Thoughts on Jay Bruce's Oblique Injury

I’m completely pissed off. I’ve been in a bad mood this Labor Day weekend, and the reason is Jay Bruce and the Reds.

As the Reds are about to predictably drop 2 of 3 to the St. Louis Cardinals in what was one of the biggest series of the year, Jay Bruce sits out the entire weekend. Day after day we’re told that “Jay Bruce is better. Jay Bruce is fine. Jay Bruce is getting there.”

What a sack of horse shit.

The way I see it is Jay Bruce has been extremely inconsistent for three years and I finally saw signs of him raising above the average tier of players in this league. Then what happens is what has happened every time you see the flash of anything special out of Bruce; a setback.

He was putting it all together, and then a phantom injury. Something that ‘happened in batting practice’ (I’m told it happened in the post game celebration after he won the Reds the game Monday night). A mysterious side injury. Let’s just say an oblique injury. That’s sure as fuck what it is.

The way I look at it is; you only have so many opportunities in this game to make your mark as a player who is anything more than ordinary. There were times when I saw it with Jay Bruce. There were times when he was close. But if you continue to have things like injuries and slumps happen instead of taking the next step (especially in crunch time), pretty soon you run out of chances. At that point you’re just an ordinary player and you’ve cost your team a shot at some pretty special runs.

I want Jay Bruce to be more than just a ‘good’ player in this game. But he’s running out of time.