Marlins’ Stanton mired in deep slump
Barry Bonds stood in the batting cage holding a bat as he held court. His audience: slumping slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
“I haven’t hit in a while, so I can’t do it perfect,” Bonds said before taking another cut. “But I’m trying not to swing so hard.”
To punctuate his point, the home run king lined a pitch down the third-base line. Stanton nodded.
The Miami Marlins’ cleanup hitter and batting coach spent more than half an hour together before Friday’s game against Washington trying to solve the slump. There was no immediate turnaround – Stanton went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts on Friday and 0 for 3 on Saturday.
A 4-for-52 funk has dropped Stanton’s average to .210. He has 11 homers, but only one RBI since May 6.
Bonds said the session in the cage on an otherwise deserted field at Marlins Park was Stanton’s idea.
“He wanted to get out and work on some things, just tracking the ball and doing some little things,” Bonds said. “I just stepped in there to give him couple of breaks.”
Manager Don Mattingly watched and offered occasional feedback.
“It’s all about taking your time in your work and getting big G’s feel back,” Mattingly said. “You get out of sync a little bit, and the next thing you know it snowballs on you.”
Heyward out 3 to 5 games
Chicago Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward will miss three to five games with a bruise on his right side near his ribs.
The injury happened in the bottom of the first inning in Friday’s 8-1 Cubs victory over the San Francisco Giants. Heyward crashed into a padded section of the wall to the left of the 421-foot sign with an outstanding catch that robbed Giants leadoff man Denard Span of extra bases on the third pitch he saw from Jake Arrieta.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon was initially concerned that Heyward suffered a neck injury.
“You saw the way his head crunched into the wall,” Maddon said. “Three to five days isn’t awful. When I saw him walk off the bus this morning I felt good about it.”
Clearing the bases
Lucas Duda of the New York Mets missed Saturday’s game because of a bad back, and team officials expressed concern about their power-hitting first baseman. Manager Terry Collins said Duda was examined by a doctor Saturday and had an MRI. He will have another test this weekend, Collins said, and sit out Sunday as well. … Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier broke his left hand trying to make a catch in the fifth inning of Saturday’s game at Detroit. He broke his glove hand and will be evaluated again on Monday to see how long he might be sidelined. … The New York Yankees plan to activate designated hitter Alex Rodriguez from the disabled list Tuesday. He has been out since May 4 with a strained right hamstring.