Pierre gets dropped to eighth spot

Manager Grady Little turned Juan Pierre’s world upside down Saturday, knocking Pierre from his normal perch atop the lineup to the eighth spot for only the third time in Pierre’s eight-year career and first time since 2001.

An hour after Pierre saw his name above pitcher Derek Lowe on the lineup card, he was still trying to get used to the view.

“It’s frustrating, because I know if I was batting .300 and getting on base more I’d be at the top of the lineup,” said Pierre, who entered Saturday with a .269 average and .297 on-base percentage, well off his career marks of .303 and .350. “But I’m not going to stop believing in myself. If anybody else doesn’t believe in me, I still will.”

Does Pierre think Little still believes in him?

“You’ll have to ask him,” the center fielder said.

The manager bristled at the question.

“I’m not down on this guy,” Little said. “He’s just going through his struggles right now. I have confidence he’ll get it going, and once he does, he’ll be at the top of the order where he belongs. Right now, it’s not happening.”

The Dodgers could absorb Pierre’s sluggish average if his on-base percentage was closer to the .360 benchmark for leadoff hitters, but Pierre has never walked much and entered Saturday with nine walks in 253 at-bats.

Little would like Pierre to be a little more selective. He has been swinging at too many bad pitches, producing too many pop-ups and weak ground balls.

History could be in Pierre’s favor -- he’s a career .336 hitter in July, a .290 hitter in August and a .338 hitter in September/October.

“Hopefully he’ll get it going,” Little said. “He’s been searching lately, working as hard as any human being I’ve ever seen, but right now we’re trying to get this thing jump-started. We all know he can get on base more. I feel he’ll get it going, but right now we need some guys to get on base at the top of the order.”

Little, who moved Tony Abreu into the two hole behind Rafael Furcal, hoped Pierre’s demotion would “take a little heat off him -- maybe getting down there will help him relax a bit.”

Pierre doubted it.

“We’re in a business where our people see our mistakes and judge us every night,” Pierre said. “You’re always going to play with pressure.”

There is more pressure with a five-year, $44-million contract, a deal that was heavily criticized as too lucrative for Pierre, and when you’re trying to make a first impression with a new team.

“I was brought here to get on base and score runs -- I’m not oblivious to that,” Pierre said. “I know I can do it. This is a new city, and people have only seen me this year. No one has seen me struggle and get out of it yet.”

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Asked Saturday if he felt Russell Martin was the best catcher in the National League, Little invoked the memory of a Great Depression-era racehorse who came of age in California.

“I was thinking about him today when I rode past Santa Anita Park,” Little said of Martin, who entered Saturday with a .302 average, seven homers and 40 runs batted in. “In a lot of ways, Russell Martin is like Seabiscuit, a West Coast horse that no one thought much of because no one saw him run.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com