Slumping Napoli yet to find his groove

Mamba · Apr 30, 2010

DETROIT - Mike Napoli got what he wanted but not in the way he wanted.

"Of course I wanted more playing time. But I'd never want it to happen by someone getting hurt – especially Jeff (Mathis) because we such good friends," said Napoli, the Angels' primary catcher with Mathis sidelined for six to eight weeks with a fractured wrist. "It was sad to see him get hurt. He was playing at such a high level. I was kind of upset for him.

"It's a stinky situation for him. But he'll be back in four to six weeks now – and I'm pretty sure we'll be back to where we were."

Where they were to start the season had Napoli unhappy enough to test the open-door policy of Angels manager Mike Scioscia and have a one-on-one discussion about his playing time. With Mathis playing the best baseball of his career (both offensively and defensively), Napoli started just four of the Angels' first 14 games.

"It was tough. It was definitely tough. I wasn't happy about it," Napoli said. "I felt like – I didn't expect to be playing every day, you know, but I thought it would be more like it had been the past couple years (with a more even distribution of playing time).

"To not be in there when you're hot (coming out of spring training) is hard."

There were no revelations in his meeting with Scioscia, Napoli said. The manager told him just what he expected to hear – that defense is the priority at catcher and Napoli had some work to do to close the gap between himself and his roommate in that department.

"We talked. He's always good about that stuff. He'll let you know where you stand if you ask," Napoli said. "I went in there and felt better about it. I knew, in the back of my mind (why Mathis was playing more) but there's still that part of you not knowing if there's something else. I just told him I expected to be more of a balance."

Whether it was the lack of playing time (after hitting .280 with a team-leading six home runs in the preseason) or the disappointment mentally of spending so much time out of the lineup, Napoli's offense has been slow to arrive this season. He is batting .167 after going 1 for 3 Friday with a 7-for-42 stretch even as his playing time has increased. Napoli has hit 20 home runs in each of the past two seasons with slugging percentages of .492 and .586 – but his second-inning triple against the Tigers was his first extra-base hit of this season (in his 16th game).

"I don't want to make an excuse why I'm not in a groove yet," Napoli said. "But I did feel like I had it going in spring training then I kind of lost my rhythm and I'm trying to find it.

"It's more about being comfortable in the box (than any swing adjustment). I'm trying to have good at-bats, see some pitches. It should be coming. I'm getting the at-bats now."

Napoli has started eight of 10 games since Mathis' injury. But Scioscia isn't willing to say the early imbalance in playing time might have caused Napoli's slow start.

"No. I think what Mike's going through is similar to things we've seen with him before," Scioscia said of Napoli who has been a streaky hitter throughout his career. "He's a high-maintenance guy as far as his swing. There are going to be down times whether he's playing every day or he's playing only four out of every 12 or whatever it was.

"When he gets hot, he gets real hot and unfortunately when he's not where he needs to be, it can take him a long time to get there."
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http://www.ocregister.com/sports/napoli-246803-playing-time.html

Mamba · Apr 30, 2010

Sometimes I don't understand MS as a manager. Napoli was red hot coming out of spring training...and Mike sits him 8 of the first 10 games. Granted Mathis was hitting the ball, he isn't the power hitter Napoli is. Now Napoli is in a cold streak and it is killing the offense when he can't produce when he has runners on. Hopefully he can snap out of it and go on one of his tears.

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Slumping Napoli yet to find his groove

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