Angels give slumping Kyren Paris a ‘mental break’
ANAHEIM — In the span of a month, Kyren Paris went from being a guy who wasn’t expected to make the team to a guy whose absence from the lineup warranted a crowd of media at his locker.
It’s been a wild ride for the Angels’ 23-year-old infielder.
Paris hit .400 with five homers and a 1.402 OPS in his first 13 games. Those numbers were obviously unsustainable, but the correction has been dramatic. Since then, Paris is 1 for 17 with 10 strikeouts. He’s now hitting .288 with a 1.018 OPS.
That slump led to him getting the day off on Sunday.
“He’s been doing so good, and I don’t want him to fall too far down and then it becomes mental,” Manager Ron Washington said. “So I watched him yesterday, and I said, You know what? I’m just gonna give him a mental day.’ And now he gets one today, he gets one tomorrow (a scheduled off day), we come back Tuesday and start all over again.
“We’ve got to take care of that kid. I don’t ever want him to not have the confidence that he has right now. So I just felt like today was a day that I can just give him a mental break and then come back Tuesday and start it all over.”
Paris has never been an everyday player in the majors before the past couple weeks. As the media assembled in front of his locker on Sunday to ask what he’s been seeing, he said pitchers have begun working him differently.
“A lot more sinkers in,” Paris said. “That’s been the biggest thing, especially with the Giants having more sinker ball pitchers. They’ve definitely been throwing sinkers in. For me, it’s just getting something better, a better pitch, and I’ll be able to put a good swing on it.”
Paris changed his swing over the winter, moving back in the box, opening up his stance and keeping his weight back later. He said the mechanics of that swing are still intact.
“The swing is feeling great,” he said. “It’s just as simple as pitch selection, getting a pitch over the heart of the plate.”
Washington said he’d like to see Paris adjust his two-strike approach.
“I’d like to see every one of our hitters make adjustments, and he’s included,” Washington said. “You’ve got to realize, he’s young. He doesn’t have a whole lot of experience. He’s been successful the way he’s been going at it, and now he’s beginning to understand the game is about adjusting and readjusting, adjusting and readjusting, adjusting and readjusting.”
SWINGING 3-0
A night after Logan O’Hoppe grounded out swinging at a 3-and-0 pitch that was out of the zone in the ninth inning, Washington said it was his decision to give O’Hoppe the green light.
“We’re down 3-2, and we’ve got a guy at the plate that’s capable of hitting the ball out of the ballpark,” Washington said. “This guy is in a situation where he has to throw a strike. But as the hitter, I gotta make sure I get a strike. So I gave him the 3-0 swing. Now, I can’t make the decision to fire on a bad pitch. That’s how 3-0 works.”
Washington said none of his players have the liberty to swing at a 3-0 pitch without him giving the sign.
NOTES
The Angels have been in an offensive funk for more than a week, but Washington said he’s not to the point of considering lineup changes.
“What you see is what we are,” Washington said. “Those guys where they are have to do their job. Moving them around is not going to make a difference, because there isn’t anyone in my lineup right now that’s hot where I can take him and put him here and it’s going to make a difference. They have to do their job. And when they start doing their job, (questions about the lineup) would never have happened.” …
Third baseman Yoán Moncada (sprained right thumb) still has not begun swinging from the left side. Moncada has been doing defensive drills and hitting from the right side. …
Right-hander Ben Joyce (shoulder inflammation) has still not resumed throwing, but he said he’s feeling better.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP José Soriano, 2-2, 3.16) vs. Pirates (LHP Bailey Falter, 1-2, 4.91), Tuesday, 6:38 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network West, 830 AM