Roberts says offensive woes are merely a blip

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LOS ANGELES — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a not-so-bold proclamation before Wednesday’s game against the Mets: “I believe Howie Kendrick is not going to hit .170 this year.”

Of course, he had already said as much when he inserted the veteran into the third spot in the lineup, in spite of a .198/.235/.210 batting line in 85 plate appearances.

While Kendrick’s struggles have been some of the most acute on the team, he is not the only one feeling the heat for lack of production. Not a single member of the team is hitting .300 on the season and they collectively rank just 24th in batting average over the last 30 days. While that might be worrying, Roberts essentially said he hasn’t noticed.

“I don’t pay attention [to average], personally,” Roberts said. “I look at quality of at-bats, the contact, how hard they’re hitting the baseball. There are things we get as far as data to specify how hard the guys are hitting the baseball. For me, I try to take the long view where, if you’re getting good …

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