Blum Leg

Geoff Blum exited last night's game in the 5th inning. Why? A shin contusion and a mild high ankle sprain. Time to shine, Chris Johnson...
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A follow-up on the age discrepancy of Jose Valverde has been downplayed organization-wide (and here, and you can read why I don't care).

And JJO chimes in with a "well, it's pretty common to cheat and forge" line - which didn't help me much in 10th grade chemistry (the only "C" I got in high school. A streak which lasted until second-semester Greek.)

The practice of altering dates of birth in the Dominican Republic is not rare. Miguel Tejada and Wandy Rodriguez, who actually secured a different identity to initially sign with the Astros, are just two of Valverde's teammates who forged their age to sign professional contracts.

Somehow that doesn't make me feel better.
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Keppinger was out for the fifth consecutive game, and will be treated gingerly for a few games. Coop:
“He looked fine,” Cecil Cooper said. “It looked like he might be ready to get back out there. I'll probably be still a little careful with him. I would think probably just pinch-hit him and something like that. We have enough bodies to get by defensively to put him on the defensive side. But he looked OK. He was bouncing around. It still bothers him when he runs.”

So Chris Johnson might get his first start tonight. Or the Astros can shift Tejada to third to see what happens, and let Manzella start at short. If that's going to be an option for 2010, we might as well get a look.