Talking Chop

ESPN's new scout reporter guy, Jason Grey, posted this video and some nice analysis of the Braves second-best prospect, power-hitting first baseman Freddie Freeman:

Grey gets Freeman to talk about the injury which hurt his numbers at double-A:

"I hurt my wrist and my hand [at the beginning of August], and I'm not even sure how it happened," Freeman said. "I played through it for about 2½ to 3 weeks, and then I couldn't even pick up the bat anymore it hurt so bad. I tried to play through it, but I felt the effects of it. I couldn't pull the ball, and couldn't drive through anything, so I felt the effects on my average and my body. We finally shut it down, but I feel fine now. I still feel it here and there, but it's mostly 100 percent."

I knew it was bad, but not that bad. These kids have got to know which injuries to play through and which injuries not to play through. Wrist injuries, like the one Jordan Schafer also suffered, should be brought to the trainer's attention much earlier. We don't want a system of kids who are afraid to play, but we also don't want those kids playing through an injury that will set them back more than if they had sat out a few days when it first occurred. As much as we rag Jason Heyward about his nagging injuries, perhaps he has the right approach.