Colorado Rockies’ ace Ubaldo Jimenez has been the best pitcher in the majors this season.  He came into tonight’s game at Houston with a 7-1 record and an unbelievable 1.12 ERA.  There hasn’t been much of anything that has been able to challenge him this year.

But tonight, I think we may have found something.

While Jimenez was at the plate – hitting in the seventh inning – when he hit a ground ball to Pedro Feliz, who committed an error on the play.  Jimenez jogged gingerly around first base, which he attributed to cramping in both legs.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy used poor judgement by keeping his ace in the game after an apparent injury.

With the Rockies leading 3-0 in the seventh, things got even more bizarre.  Faced with the decision of what to do with Jimenez, Colorado kept him in the game.  After clearly showing signs of fatigue, the league ERA leader pitched a perfect seventh and was then removed from the game.

What was going on in Jim Tracy’s mind? 

Jimenez should have definitely been out of the game after coming up lame on the basepaths.  The game was already in hand, and Jimenez was in line to get the victory and receive the credit for his masterful pitching.  Jimenez is the ace of the franchise, and to risk that on one more inning of work seemed a bit weird to me.  Even if we are to take Ubaldo’s word and blame it on cramping, some dangerous things can happen from playing cramped.  The Rockies’ number one starter could have easily been more seriously injured.

The fifth-year starter said that he would be ready for his next start, and that he simply needed to rest his legs from the heat.

A smart manager would have rested him one inning earlier.