It Is Selfish, Not Admirable, If Aramis Ramirez Is Playing Hurt for Cubs

It's one thing to be in a slump. It's quite another thing entirely if a player is trying to play through an injury.

Today especially, Aramis Ramirez looked to be favoring his thumb and if so, he should be on the disabled list until he is healthy enough to play.

Look, he isn't producing anyway, either in the field or at the plate. So if he is hurt, trying to play through it is the wrong thing to do.

I know to some it may seem admirable for a player to continue to play through an injury. But in reality it's a rather selfish thing to do, for it only hurts the team in the long run.

Ramirez struck out four times tonight, the last time with the bases loaded. But his hitting has been terrible all season.

For a while, we suspected that it was his shoulder. Then it was his wrist. Now he has a bad thumb. Yet through all this, he insists he is healthy enough to play.

He also doesn't really think he needs the help of hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, since he is his own hitting coach.

But until he starts producing, I would push him down in the order or sit him on the bench. The same thing applies to Derrick Lee.

I don't care what these guys have done in the past. I would risk hurting their pride by moving them out of the middle of the lineup, because it's not fair to the rest of the team.

On the one hand, you can say that the Cubs won't go anywhere unless they start producing.

Even so, you can't have them batting together, especially in run-producing slots. Not right now.

Lou has been moving them around but watching Ramirez tonight really drove the point home. He shouldn't be playing, plain and simple.

For Lou can't put one or two players above the team. It's not the Ramirez or Lee Cubs, it's the Chicago Cubs.