An Unfortunate Theory That Must Be Said About Pat Valaika's Motivation

DID PAT VALAIKA SHARE HIS FATHER'S MEDICAL STORY NOW IN AN EFFORT TO ENGENDER PITY AND THUS AVOID DISCUSSION OF HIS ANEMIC ON-FIELD 2018 PERFORMANCE AND THUS AVOID A POTENTIAL DEMOTION TO AAA?

On Monday, April 9, 2018, the brilliant Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic released a long, touching piece about Colorado Rockies' Pat Valaika and his family's struggle with his father's ongoing health issues.  In short, the Valaika family has soldiered on bravely since their patriarch, Pat's Dad Dave, went into a coma following heart surgery in January 2015.  Though now in a rehab facility, Dave Valaika remains in a coma since January 2015, a terrible challenge many families face and that the Valaika family has managed very dutifully, lovingly, and bravely.

Rosenthal's piece is here: https://theathletic.com/307425/2018/04/09/for-rockies-pat-valaika-and-family-the-heartache-of-a-patriarch-not-gone-but-silent/

But the question must be asked:  why would Pat Valaika release this interesting family information now?  GFW doesn't remember any previous media coverage of this touching story before Monday, and doesn't remember Rockies TV play-by-play man Drew Goodman ever mentioning this story, a story that would seem to be tailor-made for the treacly pablum usually spouted by the always-unprepared yet always-eager-to-kiss-players'-asses Goodman.

In this story (https://www.purplerow.com/2016/10/21/13353166/colorado-rockies-prospects-pat-valaika-derek-jeter-nomar-garciaparra) from purplerow.com in October 2016, the first season Pat Valaika appeared in the major leagues, written when Dave Valaika had been in a coma for more than 18 months, Pat talks reverently about his father taking him to Spring Training when Pat was a youngster... but does not mention his father's medical condition.

In another story (https://milehighsports.com/arenado-and-valaika-give-their-parents-a-day-to-remember/) following Pat's Father's Day home run in 2017, milehighsports.com writer Colin Barnard goes as far as to write a headline that Nolan Arenado (who also homered on both Mother's Day and Father's Day in 2017, like Pat Valaika) and Pat Valaika "give their parents a day to remember."  Given that Pat's father had been in a coma for nearly 30 months at that time, Dave Valaika's condition would have been a fascinating part of this narrative.  To exclude it would be nonsense... unless Pat Valaika himself had never told anyone of his father's condition as of June 2017.

In Rosenthal's The Athletic piece, Rockies Manager Bud Black is reported to have said that (only) members of the Rockies front office and some of Pat's teammates are even aware of his father's condition... and that Pat doesn't talk much about it.  I have no doubt that the amount of information in Rosenthal's piece required months of interviews and research, but Pat undoubtedly contributed to WHEN the piece was allowed to be published, and Pat had, by all accounts, failed to tell many people about this family struggle.

Until now.  When Pat is hitting below .100 (after a very successful cup of coffee at the end of 2016 and a very productive 2017, all of which occurred during Pat's father's medical issues).  Why would Pat wait until NOW to allow a long, thorough, deep piece to be released by perhaps the premier baseball reporter in the country?  So much for not talking about it much.

So why now?  Realistically, Pat is struggling in 2018.  Not just struggling, but struggling terribly.  Hitting below ;100 when the article was published, an embarrassing night last night (including a horrendous GIDP in a key spot and another weak foul pop out in another key spot in a Rockies loss to San Diego) pushed Pat's average below .050.  Any objective observer could note that, despite small sample size, Pat's performance is SO abhorrent this year that a demotion to AAA (or a trip to the disabled list for a manufactured injury, a typical move right out of the Rockies front office playbook) is warranted to avoid his performance contributing to the Rockies playing themselves out of playoff contention before the snow on the Front Range has completely disappeared.

So hate to ask, but...

DID PAT VALAIKA SHARE HIS FATHER'S MEDICAL STORY NOW IN AN EFFORT TO ENGENDER PITY AND THUS AVOID DISCUSSION OF HIS ANEMIC ON-FIELD 2018 PERFORMANCE AND THUS AVOID A POTENTIAL DEMOTION TO AAA?