Tampa Bay Rays catcher Dioner Navarro doesn't know cause of bad year, plans to bounce back

ST. PETERSBURG — Though C Dioner Navarro can't pinpoint why he has had a disappointing season, it has served as motivation.

Navarro, 25, coming off a breakout season in 2008 in which he made his first All-Star team and hit .295, saw his numbers drop significantly, as he's batting .219 with six games to go. He has also thrown out 22.7 percent of attempted basestealers compared with 35.7 in 2008, which ranked third in the majors.

"Obviously something has got to be done," Navarro said. "I consider myself a much better player, much better hitter than what I'm doing right now. I guess I've got to work on my offense, and everything else, come back strong next year and see what happens."

Navarro said he worked harder this past offseason than the one before his All-Star campaign, and manager Joe Maddon said he "looks like he's in better shape than he was at any time last year, or the year before." Navarro said he still feels comfortable at the plate, yet the highest his average has been is .231, and he has just two hits in his past 23 at-bats.

The switch-hitter has actually fared well against left-handed pitchers (.281) but is at .182 against right-handers, more than 60 points below his career mark from the left side.

"I just think overall it's been a down year for him," Maddon said. "I don't have any solid reason for that."

Maddon said Navarro's throwing is fine, from his arm to his release to his velocity, and that numbers can be deceiving, with it partly being the pitcher's fault for not doing as good a job controlling the running game.

"Obviously it's been a fairly tough year for me," Navarro said. "I've got to go back in the offseason and work on everything that got me to be successful last year and come back next year. I've been doing the same (thing); it just hasn't gotten there. All I've got to do is keep working."

First-timer: Ben Zobrist started at first base for the first time this season, and he certainly had an interesting night.

Zobrist, who hadn't taken ground balls at first since spring training, made an error but later bounced back with a great diving catch down the line.

In the fifth, Zobrist had a grounder by Luke Scott bounce off his right foot; Scott later scored. But in the sixth, Zobrist dived to his left to grab a low liner by Brian Roberts.

Maddon started Zobrist at first because he wanted to get Akinori Iwamura and Gabe Kapler in the lineup the same day while giving LF Carl Crawford a day off. And he thought with Zobrist being their super utility guy, who has played seven positions this season, he could handle it.

Maddon said he also wants to pick a day this week to rest SS Jason Bartlett, and potentially Zobrist and 3B Evan Longoria.

Repeat the feat? Rookie RHP Wade Davis will have a hard time topping his last performance against the Orioles when he faces them tonight, as he threw a four-hitter in Baltimore on Sept. 17.

"I'm not going to do anything different," Davis said. "I got away with a lot of pitches last time that I left over the heart of the plate. I'm just going to try to execute a little bit better."

Davis, 24, said the last outing gives him some confidence going into this one.

"I think so, especially to face them as many times as I did, I get to see a little bit of weaknesses and the guys' tendencies and what they like to do a little bit."

Miscellany: The Rays and Pirates have partnered to renovate two youth baseball fields at Noma Lloyd Park for the city of Bradenton and the 13th Avenue Community Center. Rays team president Matt Silverman, RHP James Shields and radio broadcaster Andy Freed will be at Noma Lloyd at 11 a.m. Thursday for the announcement.