Kendrick gets a mental-health day

ANAHEIM

Hitless in his past nine at-bats (including four strikeouts) and just 2 for his past 24, Howie Kendrick was benched for the second time in the past four games Wednesday.

“Just a mental day. Let him exhale a bit,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He watched some video today with Mickey (Hatcher, the Angels’ hitting coach). He feels good about some adjustments he’s making.

“We have to get Howie swinging well.”

Kendrick hasn’t done that yet this season. Plugged into the second spot in the Angels’ batting order this season as a sign of faith in his hitting ability, he is expected to play a key role in the offense but is batting .196 (10 for 51) so far.

Scioscia said Kendrick would be back in the starting lineup on Thursday but held out the possibility that it will be lower in the order until he starts hitting.

“We’ll evaluate that,” Scioscia said. “Some of the things he’s dealing with are just mechanical things going on. Some of it is pressing. He’s getting caught in between – sometimes he has been expanding the zone, sometimes he’s been too patient.

“He’s struggling right now. … Mentally, he needs to let the air out and physically there are some things keeping him from getting into a comfort level in the box.”

With Kendrick out of the lineup, Maicer Izturis started at second base and batted second in the lineup – ending Scioscia’s experiment with Izturis batting third … for now.

Post from: Angels blog

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