With the number of injuries on the roster increasing seemingly each week the Los Angeles Dodgers have been forced to rely on plenty of their depth. Matt Beaty is among those who have been given an opportunity to assume a larger role, which hasn’t gone smoothly.
Beaty got off to a slow start this season but is 3-for-5 with four RBI and three walks over five games (two starts) since being recalled from the alternate training site. “I feel pretty good up there, I feel comfortable again,” he said this week.
“Going down to the alternate site was good for me to get some at-bats, get some confidence, put some balls in play and just get back to what I do as a baseball player. That’s have good at-bats and hit the ball hard somewhere.”
Beaty was 1-for-11 with six strikeouts and two walks in 10 games when the Dodgers demoted him to their alternate site at Camelback Ranch. In addition to not seeing the ball well at the time, another reason the Dodgers optioned Beaty earlier this month was because he wasn’t getting consistent playing time.
“I think with Matt, at a point we just didn’t have consistent at-bats for him and he didn’t look comfortable in the box,” manager Dave Roberts explained.
“So to kind of buy into us sending him to the alternate site, take at-bats over 10 days or whatever it was, and to kind of get reset, certainly proved beneficial. He looks like a different hitter in the box now.”
Beaty wasn’t alone when he struggled offensively, as many of his teammates have been mired in a slump as well. It’s resulted in the Dodgers going just 3-7 over their last 10 games, including their first three-game losing streak since August 2019.
“We’re fine. We know what we have in this clubhouse. We’re a really good group of ballplayers, we’re confident. This is going to happen over 162 games,” Beaty said.
“We’ve got some key ballplayers banged up right now and it’s just next man up kind of thing. We need to put together some good at-bats and kind of get the momentum going. Once that happens, once we get that, it’s going to be game on.”
Beaty not worried about Rios
One player in particular that hasn’t fared well at the plate this season is Edwin Rios. He hasn’t recorded a hit since April 13 and currently is mired in an 0-for-25 slump with 10 strikeouts.
Beaty, however, is confident Rios will eventually find his groove again. “That’s my guy. He’ll be alright. That guy can hit. He’s one of the best hitters on this team and like I said, once he gets going, it’s going to be dangerous,” Beaty said.
“We’ve all seen what he can do and we all have confidence in him. He just needs to believe in himself. Once he gets that first knock to get on base, hit the ball hard somewhere, it’s going to be game on and fun to watch.”
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