Gonzalez ailing: Shortstop Alex Gonzalez has been playing with a great deal of pain in his right elbow for much of the season. Not one to complain, Gonzalez on Saturday said his arm hasn't felt right for about a week.

 

Of late, his throws haven't had the same zip that makes him one of the top defensive shortstops in the game.

 

Gonzalez had a throwing error in the ninth inning on Friday when his toss from the hole at short bounced and deflected off Carlos Beltran, who was credited with an infield single. When the ball deflected away from first baseman Jeff Conine, Beltran advanced to second base.

 

Gonzalez says he's about 70-80 percent healthy. He had surgery on the same elbow last October after being hampered all season. About a month ago, he had an MRI, which detected inflammation.

 

The elbow bothers him when he is hitting the ball to right field.

 

To assist his throws, Gonzalez is playing certain batters in a bit more to get to the ball quicker.

 

"I can't rest right now," Gonzalez said. "In the offseason, I will give it four or five months' rest."

 

Robert Andino, a true shortstop called up from Double-A Carolina, and Damion Easley are available to offer Gonzalez a break.

i kinda want to see what andino can do...lets give sea bass a sunday off

Well, that hurt elbow would explain among other things, his power outage.

 

 

 

Alex should get the day off today and we should play Andino as he is no slouch defensively.

Im all for Andino but if Andino plays that means no Hermida.

Im all for Andino but if Andino plays that means no Hermida.

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screw that, why cant we play hermida and adino? is it some un-written rule? Give lowell & gonzo a day off, move cabs to third and hermida to left with adino at SS. its your typical sunday lineup....except for the fact that its about 2 months late but w.e...Give these kids a shot today...sure were only .5 games outa the WC..... but for all we no this Adino kid is like tejada? Im all for it...but i doubt Jack will make such a drastic move during the "Hunt for a Teal October", he will probablly just take lo duca out and put treanor in but IMO we should give these kids a shot.

This really makes me nervous...it explains why Andino was called up. Maybe should give Alex about 4-5 days off and plug Andino/Easley in there. Then again its only a month to a month and a half left.

I watched BP against the Mets on Friday, and Andino put on a show, for whatever that's worth.

Does Andino Strike Out as much as Gonzo? Power? I heard he makes alot of errors too on routine ground balls is that true?

I think that if Alex wants to keep playing he has earned that right. But when he needs a few days off Andino woul dbe useful.

Does Andino Strike Out as much as Gonzo? Power? I heard he makes alot of errors too on routine ground balls is that true?

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He tries to make every play look incredible, so he screws up, but he can also make the great play. His power appears to be there, and he is a base stealing threat (24 SB's in 26 attempts, I believe). If nothing else, he's a better short-stop than Easley, so one or two days to rest Alex may not be a particularly bad thing considering there doesn't appear to be a substantial drop-off.

Anyone who saw Easley playing SS a few games ago would understand why Andino was called up. It makes sense to have another true SS on the team to give Alex a break when we need, hurting or not.

Alex is unable to make the routine plays right now and it's costing us runs. It's time to get Andino in the game and give Gonzo a rest.

What can Jack possibly be thinking? Is the guy asleep on the bench? Gonzo can't do more than lob the ball the 1B. It doesn't matter what range he may have if he can't make the throw. It's time to get Alex out of there and let him rest that elbow.