Jemile Weeks dealing with leg soreness amid slump

OAKLAND -- When second baseman Jemile Weeks struck out to end the game on Sunday with the tying run on base, it only symbolized the 25-year-old's larger struggles recently.

While most of Oakland's lineup has been hotter than ever in recent games -- the team averaged 8.4 runs during its five-game winning steak, which was snapped with Sunday's loss to San Diego -- Weeks has been mired in a slump. He's 10-for-51 over his last 13 games, lowering his season batting average to .222.

A's manager Bob Melvin revealed on Tuesday that Weeks has been dealing with soreness in his legs, which is one of the reasons Melvin decided to switch him and outfielder Coco Crisp in the lineup, moving Weeks to the second spot. But that hasn't done much to help, with the second baseman just 2-for-11 in the three games since the swap.

Still, Melvin said thinks Weeks will be able to snap out of his funk soon.

"There were a lot of expectations put on him coming into the season," Melvin said. "To this point, he's had a little bit of a down season based on what we saw from him last year, but sometimes that makes you a little tougher when you do come out of it, knowing how to get through these difficult times."


(mlb.com)