PHOENIX -- The Dodgers didn't make any splashy moves like the Angels or Marlins this offseason, but they might just get the impact of a big-time acquisition from a healthy and focused Andre Ethier.
Ethier admits he wasn't himself on the field last season, and it showed in his final stat line as he tallied his lowest RBI (62) and home run (11) numbers since 2006, his rookie year. Between a nagging knee injury and a couple issues with management, the real Ethier was mostly absent in 2011.
"Physically I knew I wasn't all the way locked in, all the way where I needed to be," Ethier said. "That kind of weighed heavy on me most of the year."
Said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly: "He started off really well, but obviously he gets banged up and didn't swing the bat as well at the end of the year. We just need Andre to be Andre, really."
That's the foremost goal for Ethier this season: To play like the player who clubbed at least 20 home runs in three consecutive years and finished sixth ...
