News
Brocail injures hamstring Sunday
Reliever carted off field, says there will be a DL stint
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com
05/03/09 6:48 PM ET
ATLANTA -- Manager Cecil Cooper was playing it conservatively after Sunday's game when addressing Doug Brocail's strained left hamstring, referring to his veteran reliever as "day-to-day" and offering, "We'll find out more tomorrow to see how serious it is."Brocail was carted off the field, unable to walk on his own. It's serious, and Brocail himself confirmed what appeared to be inevitable at the time that he fell, palms-down, on the ground after retrieving a throw from Lance Berkman at first base.
"Of course it will be a [disabled-list stint]," Brocail said. "No doubt."
Brocail hurt the leg on his way to beating Kelly Johnson to first base, not as he was falling to the ground.
"I took an angle at the base and went to plant and cut up the line," Brocail said. "And it happened."
Brocail, tended to by both of the team's athletic trainers, tried to get up and walk on his own, but he could not. That's when assistant athletic trainer Rex Jones signaled to the Braves dugout that they needed a cart.
"I was just trying to absorb the pain," Brocail said. "It's one of those things where anyone who has had a hamstring [pull] knows it's painful as heck. My main concern was just when I tried to roll over and I couldn't move my leg, I said, 'OK. I'm done.'"
The Astros will activate Brian Moehler from the DL Monday, so logically, it would seem Brocail's move to the DL would create the necessary space on the 25-man roster.
The Astros are short in the 'pen, however, which may necessitate more roster moves.
Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
