“We’re working on a couple of things now and we’re going to see where we are,” Scioscia said.
Blanton has allowed more home runs (24) and hits (157), and lost more games this season (13), than any major-league pitcher. Monday’s loss was the 10th game, and fourth in a row, in which Blanton has pitched fewer than six innings and allowed more than three runs.
“It’s about throwing good strikes,” Scioscia said. “I think he’s either yanking some fastballs into some hitting areas, or maybe he’s just missing with some of his pitches and getting into some tough counts. When he’s really good, he’s controlling counts and pitching to contact on his terms. He made some adjustments about four or five starts ago, and it looked like he was getting better fastball command. But he obviously doesn’t have everything together like he needs to. He’s working hard with Mike to find the consistency that he needs to repeat pitches, and it’s been a struggle for Joe.”