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Vina Will Have To Go On The DL Unless Leg Improves
June 19, 2000
Manager Tony La Russa said the Cardinals were giving serious consideration to putting injured infielder Fernando Vina on the 15-day disabled list. Vina suffered a recurrence of a strained right hamstring on Saturday and said Sunday, "It's not good."
La Russa said the club wouldn't make the decision until before Tuesday night's start of a home stand with San Francisco. Vina will be examined today or Tuesday.
Vina, who missed just two games the last time he hurt himself on June 5, said, "I've got to be smart with this thing so it doesn't push me back for a long period. I hope it doesn't come to that (disabled list), but if it doesn't get any better, I'm going to have to."
Vina said he was hopeful that if the diagnosis was that he would miss only six or seven days, the Cardinals wouldn't put him on the list. La Russa said that if that was the case, the Cardinals probably wouldn't, citing the four-game series in Cincinnati that begins a week from today.
"It's more sore than it was last time," said La Russa. "You wait 48 hours and get it examined at home. I've got my fingers crossed, but..."
The injury occurred in Saturday's eighth inning when Vina strained to beat out a potential double-play grounder. He was safe but then had to come out of the game after feeling a pull in the hamstring, and he was unavailable for Sunday night's game with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Super-sub Placido Polanco played second, and Craig Paquette, even with a broken tip of the middle finger on his right hand, was at third.
"I didn't get any warnings all day. My leg felt good," said Vina, who doubled twice, including sliding headfirst into second on the second one. "I never had any warning that said, 'Slow down.'"
Vina admitted he has trouble not running full out all the time, but La Russa said he might have to learn discretion. "I used to dive for balls and I kept dislocating my shoulder, so I quit diving," said La Russa. "That's how you learn.
"But ... somebody who hustles all the time like Fernando, that's a real ly good quality."
If Vina is disabled, La Russa said the club probably would turn to Class AAA Memphis for another infielder. The problem is that most of the candidates - Eduardo Perez, Stubby Clapp, Luis Garcia, Lou Lucca - aren't on the 40-man roster, so someone then would have to be dropped. Whoever would be brought up also depends on how well Paquette is doing with his finger or how quickly injured third baseman Fernando Tatis is ready to play.
For now, the Cardinals are playing a man short, but La Russa said, "We played the whole road trip (nine games) with people not available."
La Russa said reliever Mike James, who threw two innings for Memphis on Saturday night, could well return to the roster during the Giants series. James has been out since May 26 with a right shoulder strain.
When James is activated, La Russa said, the Cardinals will go with 12 pitchers until the All-Star break.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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