If you read the Z-meter, you’ve probably noticed that St. Louis prospect Colby Rasmus is one of the few triple-A denizens of the meter not to have a red-hot stat line yet this season. Despite being a guest of the parent club during spring training, Rasmus has struggled since being sent back to the Memphis Redbirds for a few more reps.
Why? Hard to say. But reader Bruce, a Redbirds fan, sent us an article that attempts to get at the truth. Colby himself is hinting that it may be partly psychological. Like any of us, he didn’t react well when something he wanted was within his grasp, only to be taken away.
“In spring training I felt good. When I got sent down, I was a little upset about it. It put me in a weird place, I guess,” Rasmus said. “When the season started I was trying some different things and worked myself into a funk. I’m trying to get back where I was going into spring training. I felt like I was plenty good enough in Florida. I felt like I was good enough to be with the big-league team.”
Colby’s father, Tony (a high school baseball coach), blames Tony LaRussa’s micro-managing of the phenom’s swing. He even hints that his son should have defied the eccentric manager, saying “I don’t care if God tells me to change what I’m doing. If I’ve been having success, I’m not going to do it.”
That fairly mild public criticism was upstaged by a message-board posting under the elder Rasmus’ screen name that suggested Colby shouldn’t trust the Cards’ manager at all, stating “Heck, I wouldn’t”.
Tony Rasmus said Friday that one of Colby’s younger brothers posted the criticism under a borrowed screen name. The elder Rasmus said he is “humiliated” by the resulting firestorm and is too embarrassed to speak to Mozeliak or Jeff Luhnow, vice president of scouting and player development.
Hard to say what really happened. One thing’s for sure, family meddling can’t help in a case like this. At best, it gives the prospect an excuse, an outside force that is limiting his development. Hopefully, Colby won’t use that excuse to quit working to solve his own problems.
We here at Bus Leagues love to see success stories, so here’s hoping Colby Rasmus earns that red stat line soon, and gets his callup to St. Louis.
