DENVER >> Don Mattingly said Wednesday that Hanley Ramirez’s sore right elbow had improved, one day after he was scratched from the Dodgers’ starting lineup:
Mattingly also talked about how difficult the season has been for Ramirez, who’s battled nagging injuries throughout the season (elbow, shoulder, hand) and spent 15 days on the disabled list in August with a strained right oblique muscle:
The Dodgers made three errors on a single play in the sixth inning of Monday’s game against the San Diego Padres.
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Hanley Ramirez has seven hits in 12 games since coming off the disabled list. (Getty Images)
Ramirez has taken over the number-two slot in the batting order effectively vacated by Yasiel Puig.
“Over the last three months, Yas is probably hitting where he should be hitting right now,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
In the same breath, Mattingly professed his faith in Ramirez, who has seven hits in 43 at-bats since coming off the disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle.
“That spot there, who do you want the extra at-bat going to? Right now it’s not necessarily Yasiel,” Mattingly said. “Hopefully it ends up being Hanley swinging the bat better and better, because I do feel like we’re going to need him going down the stretch here. If we’re going to be lucky enough to get into the postseason and do something, we’re going to need Hanley to do what he does. Hanley’s proven over the years that he’s a batting title type guy. He’s an MVP-type guy. He hits good pitching. He can hit good pitching. That’s what we’re hoping to get back to.”
Hanley Ramirez takes a minute to get up after injuring himself turning toward second base during the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Friday. (Associated Press photo)
In the clubhouse before the Dodgers’ game against the Padres, he politely informed reporters that he isn’t doing interviews. Less than an hour later he was in a dark corner of left field, the only portion of Petco Park not bathed in sunshine, where the Western Metal Supply Co. building casts its shade. It’s the same building into which Ramirez hit a 390-foot home run last night.
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