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Hip is holding Guillen back
By DAVID BOYCEThe Kansas City Star
Outfielder José Guillen would like nothing more than to run at full speed down to first on a grounder.
Guillen insisted Friday afternoon that he plays the game hard. But a sore hip has prevented him from going all out from time to time when he’s running the bases.
The topic came up Friday because of the way Guillen jogged to first in the eighth inning on Wednesday and was then booed by the fans.
“They (fans) don’t know what is going on with Jose Guillen,” he said. “You think I’m going to put pressure on myself because the fans are booing me.
“None of you guys know what is going on. I like to play hard, but sometimes that’s all I’ve got for that day.”
Guillen added that he’s the type of player who wants to play every day and play in the outfield. He doesn’t like being the designated hitter, but he is forced to do it right now because of his hip.
With the way the hip is feeling, Guillen is afraid if he runs at full speed all the time on grounders, he might seriously injure it and be out for a long time.
“I don’t know what all he told you all, but if he told you his leg has been sore and his hip has been sore, it has,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “He does things inside that people don’t see to try to continue to improve that, not only from a treatment standpoint but from a physical-conditioning standpoint as well.
“No, I didn’t have a problem (Wednesday night) because of the issues I know that he’s been going through with his lower half.”
General manager Dayton Moore said players should give their best effort but be smart about it, meaning if a player has 70 percent in him, he should give 70 percent.
“Now, you can look at it any way you want,” Moore said. “He tries to play smart. That being said, I’ve seen him score from first on a double. He beat out an infield hit (last weekend) against the Giants.
“Obviously, he’s one of our better outfielders. And he’s DHing because we’re trying to get him through it. Older players need to play smart.”
I-70 series
Outfielder Mark Teahen didn’t give the answer that the series against St. Louis was no different from any other.
“I do get a little more pumped up for it because I know what it means for the fans, and there is more energy in the stadium when the Cardinals are here,” Teahen said. “It’s definitely one series I look forward to.”
Teahen said he’s noticing a slow change in the stands each year.
“It seems like every year I’ve been here there seems to be less and less red in the crowd, which is nice,” Teahen said. “But it’s still a little too much red. But I’ve noticed our fans show up more wearing their blue and cheering that much louder to make sure St. Louis fans know they are in Kansas City.”
Mulder activated
The Cardinals activated left-hander Mark Mulder from the disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Mike Parisi to Class AAA Memphis.
Mulder, who is coming off left shoulder surgery, will initially work out of the bullpen.
Next start
Perhaps the one Royal who is looking forward to tonight’s game the most is starting pitcher Kyle Davies. Davies, 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA, is coming off his first poor outing in five starts.
“My last start wasn’t what I hoped for, but that’s in the past,” Davies said. “You can’t sit there and hold on to it very long. I had forgotten 24 hours after it to tell you the truth.”