Ethier gets back in the swing

Andre Ethier’s roller-coaster ride at the plate this season is on an upswing again.

Entering Wednesday’s game, the Dodgers’ right fielder had hit four home runs and two doubles in the previous week, driving in six runs and batting .450. That lifted Ethier’s overall average to .280 from .250 in late May, when the left-handed hitter struggled after enjoying a strong start in April.

He led the Dodgers with 11 home runs overall, and had hit two home runs in a game four times this season, including in the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over the Padres on Tuesday.

Is he doing anything differently? “Not one thing,” Ethier said Wednesday. “The balls are falling in. Sometimes they fall in, sometimes they don’t. Same swing, same approach.”

But Manager Joe Torre said he noticed a change in Ethier’s swing.

“I felt for a time that he was feeling for” pitches, Torre said. “It just looked like he was trying to serve the ball out there. I think he lost some bat speed in trying to break out of the slump.”

About a week ago, however, Torre said he watched Ethier take batting practice “and he was driving the ball more so than hitting the ball, so I’ve seen more bat speed from him.”

In any case, Ethier said his confidence was not shaken during his May slump. “When I’m going through a bad spot, I think I’m just as good a hitter,” he said.

More Manny

Ethier was batting a hot cleanup behind Manny Ramirez before Ramirez was hit with a 50-game suspension May 7 for violating baseball’s drug policy. Since then, Ethier has hit third, sixth and elsewhere in the lineup.

Asked if Ethier would go back to batting cleanup when Ramirez returns July 3, Torre replied, “I don’t know yet. I’m going to look at it.”

The Dodgers plan for Ramirez to play in some minor league games to prepare for his return. “Ideally you’d like to send him to triple A because the pitchers have a better chance of throwing the ball over the plate,” Torre said.

But he also would like Ramirez “to be in the same place for a while” in the minors, “as opposed to having a carnival atmosphere every place he goes.”

“Speaking of carnival,” Torre added, “we’re going to New York as soon as he gets activated anyway, and we know what that’s going to be like.”

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have been warned by the commissioner’s office to keep Ramirez out of their clubhouse before games as long as he is suspended, club spokesman Josh Rawitch confirmed.

Ramirez greeted teammates and spoke with reporters in the Dodgers’ clubhouse before Tuesday’s game.

Players under suspension are not permitted to use the clubhouse during the media-access period, which begins 3 1/2 hours before game time. The Dodgers were not penalized for the violation. Rawitch said the Dodgers would adhere to the policy in the future.

Ramirez has worked out at Dodger Stadium during his suspension but had not met with the media. In Tuesday’s impromptu meeting with reporters, he said he had apologized to fans, teammates and ownership and had no plan to hold a news conference or otherwise explain the events that led to his suspension.

And finally

The Dodgers’ second-day draft picks included outfielder Mario Songco, a junior at Loyola Marymount.

--

james.peltz@latimes.com

bill.shaikin@latimes.com