Andruw Jones is too strong to let crappy season get him down

If you’re a Braves fan, or you own Andruw Jones on your fantasy team, or you’re somebody that just hates to see players slump, this has not been a good summer for you.

Andruw Jones has been struggling. Up to this point the concensus was that he’d snap out of it. But it’s June 19 and Adruw Jones is batting .205. So far this month, he’s hitting  .147.

So maybe it’s time to wave the white flag:

From the AJC:

The Braves are playing the Red Sox again, and Andruw Jones is back down hitting in the sixth hole.

Jones was struggling the last time these teams met in mid-May, and manager Bobby Cox dropped him from cleanup to the sixth hole for the third game of that series in Boston. Jones responded by striking out five times.In the two weeks after that, Jones showed signs of digging himself out of his season-long rut, and Cox bumped him back up to fourth and fifth in the order.

But Monday night, Jones was back hitting sixth for the first time since May 27. He was coming off a road trip in which he went 2-for-24 (.083). Going 0-for-4 Monday dropped his batting average to .205.

USA Today points out that lots of folks are concerned that Jones, a career .265 hitter, hit only .249 in the second half last year.

Jones seems resigned to the fact that 2007 isn’t going to be his year. He didn’t complain when Cox bumped him to sixth in the order. On the contrary, he thought it was a good idea:

“If it makes the lineup better, especially if you have Kelly Johnson and Willie Harris going back-to-back [at Nos. 1-2 in the order] — that’s a great lineup right there,” said Jones.

Even my buddy Zvee, who is an avid defender of all the Braves (even Chipper), has been quick to point out that “Andruw’s swing just looks awful right now.”

So if you own Andruw on your fantasy team, maybe it’s time to suck it up and just get what you can get for him. And if you’re a Braves fan, well, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that  Andruw’s days in Atlanta are (probably) numbered.

And if you’re somebody that just hates to see players slump, well, don’t worry about Andruw. He’s gonna be just fine:

“Everybody is going to struggle in their life, but it’s not a big deal,” he said. “I’m not thinking about it. I’m too strong a person to let that stuff bother me.”

See? He’s gonna be just fine.