Dodgers’ Justin Turner is trying to get comfortable again
Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner walks off the field during a game against the Angels on Wednesday.
Reporting from PHOENIX — Nearly a month after returning from the disabled list, Justin Turner is still trying to regain his rhythm.
Turner was batting .323 when he was placed on the DL on July 27 with MRSA, a contagious and antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria. Since his activation Aug. 13, he was batting .170 entering Saturday.
“The hardest part is going from feeling really good and comfortable to not doing anything for two weeks and trying to get back and find that feel again,” he said.
Manager Don Mattingly has remained patient with Turner, starting him at third base and batting him third or fourth in the majority of games.
Turner is also exercising patience.
“It’s about taking good quality at-bats and not worrying about the results,” Turner said. “If you start beating yourself up, you end up making things worse.”
Turner said he feels as if it’s a matter of time before he starts producing.
“I feel like I’m taking good at-bats,” he said. “I feel like I’m missing some good pitches to hit over the last couple weeks that earlier in the year I wasn’t really missing.”
Staying the course
As well as Corey Seager played in his first week in the major leagues, Mattingly said he still plans for Jimmy Rollins to be the starting shortstop when he returns from a jammed right knuckle.
“When Jimmy gets back, we plan on playing Jimmy,” Mattingly said.
Seager, 21, started his fifth consecutive game at shortstop Saturday in place of the sidelined Rollins.
Widely regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball, Seager entered Saturday batting .385 with four doubles, four runs batted in and six walks. He reached base four times Friday night in the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks, going one for one with three walks. He hit his first home run in the fifth inning Saturday.
Mattingly said Seager’s inexperience doesn’t scare him. “I’m not afraid to put him out there,” the manager said.
Comparing Seager’s even temperament to Adrian Gonzalez’s, Mattingly said he wouldn’t be afraid to play him in a postseason game either.
“He’s kind of got that Gonzo kind of heartbeat, pretty slow,” Mattingly said. “He’ll live to be like 108 or something. His blood pressure is really low, I bet.”
When Rollins is ready to play, Seager will be a backup to him at shortstop, as well as to Turner at third.
Rollins, 36, a former National League most valuable player and World Series champion, is batting a career-low .220, but has 13 home runs.
Where is Puig?
Yasiel Puig hasn’t been at Chase Field for the first two games of this series, even though he is rehabilitating his strained hamstring at the Dodgers’ nearby spring-training complex.
Asked why Puig hasn’t spent time with the team, Mattingly said. “I’m not sure. I know he’s welcome over here.”
Puig has been on the disabled list since Aug. 28. Mattingly has previously said Puig could be sidelined for the remainder of the regular season.
Right-hander Brandon McCarthy, who is rehabilitating a surgically repaired elbow, was in the clubhouse before the game.
Longtime chef dies
Dave Pearson, a chef in the Dodger Stadium media dining room, died of lung cancer. He was 75. Pearson worked for the Dodgers for more than 50 years.
Twitter: @dylanohernandez
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