its simple: resolve all position battles based upon hitting. I believe that if we settle on a lineup and stick with it so that people know their roles, many of the fielding issues will resolve themselves.

 

[drt7891]

Frazier got robbed of a home run by the douchebag umpire- who knows how much of a difference that would have made?

Actually, Frazier was batted around, so it's arguable it wouldn't have made a difference at all. My concern is how many times we left runners in scoring position last night.

On a side note, I only saw a brief replay, but I will argue the umpire had a pretty terrible angle to see where the ball hit the wall and the awkward bounce it took only made it more confusing. If this were the MLB, that call probably would have been overturned via replay, but college umpires don't have that luxury. I would not be surprised if he was the only umpire to even see it, so the other 2 were of no help anyway.

I will say how the second base umpire did not see that Adam lost the ball on the transfer is beyond me. That was a pretty obvious call.

 

[birdawg]

Agree with everything

 

[patdog]

Again, catching 4 games per week is NOT a strain. It's barely more than half the innings pro (both major leagues and minor leagues) catchers work. As it is now, when we take the field Friday Slaughter will have caught a total of 2 games in the last 9 days. I think it's safe to say he's being rested plenty.

 

[maroonmania]

We kept trotting Rutledge out there even though he kept making errors and kept striking out just as one example. We didn't bench Bunky Kateon until he literally cost us a series against Auburn single handedly. At least Cohen will TRY something different if it isn't working. Polk did it to the point where players got complacent.

Also, Polk would essentially let a pitcher die on the mound before he would pull him for a reliever.

 

[Todd4State]

I don't understand the argument that "it's Alcorn." I think you make every effort not to change your mindset depending on who you play. I understand different lineups against righties and lefties, and giving your catcher occassional rest. But this is not the major leagues, where they play almost every day and every player needs an occasional rest. Every non-conference game is equally important.

To me, its simple: resolve all position battles based upon hitting. I believe that if we settle on a lineup and stick with it so that people know their roles, many of the fielding issues will resolve themselves.

I'll try to explain it. Alcorn's RPI is so low the point is simply not to lose. Beating them 7-6 is the same as beating them 30-0 and throwing a perfect game. Alcorn is a bad team- they probably wouldn't win the Mississippi JUCO league, and I doubt they could beat Belhaven. What's more productive? Playing all of our starters and beating the ever living crap out of them knowing that we have at least 30 games left and the score of the Alcorn game won't make a difference in whether we host or not, or playing back ups and getting them quality at bats for some point in time when we really need them and using this game as an opportunity to try to get our potential ace where we can actually use him in a SEC game?

Our players know their roles- what if an injury occurs? We need to know who can do what and who can't do what. It's actually mostly the pitchers making the errors more than anyone else anyway. The only two players playing anywhere totally out of position ever are Frost at third base and maybe Detz the one time we played him at third.

These players do need rest from time to time- sometimes they go in slumps. Sometimes a day off will help with that. Sometimes they get banged up- like Rea, Renfroe who broke a finger, CT, etc. Look at Slauter last year. He could barely swing a bat at the end- that should tell you all you need to know. Saying that these players don't need a day off is about like saying our starting lineup in football should stay on the field the whole game regardless.

.

 

[CEO2044]

Agreed with everything Todd just said and to add...

1. As a former collegiate catcher -- that caught all 18 innings on conference doubleheaders my freshman year in JUCO(actually caught all but maybe 2-3 games on the entire season) -- Slauter is fine -- and he doesn't need a "break" twice a week. Yes, 18 innings is extreme and excessive -- and I found myself losing mental sharpness after inning 13 or 14 -- but the physical side was fine.

Here's where I may not agree

Yes, he had surgery last year and should be fine. However, it doesn't mean his knees are 100%. Generally people are weaker in an area where they've had an injury, and always will be. They said it was a minor surgery, but it's something I'd still be cautious on with a catcher.

While YOU may have been okay- his body may not respond like yours. And following his surgery, if it were me, I'd just make sure he got some breaks. Especially early season, and for a position that requires you to squat the entire game.

 

[skb124]

First off he is not a pro. I don't think he should ever sit a conference game. But there is a reason that generally through history catchers have not been great hitters. Catching absolutely is a strain. Every game. No he is not catching every day like pros, but there is also a reason that some teams in the pros now have their catchers play 1b sometimes instead of catching every game. We need to try to keep him as fresh as possible, and for me that means letting Ammo handle mid-week games only.

 

[engie]

Here's where I may not agree

Yes, he had surgery last year and should be fine. However, it doesn't mean his knees are 100%. Generally people are weaker in an area where they've had an injury, and always will be. They said it was a minor surgery, but it's something I'd still be cautious on with a catcher.

While YOU may have been okay- his body may not respond like yours. And following his surgery, if it were me, I'd just make sure he got some breaks. Especially early season, and for a position that requires you to squat the entire game.

If his knees are hurting him -- then fine. Rest him. I could even understand not telling us about it to not have any adverse effect on his draft stock. I've never really seen any indication of that on the field and that's generally easy for me to spot coming from the position. Squatting is nothing. Catchers are comfortable in the position. It's the runners on base adjustment that gets tiring quickly and is tough on a guy, but we have the #13 WHIP in the country(of 296) -- so we aren't allowing many baserunners(hence why I said it would be easier to catch "our" team)...

Play Garner not Ammirati though. I really don't like the proposition of the tremendous pitching class having to spend their entire junior season breaking in a brand new catcher with zero game experience...albeit a catcher with an infinitely higher ceiling than the two that we're playing right now...

 

[patdog]

He could just as easily be in the minor leagues as in college right now. Just think for a second what your position is here. You think it's perfectly fine for him to catch 3 days in a row every weekend, but you think he has to have 4 days off during the midweek. That makes no sense at all. If it's such a strain, he should take the Saturday game off and catch in the midweek. No doubt catching every day for a period of time takes its toll, but 4 days a week is nothing.

 

[CEO2044]

You may feel comfortable, but it doesn't mean it's good for your knees by any means. You're just used to it. I could stand up all day with a leg stretched out, and I might become comfortable doing it.... doesn't mean it's good to do that.

I'm not really as worried about him mentally as physically. If that were the case, I'd agree with you- play him that much. I'm worried about him holding up physically. We're not taxing him right now IMO- which is good. I'd rather keep it that way so we don't risk anything. I don't even want to get to the point of his knees hurting him- because at that point we've definitely put too much stress on them.

I'd doubt they'd tell "us" much about it- they didn't last year, even though it was kind of obvious. There were a lot of people, on this board and others, saying it was "fine" to play him that much and argued that he wasn't hurt. And then lo and behold, he had to have knee surgery at the end of the year. I remember an interview of him arguing that he was feeling "great" following the tournament and he didn't feel tired at all. Even if he really did feel that way (and I doubt it).... it's something to note that a player isn't always going to tell you the truth.

Long, but my main point is... I see rest being beneficial for him, especially now. And I agree on getting another catcher experience. I'm dumbfounded why we didn't do so last year with Ammo, and we certainly need to get a guy like Garner going now.

 

[Will James]

Play Garner not Ammirati though.

I'd rather keep Garner redshirted. Especially halfway through the season already.

 

[CEO2044]

He could just as easily be in the minor leagues as in college right now. Just think for a second what your position is here. You think it's perfectly fine for him to catch 3 days in a row every weekend, but you think he has to have 4 days off during the midweek. That makes no sense at all. If it's such a strain, he should take the Saturday game off and catch in the midweek. No doubt catching every day for a period of time takes its toll, but 4 days a week is nothing.

"Nothing" on regular knees. Not some that have had part of the meniscus taken out, or sewed up.

If he has a career in the minors (I think he does), it's an even better reason to give him more rest- which has been a point of mine.

Look, there's obviously a reason we went from playing him every day to giving him so much rest. I don't think it's just "Cohen's screwy". We need that guy in the postseason, period; we don't need to risk wrecking him beforehand.

 

[skb124]

Are you serious? It makes no sense to let him recuperate for 4 days before letting him go at it 3 days in a row again? Come on now, you're smarter than that. He's not a child. He can handle 3 days in a row. He can handle every game as he proved last year. But to optimize his bat he needs breaks. And you know that minor league catchers don't generally play every day. There are multiple catchers on teams.

 

[Spidey.sixpack]

We need to pull our head out if our *** once and for all..

Stop making errors
Stop walking people
Stop the wild pitches
Stop leaving runners on 3rd with less than two outs

BRAVO! HERE HERE!

 

[shoeless joe]

I didn't like the lineup when I first saw it, but I understood. It's Alcorn. What I didn't understand was PHing Slauter against a RH pitcher with Porter on the bench. You know...match-ups and all.

I also don't understand why Ammo wants to talk to the pitchers so much. Every other pitch, he's trotting to the mound for a pep talk. They've had to re-sod it, for goodness sake!

I was really rooting for Norris to do well. There were a couple of "hits" in his area that he didn't come up with, but he did okay defensively. He just doesn't seem to have much range and the quickness required for a 3B, but he's the best option. I don't really like his swing, though. It's really short, and it looks like he doesn't follow through enough. For a guy his size, you would expect more of a power swing, especially early in the count. He did come though with an RBI double.

chase utley and jason wuerth have extremely short follow thrus and they hit for power just fine. power doesnt come from a big follow thru it comes from extension at the point of contact and using your legs. i think norris' short swing is not a detriment to his offensive game.

 

[patdog]

If he can handle 3 days in a row, he doesn't need 4 days rest. If he needs 4 days rest, he doesn't need to catch 3 days in a row. At least Cohen agrees with that if he really does need that much rest since he didn't catch him on Saturday either. But again, what kind of catcher is only good for 2 games behind the plate in 9 days? If his knees are that shot, he should just switch to another position.

As for the other poster comment about this not just Cohen being screwy, Cohen does a lot of screwy things as a coach.

 

[maroonmania]

delete

 

[maroonmania]

Additional thoughts...

2. Catcher- We HAVE to catch Slauter more. I understand resting him. I get that- I know how physical catcher is and we caught him too much last year. BUT I think we are actually resting him TOO much. We are essentially platooning Slauter and Ammirati. It should be Slauter catching 2/3 of the time and Ammiratti catching once. Amiratti is very average, and he does not handle a pitching staff all that well- and I think it's 17ing us over with Woodruff when we keep trotting him the two of them out there together. Woodruff NEEDS Slauter, and I don't know why Butch and Cohen don't get that. They have pulled Ammirati out of a game TWICE in the middle of an inning during his career because he keeps 17ing up. What I would do is use Slauter for Lindgren because he is young, Slauter for Mitchell because he has the concentration of a gnat looking at a light bulb, and use Ammirati on Sunday with Graveman because Graveman is a veteran and know what the 17 he is doing. I would use Slauter on midweek because he will always have a day off on Monday and then two days off after the game. Oh yeah, and because Woodruff would be pitching maybe.

Woodruff with a tired Slauter > than a well-rested Slauter and no Woodruff and starting Evan Mitchell.

---- I agree. Slauter should be catching 3 out of the 4 games we are playing per week. Obviously the SEC games are the most important so my preference would be Slauter catching all weekend and Ammarti during the mid-week but if we have to catch Ammarati once during the weekend then there is no reason Slauter shouldn't be the catcher in the mid-week game.

4. Cohen likes Pirtle. IF Pirtle hits- and he has shown that he is a better defender and has more power than Sam Frost, he is the best option over Sam Frost. If he doesn't hit, we need to start Frost. Pirtle has been playing pretty well lately, so we will use him until he cools off. I actually wish he would scrap switch hitting and just focus on one side because I think that would help him.

---- I can live with either Pirtle or Frost at second though I do think Pirtle has shown maybe the most consistency of any defensive infielder we have, so right now I would give him a slight nod. Pirtle doesn't give you a lot at the plate but neither does Frost against quality SEC pitching.

5. Norris is our best option at third base all-around. It would help if he knocked a few out of the park- maybe he will hit one out against UK and it will get him going. Cohen is not going to tolerate a guy making a ton of errors- and that's why he sat down for awhile. I wished we had gone after Kaleb Barlow, but we didn't. I think we will see Norris play and start most of the year going forward.

---- I would caveat "Cohen is not going to tolerate a guy making a ton of errors" with "unless he really likes you". Its pretty obvious that Frost can make a throwing error on just about every fielding chance he gets at 3rd (and he isn't that far off from doing that) and Cohen will still trot his rear right back out there to play that position again and make another bad throw.

9. We sat Demarcus simply to give Robson some playing time and because Demarcus has been struggling. Right now, Demarcus is the better overall player than Robson, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Robson turn it on at the end of the SEC season. We'll see. Robson had a good game tonight as well- 3 walks and an RBI.

---- I'm OK with playing Robson some. My only disappointment with him last night was him not seemingly going full speed to run down the ball that went over his glove for a double. From what I saw it looked like he just sort of jogged getting there and didn't make the play, hopefully he just misjudged it.

10. I think Detz should be the DH unless he just goes real cold. As Will James says, he is an on base machine, and to be honest- at this point he has shown about as much power as Trey Porter. So, unless Trey starts getting some big flys, I can't see how we justify starting Porter over Detz UNLESS it's a team that Porter hits well- like LSU OR a small ballpark- like UK. Why we started Derrick Armstrong? WTF knows? If it were me, it would have been either Rea, Slauter, or Porter. The only thing I can think of is maybe Cohen wants to see if he starts to hit and maybe he could be another option in left field

.

 

[skb124]

I'm not saying he needs a 4 day rest. But that is what is offered. We have 3 games a weekend and then 1 on tuesday the rest of the season (except some we don't have a midweek). If he takes off the Tuesday game then he will have a 4 day rest. Does he need that long? No. But based on the schedule that's what it would be if he didn't catch tuesdays, and its better to have a 4 day rest than to catch every game in my opinion. For his knees sake, I believe it is much more important to have him catch all three during the weekend, and let Ammo get the midweek game. Either way, I think we both can agree that it should not be an every other game deal like we are doing now. If Mitch only catches the Friday and Sunday games on the weekend, then he should play the Tuesday one also.

 

[CEO2044]

Really, nobody on this board knows what he can or cannot handle because none of us see him every day and monitor how he's feeling. These broad generalizations about what he should and shouldn't be able to handle are just that- broad.

I don't care that Cohen's screwy, my point is there is some rhyme behind his reasoning for not playing him every day like last year.