Editor's Note: It's All Mental

Andre Ethier is the most cerebral player in the league. It's not because he can see the game in a different way than the average Joe Right-Fielder. It's because what he thinks factors into how he plays. You can see that when he slams his gloves or his helmet onto the ground after striking out. For Andre Ethier, every at-bat is serious business. Sometimes that benefits him. It pushes him to play harder and try to excel. But most of the time it just hinders his talent. The suspension of Manny Ramirez took the hardest toll on Ethier's mentality this season. After last year, it became common sense that Manny improved everyone around him in the lineup, and Ethier appeared to benefit from his presence the most. His start this season made him look like a bona-fide All-Star and MVP candidate. Then Manny was suspended, and everything went downhill. One strikeout gets to Ethier, and he starts to think he can't get a hit without Ramirez in the lineup. This creates a downward spiral that becomes harder and harder to stop. But it only takes one swing of the bat to escape it. Ethier began his ascent into solid statistics with a homer off Arizona-ace Dan Haren. It's no coincidence that he has five home runs in 8 games, including his shot off Haren. And during that stretch, Ethier is batting 13-for-31, a .419 batting average, with three multi-hit games, eight RBI's, and three doubles. Ethier has the talent. He just needs to know that he does.