‘Pressing’ Young gets night off vs. Seattle

Remember when the offensively struggling Arizona
Diamondbacks were counting the days until injured center
fielder Chris Young returned to their lineup?

Young got off to a blistering start to the 2012 season,
clubbing five home runs, driving in 13 runs and hitting
.410
during an 7-4 start for the Diamondbacks.

The veteran was injured April 17 when he crashed into the
center field wall and was placed the disabled list.
Arizona
went 10-19 in Young’s absence.

But since returning May 18 at Kansas City, Young has
struggled. Mightily. Young is hitting just .149 (13-for-
87) with no homers and three RBI in 24 games. Two
of
his three runs batted in came in his first game back.

For that reason, D-backs skipper Kirk Gibson is giving
C.Y. a night off Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners.

“I felt he was struggling (Monday) night, seems like he’s
really frustrated,” Gibson told reporters Tuesday
afternoon. “And I think he went and hit after the game,
so he’s pressing pretty hard. We’ll give him a day to
relax.”

Instead, Gerardo Parra will play center field and bat
eighth for the Diamondbacks as they face Seattle right-
hander
Erasmo Ramirez.

“Early in the season, he was locked in, so he’s trying to
get back to that,” Gibson said about Young. “That’s pretty
hard to do. What was he hitting, .455 when he went on the
D.L. With runners in scoring position, he was raking.

“He’s not there right now.”

Arizona Sports’ Kyndra de St. Aubin contributed to this
report

Follow @Vincemarotta