Maybe I'm just too patient for my own good, but I do not believe that two consecutive loses make a slump. Furthermore, losing those two games by getting blanked both times and scoring a total of only one run the past three games also does not make a slump.
It's a little detour, and I have no doubt the club will get themselves back on the right road. Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:
The graphic above via the @Dodgers on twitter. Below are some more links to check out:"We're OK," Mattingly said. "Over the last three games, we haven't scored runs. On the homestand, we weren't really great. But it's what you go through."
Mattingly rejected the suggestion that Dodgers hitters have changed approach after the home run barrage.
"I don't think so. The guys know who they are," he said. "They are pretty solid, staying even. They've been through this before. When it happens as a group, it's tougher. Go through stretches where you're not swinging and you get pressure on everyone. We need a couple of big hits."
- Mark Saxon at ESPN has more on the supposed slump; "Who tripped the Dodgers' power switch?"
Instead, what he diagnoses from this miserly stretch of hitting is a good old fashioned team slump, simple as that. Understanding what it is, he acknowledged, doesn't make it any less frustrating.
"Every year I've ever played and every year I've ever managed and every year I've ever coached, your team goes through about three of these a year, and this is no different," Mattingly said. "It's the first one we've gone through."
- Via Ron Cervenka at Think Blue LA, "Vin Scully calls foul ball on Giants grounds crew."
You undoubtedly heard Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully repeatedly talk about the excessively watered down infield (I’d say ad nauseam but nothing Vin Scully says is ad nauseam). In fact, at one point Scully even linked the nickname of “Swamp Fox” once given to former Giants manager Alvin Dark to the condition of the ballpark’s infield.
- Via Micah Peters at For the Win/USA Today; "15 minutes in a car with Yasiel Puig."
MP: So inquiring minds wanna know, why are you cutting down on the bat flips?
YP: Last year I had more pop that this year. Home Run [claps hands] POW! Bat flip. It’s a home run! This year? I swing, it’s not a home run. Why even bat flip? When I hit a big home run? I’ll Bat flip. It’s my game, the people like it. When you do the bat flip, everybody’s talking. When you don’t do the bat flip, everybody’s talking too [Laughs].
MP: I guess that’s really true.
YP: You see? I’m not doing the bat flip and now everybody’s doing the bat flip. [Laughs] I saw someone do a bat flip on a triple. A triple! That’s not a home run!
- Via Lyle Spencer at MLB.com, "A-Gone having fun leads to personal success."
"I guess I'm in my prime, where I can enjoy this and not put any pressure on myself. I just have to stay true to my routine, keep healthy and strong, and enjoy every minute. I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. There's the classic example of the guy who wants to do too much and does nothing. They're so worried about the numbers on the scoreboard they can't play free."
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