Andre Ethier had been struggling of late, but after adjusting his swing before Wednesday's loss to the Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder admitted he'd been struggling with a "nickel-sized" blister on his right hand.
"This thing is huge, it's not a little blister," said Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly. "This thing is a monster."
And Ethier is winning the battle against the monster.
Ethier broke out of a mini-slump by going 2-for-4 with a couple of runs scored in the 8-4 loss to San Francisco. With a pad taped to his hand, Ethier was able to hit a double on Wednesday to become the first Dodger player to record 30 doubles in six consecutive years.
The blister trouble began on Sunday, when a smaller blister that had developed on the edge of a callous burst open.
"This is going to be something that will nag a little bit," Mattingly said. "It will limit the amount of work he is going to do."
To combat the pain that has made batting practice "interesting," in Ethier's words, he adjusted his hand placement on the bat, choking up so the affected area wouldn't rub on the wood so much.
Ethier has a .278 batting average on the year with 12 home runs and 69 RBI.
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