arnie.k wrote:one of the surest bets in baseball is albert's line at the end of the season... i completely trust him and his decision to play/sit.
i think he's earned quite a bit more patience than is being shown in this thread
If today is any indication -- two homers and 5 RBI against a division rival and supposedly one of the best pitchers in baseball -- you my friend were absolutely right.
i've hardly, if ever, been in a situation where patience was not good advice
TimmyG wrote:But where did all of these oblique injuries start coming from?
I don't remember hearing about those until last year...
Well up until a few years ago, they would just call them "side strains", "rib cage injury", etc. because they didn't know a whole lot about the exact muscles involved.
But I do think it's becoming a bit more of a problem as weight training becomes more prevalent. Most hardcore weight lifters know that you have to have a "strong core" more than anything else, but when you're weight training for baseball, especially during the season when time in the weight room is precious, it's much easier to go around doing the power lifts and skimping on the boring ab workouts. What ends up happening is that the strong muscles elsewhere generate more power and torque on the body than the stomach muscles have been strengthened to handle.
That's my theory anyway.
--P--
I agree with you popeye. When I played lifting was frowned upon by some. My lifting program was nothing with traditional weights - no bench press, squats etc... And I don't recall anyone, ever straining an oblique, side muscle, or anything else.
TimmyG wrote:But where did all of these oblique injuries start coming from?
I don't remember hearing about those until last year...
Well up until a few years ago, they would just call them "side strains", "rib cage injury", etc. because they didn't know a whole lot about the exact muscles involved.
But I do think it's becoming a bit more of a problem as weight training becomes more prevalent. Most hardcore weight lifters know that you have to have a "strong core" more than anything else, but when you're weight training for baseball, especially during the season when time in the weight room is precious, it's much easier to go around doing the power lifts and skimping on the boring ab workouts. What ends up happening is that the strong muscles elsewhere generate more power and torque on the body than the stomach muscles have been strengthened to handle.
That's my theory anyway.
--P--
I think that's a pretty good theory.
I glanced at AP's workout routine in Muscle & Fitness. My impression was that it emphasizes high reps at low weight, which minimizes the risk of over-strengthening and creating local imbalances. But each body is different, so it's hard to tell if the routine is the cause of these issues.
Dwtlr wrote:I haven't seen every AB he's had thsi season but nearly everyone I have seen (maybe 20-or so) he's swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and seems to want to start his swing early and get out in front...
I don't know if that's a result of some oblique problem or not seeing the ball well or both..
In either case you tend to want to start your hands a little early and in so doing the chances of staying back and hitting the ball where its pitched are slim and none..
Once he gets back to hitting the ball hard to right center and taking his customary number of walks then we'll know he's back..
I dunno, DW. He's always been an aggressive hitter, he's routinely expanded his strike zone, he's neve rbeen a player with an uncommonly high number of unintentional walks. In fact right now even as we speak, his walk total is a little lower than his norm, but only barely so -- about 12% this year compared to a career average of about 14.5% - given the small number of games so far, not likely a key driver.
It seems like Albert has always played with some nagging injury or other, so it is certainly possible that something has finally caught up with him that is affecting him. Other than that, I tend to agree with those who feel that it's just a slump -- it happens.
Nah..not to this degree has he expanded his strikezone like this over an extended period of time..
Scouts have said the same thing..despite his aggressiveness its usually a controlled measure not like Vlad Guerrero who'll swing at anything..
He didn't have a walk on the recent road trip..other than of the intentional variety..When is the last time that's happened?
The two balls for HR's he hit yesterday was vintage Albert..stay back in that crouch then boom..
Whether he hit the HR's yesterday or not I'm not worried about him..
jim wrote:
I agree with you popeye. When I played lifting was frowned upon by some. My lifting program was nothing with traditional weights - no bench press, squats etc... And I don't recall anyone, ever straining an oblique, side muscle, or anything else.
jim you never had an oblique muscle.......teenage alcohol abuse stunts the growth of the oblique
