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Slumping Finley on the Spot

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Times Staff Writer

Steve Finley returned to the starting lineup Tuesday after spending three games “in hitting rehab,” but the veteran’s hold on center field seemed a lot more tenuous than it did the first four months of the season.

With injured third baseman Dallas McPherson expected back this weekend or next week, Manager Mike Scioscia will have the option of moving Chone Figgins from third to center field and Finley to the bench if Finley fails to emerge from what has become a season-long funk.

“We need production,” Scioscia said. “We have a lot of confidence in Steve, but we have to find some offensive chemistry. We’ll see how things unfold. We have some options, if it’s not Finley. But if he swings the bat the way he’s capable of, it gives us another dimension. We want to give that a chance to fall into place.”

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With the exception of one pinch-hit appearance Sunday, Finley, who played the first half with an injured right shoulder, spent the weekend series against Tampa Bay working with batting instructor Mickey Hatcher in an effort to iron out flaws in his swing and improve his mental approach.

“A lot of it is him beating himself up,” Hatcher said. “He wants to win, he wants to be the guy, and that injury created a lot of bad habits, things we’re trying to correct. With a weak shoulder, it forced him to cheat on fastballs. He couldn’t keep his swing through the zone the way he wanted. He was pulling off pitches.... We’re trying to get him to be less pull-happy.”

Finley went 0 for 4 on Tuesday. He entered the game batting .228 with one home run in his last 36 games and four RBIs in his last 25 games. He said his problems were mostly physical, “but sometimes the physical turns into mental. Physically, I feel great. Now, it’s just a matter of getting it going again.”

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Jarrod Washburn, on the disabled list because of inflammation in his forearm, threw about 50 pitches in the bullpen Tuesday, a workout that, according to the left-hander, “went much better” than a similar session last week.

Washburn, who acknowledged Tuesday that going on the DL “was the smart thing to do,” said he should be ready to return to the rotation Friday or Saturday in Seattle.

Kelvim Escobar, a month into what is expected to be a two-month rehabilitation from surgery to shave a bone spur in his elbow, threw off a mound, his second bullpen workout since his operation.

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The right-hander threw breaking balls and changeups for the first time and said he felt “very good, but I don’t want to rush it now. When I’m ready, I want to be ready, 100% healthy.”

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