Estrada Article in MJS--Played hurt most of year

[mikerollins]

Nice article today in the Milwaukee Journal about Johnny Estrada's season. He called himself "pathetic" and is anxious to play healthy next year. At least he manned up and said he sucked this year. He said he didn't make the elbow problem public because he didn't want teams to run on him more than they already were.

 

Here's the link:

 

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=676689

[brettac1]

If it was so painful to swing the bat, why didn't he take a pitch once in a while?

[Invader3K]

And yet how come Estrada doesn't get the same buffer around here like Sheets and Weeks have gotten for playing hurt?

 

He's not as bad a player as many make him out to be on this forum.

[endaround]

Yes he is. Estrada's is exactly the player I expected him to be. There is a reason Atlanta got rid of him.

[Hart Of Milwaukee]

Invader I couldn"t agree more! Quite frankly, it angers me that when Jenkins hurt his back a couple of years ago he was "glorified" as a tough guy, but when Estrada obviously played hurt almost all year people just laughed at him and made him the punchlines to their jokes. The guy gave all he physically had to help this team and it is just sad very few people see that!

[brettac1]

Quite a few of us thought he was bad when they acquired him, before he so bravely and courageously gave all he had this season. That's great that he played through the injuries and gave his all - but sometimes giving your all isn't good enough.

[Hart Of Milwaukee]

I hate to get all Rick Pitino on you but Joe Mauer, Jorge Posada, or Ivan Rodriguez aren't walking through that door any time soon. Estrada's a servicable ml catcher, and unless you want to give up quite a bit for an upgrade he is not going anywhere this year.

[kgbaseball]

Well then he better be able to throw someone out next year.

[DannoMac21]

Johnny Estrada came out of his house the other day and yelled at me and my friends because we TP'ed the house next to his (we know the girl that lives there, we're all good friends). Estrada came out and said "You guys better know you're boundaries." Afterwords me and my friends joked saying "Well he could throw a baseball at us..but it wouldn't make it. He could run at us...but it'd take him 10 minutes." Good times.

[DHonks]

I still think Estrada is solid. What shocked me was his defense, seeing as he was known for his defense when he got to the big leagues. He's very good at blocking balls. Hopefully he gets his knee and elbow healthy, and loses 15 lbs.

[mothershipconnection]

Johnny needs yoga. Maybe he's already doing something to target his flexibility, but it seems to be a major problem for him.

[Ennder]

He put up numbers a lot like 2005 when he played hurt all season. I'd expect numbers like 2006 in a year where he is healthy and those are above average for a C offensively at least.

 

The people who talk about him switching teams are silly too. Atlanta got rid of him because they had a big time C prospect coming up, the Diamondbacks got rid of him becuase they had a solid C and a good C prospect coming up. It had very little to do with Estrada himself.

[twobrewers]

He's very good at blocking balls.

Really?

 

Seems to me he is a pretty lazy catcher and "reaches" for way more balls than he blocks. I can think of many balls that simply skipped off of his glove instead of him moving his body to block it.

 

Letting Hunter Pense score the go ahead run on Labor Day comes to mind.

[RockCoCougars]

If I played that bad, I'd have an excuse too.

[AdvantageSchneider]

And supposedly he's had bone spurs in his elbow since 2001? Wouldn't you get that fixed one of the previous 5 off seasons rather than take pills for 5 years? That sounds pretty fishy to me.

[sbrylski]

I don't know why people would dislike him more because of this...

 

Its good news, he should be better next season. As Ennder pointed out, he played in Atlanta hurt and his preformance really suffered, but he came back stronger the next season. He still needs to learn to take a pitch once and a while though.

[clancyphile]

I don't know why people would dislike him more because of this...

 

Its good news, he should be better next season. As Ennder pointed out, he played in Atlanta hurt and his preformance really suffered, but he came back stronger the next season. He still needs to learn to take a pitch once and a while though.

And the spur is gone, too. Estrada will be a bonus.

OK, catcher is no longer a concern. Just need to see who plays left field - or right field depending on who emerges.

[Ennder]

Thats not to say I think Estrada is going to be a great C or anything, people just go a bit overboard on how bad he was when they say this is exactly what they expected out of him etc. Estrada has had one good offensive year, one decent one and two bad ones and both of the bad ones were in years that he was injured for much of the season. I just hope he's healthy next year so his offense offests the defense some.

[Bring Back the Stein]

I don't feel like the Brewers got the player they traded for. I'm excited about coming back next year and showing what I can do.

 

"I just want to get my arm strength back and be the catcher I used to be. I've forgotten what it feels like for my elbow not to hurt."

 

 

He manned up. I 'll give him that.

[JJHardy7]

I don't get why he kept taking pills when he could have had surgery. When has Sheets played through an injury? I understand Weeks, but Sheets gets hurt and doesn't come back. If Sheets plays through injuries it's news to the Brewers. I know a guy who roomed with Sheets in the minors and is still in touch. Any sign of injury and the Brewers have sat him so to say he has played through injuries isn't quite correct.

[Mass Haas]

Now this was some worthwhile offseason reporting, by the way.

 

Pick a subject that was important but not necessarily at the top of all Brewer fans' minds this week. Make a few phone calls, and get meaningful quotes from a player who's not just sitting conveniently in the locker room. Present new information (the elbow spur) we were previously unaware of. I guess we can thank the NLCS for ending early to free up Haudricourt. Goodness knows I nitpick his work enough, both here and to myself, but this was worth complimenting.

[brewers19]

When has Sheets played through an injury?

 

Sheets played through a herniated disc in his back the majority of the 2004 season.

[mattsr0625]

Johnny Estrada came out of his house the other day and yelled at me and my friends because we TP'ed the house next to his (we know the girl that lives there, we're all good friends). Estrada came out and said "You guys better know you're boundaries." Afterwords me and my friends joked saying "Well he could throw a baseball at us..but it wouldn't make it. He could run at us...but it'd take him 10 minutes." Good times.

yeah if you tp'd the house next to me i would come out and say something to you as well. im sure he lives in a nice neighborhood and he didnt want that mess on his property. i wouldnt and i would have came out and said something to you as well. but while you throw toilet paper he can count his money or make excuses for his play. either way you wouldnt say that to him.

 

[Boy Jeenius]

Lots of fussy fans, considering the alternative was a Fading D. Miller and another year of Chad Moeller. Even when he had a down year Estrada was a significant upgrade at that position. What'd ya think we were trading for Bill Dickey?

[TooLiveBrew]

He manned up. I 'll give him that.

How is not taking care of a medical problem you've known about for years 'manning up'? I understand he played through pain, but he chose to not get said pain/problem fixed. It hurt his year individually, and the team's as a whole. That's pretty selfish.

 

'"I was told as long as I could handle the discomfort, I could continue playing,' Estrada said in a telephone interview from his home in Newnan, Ga. 'But the last two years, there has been a decline in my throwing.'"

"'I accepted the fact that it was in there and came to grips with that. I'm not one of those guys who's going to be in the training room for every little pain.'"

 

That second quote is an indicator of why he didn't get this taken care of - his ego as a 'tough guy.' Is severe pain in your throwing arm, as a catcher, 'every little pain'? Sheesh.

 

"All Estrada asks is that people withhold judgment until they see him play next season as a healthy catcher."

Fair enough.

 

"'My defense has declined the last couple of years and I'm not happy about it,' he said. 'I originally got to the big leagues on my defense. I'm hoping it will be back to where it once was.'"

"'I don't feel like the Brewers got the player they traded for. I'm excited about coming back next year and showing what I can do.'"

These are encouraging. I hope he can be healthy and better in 2008, too.