Grieve sitting out to let thumb heal

© St. Petersburg Times
published May 23, 2002

SEATTLE -- There is a small hole in the webbing of Ben Grieve's left thumb and a large drop in his performance.

Manager Hal McRae believes the two are related enough that he will give Grieve a few days off, possibly as many as five, to allow the bruise to heal.

"We're trying to get him 100 percent," McRae said.

Grieve, who is in a 3-for-35 slump and homerless since April 30, was not overly pleased with the decision, which could keep him out until the Rays return home Tuesday, but he reluctantly went along with it.

"I think it's my swing, not my thumb," Grieve said. "I don't want to make any excuses. It might have something to do with it, and it might not."

Grieve first had a callous that tore and bled, leading to an infection. McRae gave Grieve three days off May 5-7, but the bruise didn't heal and Grieve has been aggravating it each time he swings.

McRae decided to take action after seeing Grieve favoring the thumb, taking unusual swings during batting practice, which could lead to bad habits, and laying off inside pitches.

"I want to play and I think I could play through it, but it's not going to heal if I keep swinging," Grieve said. "Maybe five days' rest will cure my swing."

IN HIS PLACE: Jason Conti will start in Grieve's place. When Grieve was out earlier, Conti played centerfield and Randy Winn moved to right. McRae said he did that because he wanted to see Conti in center, but he now prefers to keep Winn in center. "If he's the everyday guy it's best not to move him," McRae said.

UP FOR GRABS: Third base now is going to be shared by right-handed hitting Jared Sandberg and left-hander Jason Smith, but McRae said he didn't know exactly how the split would work.

"It's not going to be a straight platoon," McRae said. "We'll try and match up as best as possible. ... You have an idea of what kind of hitter a player is and what he prefers and what he hits best, and try and do it that way without any history of batter-pitcher matchups."

Sandberg, a smooth defensive player, is 3-for-35 since being recalled from the minors May 8. Smith, a natural shortstop with limited experience at third, went into Wednesday's start 1-for-7 since rejoining the team from Durham, where he was hitting .301.

FLASH REPORT: McRae plans to restore Toby Hall to the starting lineup Friday and play him five days a week, but John Flaherty is making a strong case for more playing time.

The Rays have won Flaherty's past six starts, and the pitchers had an ERA of 1.83. For the season, Rays pitchers have a 3.20 ERA when Flaherty is behind the plate and 5.31 when Hall is catching.

Plus, Flaherty is hitting .317 and Hall is hitting .198.

ABOUT TUESDAY NIGHT: Joe Kennedy's 1-0 win Tuesday ended the Rays' streak of 194 games without a complete game, far surpassing the mark of 140 by Anaheim from May 1998-99. It also was the sixth game the Rays have won 1-0 (with Kennedy the winner in the past two), the ninth complete-game shutout by a Rays pitcher, the fifth Rays game in which both pitchers went the distance and the second time in history the Rays had pitched back-to-back shutouts. ... It also was the third time this season the Rays have won when scoring two runs or one.

MISCELLANY: Trainer Jamie Reed said top prospect Carl Crawford went on the Triple-A disabled list as a precaution after tweaking his right-side oblique muscle and should be back next week. ... Friday's game at Oakland was added to the Ch. 32 broadcast schedule.