Dodgers News: Don Mattingly Adresses Firing Rumors Head On
Dodgers manager Don Mattingly didn’t shy away from the reports about his impending removal as manager prior to the Dodgers-Brewers series on Monday.
Reports surfaced late last night that Mattingly could be fired today, while a Dodgers official denied that initial report. However, speaking to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Mattingly addressed the rumors directly:
Mattingly: “Talked to Stan the other day. He didn’t fire me. Talked to Ned today. I’m still here. That’s how I look at it.”
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 20, 2013
More Mattingly on job status: “I haven’t gotten the feeling that Ned’s on the edge of saying, ‘Donnie, you’re the problem.'” #Dodgers
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) May 20, 2013
Mattingly doesn’t sound like the charismatic and determined manager that took over the team two years ago and it sounds like the rumors have gotten to him. The team is 17-25 so far and unfortunately for Mattingly, increased expectations due to a heightened payroll have put his job in jeopardy.
Couple that together with a slew of injuries early on and the Dodgers have been well behind the eight-ball all season long. It sounds like things are about to come to a head, but will it change the players production on the field?
Matt Kemp has one home run and doesn’t look like the same player from last April and Andre Ethier is off to a slow start. If someone said that Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford would be the Dodgers best hitter, I’d have thought they’d be in first place.
The only constant has been ace Clayton Kershaw who is on the mound tonight with an opportunity to end the latest Dodgers losing streak. These three games could buy Mattingly more time as following Kershaw against the Brewers will be Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
While Mattingly seems somewhat resigned to the fact that change might be on the horizon, for now he’ll lead the Dodgers until he’s told not to.
