Rosario laments "worst month" of long career

ARLINGTON, Texas – Eddie Rosario led off the top of the fifth with a single to center field, a relatively nondescript moment that meant even less moments later when he was wiped out on a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of teammate Riley Adams.

That was April 17, the finale of the Nationals’ series at Dodger Stadium. Thirteen games have passed since then. Thirteen games in which Rosario has not delivered another base hit.

He’s taken 25 at-bats since. He has produced zero hits. He’s now batting .088 for the season, his OPS an abysmal .299.

“It’s probably the worst month of my career, by far,” he said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “I’ve never felt like I’ve been in this position. I’ve hit balls very well, and it seems like every time I hit a ball well, it’s right at someone. I keep working hard, going out there and try to have good approaches. But I just can’t wait for this month to be over with.”

Rosario has never hit well in April. It’s by far the worst statistical month of his long career. He’s a .206 hitter with a .620 OPS in April. In no other month is his OPS worse than .735.

So there is actually a lengthy track record to suggest Rosario will snap out of this early season funk and become a productive hitter for the Nationals after all.

“He’ll get himself out of it. I’ve seen him do this,” manager Davey Martinez said following Tuesday’s loss to the Rangers. “If you look at his numbers in April, they’re not very good. Tomorrow, we start May. Hopefully tomorrow he breaks out of it, and he hits like we know he can.”

The trouble is, even if Rosario improves his OPS by 200 points, he’d still rank among the worst hitters in baseball. He would need to improve by about 450 points just to reach his career mark of .758.

It’s a tall task, but the 32-year-old tries to remind himself he’s dug himself out of early season holes before. It’s almost an annual rite of passage for him.

“I’ve always had, unfortunately, a bad start, a bad month in April,” he said. “And I’ve always made good adjustments in May and had good May months. I think there’s a process part of it. Just get your timing down, seeing more pitchers and more pitches, and just getting adjusted to them as well.”

Both Rosario and Martinez mentioned the fact he’s been hitting the ball hard and still coming away with nothing to show for it. There is some truth to that: His 40 percent hard-hit rate ranks right in the middle of the pack among major league hitters, and it’s well above his career mark of 33.9 percent.

But Rosario isn’t hitting the ball hard in the air. He’s hitting it hard on the ground. His 14 percent line drive rate is by far the worst of his career, and his 48 percent ground ball rate is the highest of his career.

So if he wants to rediscover his typical form, he’s going to have to not only keep hitting the ball hard, but hit it hard in the air again. Provided the Nationals keep giving him chances to snap out of it.

Rosario isn’t playing full-time at the moment. Most of his starts come against right-handed pitchers. And with Victor Robles close to returning from the injured list, Lane Thomas and Joey Gallo returning before long and a prospect by the name of James Wood just waiting to get the call for his major league debut, there’s reason to wonder just how much longer the rope is for Rosario.

“It’s early. You’ve got to give him a chance,” Martinez said. “I’m not going to sit him down yet, not right now. He’s got to go out there and play. He’s playing against right-handed pitchers. I’ve seen him play before. This kid can hit. He can put you on his shoulder. Not only hit, but he drives the ball, can hit some home runs for us. So I’m going to run him out there against righties right now. Hopefully he’ll have a breakout game and take off.”

Rosario would like nothing more than that breakout game, and soon. In the meantime, all he can do is appreciate the support he continues to get from his manager, no matter how low the batting average drops.

“It feels great that your coaches and your manager supports you and have your back,” Rosario said. “It’s one of those things where it’s tough, especially the way it started. And knowing the staff, whether it’s the coaching staff or the manager, are there supporting you and having your back … it’s a great feeling knowing that they’re there to help you any way you can.”