Cincinnati Reds' Jay Bruce’s slump a worrying factor for offence – MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker admitted on Friday, July 20, that past few weeks have been tough for right fielder Jay Bruce. The player has witnessed a sharp slump in his hitting this month at a time when he had recently made it to the All-Star Game.
"It's killing him," said Reds' manager Dusty Baker. "I can see it all over his face."
When he entered Friday’s game, Jay Bruce had already had four hitless games which is not good news for both the player and the team.
Bruce’s decline, in other words, presents a worrying challenge for the Reds at a time when the first baseman Jay Votto is out of the regular games of the second season due to knee surgery. It will take Votto a month to return and how long will it take Bruce to regain his form is unknown.
"The one thing you'd like to see him [do] is start to [use the] opposite field and march your way back," Baker said. "There's a lot more hits to the opposite field than the pull side. Look at most of the guys hitting high for an average, [they] are straightaway or opposite-field hitters."
The Reds even gave a day-off to the right fielder when the team took on Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, thinking it would help Bruce to get back in his element again. However, that did not work either.
Despite all the odds confronting the player, the team manager has all the confidence in Bruce. Having been a considerate and discerning manager himself, Baker knows that Bruce can be as productive and prolific as he ever has been; all that it requires is some time.
"Maybe he'll get a cheap one here or there, and that's how it usually starts," Baker said. "Then all the pressure seems to just [fall] off your shoulders."
Jay Bruce, on the other hand, will certainly be looking forward to be of invaluable assistance to the team’s offence sooner than later given their indispensability and necessity in the absence of All-Star Joey Votto because of his knee injury.
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