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DENVER -- There are two very different methods that Bruce Bochy has taken in the past when faced with a slumping player. Sometimes, like with Brandon Belt in Philadelphia a couple years ago, Bochy gives the player two or three days to regroup mentally. Sometimes he keeps running him out there, hoping the player hits his way out of the slump.
Bochy will keep running Casey McGehee out there, especially with the Giants facing four left-handers in a row, starting tonight with Jorge De La Rosa. He said he has not met with McGehee yet, but he wants his third baseman -- who has hit into seven double plays in 43 at-bats -- to know that the team is behind him. Bochy also wants McGehee to relax at the plate.
"We've got to get him to back off a little," Bochy said. "Less is more. He's just trying so hard. You guys saw him (Friday night), he's taking it really hard. It's so early and we've got to get him going. He knocked in (76) runs last year. He can hit, and he's going to hit."
McGehee has just one hit in his last 16 at-bats and is batting .163 on the season, but Bochy thinks he's also dealing with some bad luck. Bochy liked McGehee's opposite-way swing on the second double play but it was hit right at second baseman DJ LeMahieu. The manager noted that McGehee's first double play was hit hard down the line, and said of Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado, "I don't know who else makes that play."
Bochy liked that McGehee is taking the slump hard.
"One of the best ways to scout a player is how he handles an 0 for 4 or tough day," Bochy said. "You want him to be upset, but don't want him to feel he let everyone down."
This could all change if the slump continues. Bochy admitted that there's a "point of diminishing returns" when you keep putting a player in the lineup, but for now McGehee will get a shot to play his way out of this.
"He needs to know we're with him," Bochy said.
