As might be expected, Luis Cruz was the hot topic during Monday’s pre-game press conference with Dodgers manager Don Mattingly – and why wouldn’t he be? Cruz is coming off of a phenomenal 10-game road trip which saw him hit .448 (13 for 29) with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs.

During the press conference, Mattingly was asked if he was concerned about Cruz’s significantly opened batting stance and if there were any plans to try to adjust it. (Ok, I didn’t ask this question and I pretty much knew what Mattingly’s answer was going to be, but the question did open the door for a burning question that I had for Mattingly about Luis Cruz).

“Luis has been good and you’re not going to mess with success…we’re not going to try to change it,” Mattingly said in answer to the batting stance question. “It’s just a leg kick, it’s just timing. You see (Darryl) Strawberry, you see different guys, Rubén Sierra over the years, guys hit with a big kicks. Luis, that’s just his timing. He’s swung the bat really well for us, anywhere we put him on the field he’s done a good job for us. I talk about it a lot… he’s linked in our line-up. We get back into the 8-hole there with Luis… or 7-hole and he’s been driving in runs or getting big hits and been a tough out and made our line-up better,” added Mattingly.

I then asked Mattingly if he planned to play Cruz every day for the remainder of the season (this being the aforementioned burning question and a big concern with a guy named Juan Uribe still on the Dodgers roster).

“The way (Luis) is swinging now, it’s hard not to put him in there,” answered Mattingly. “I’ll give him a day (off) here and there, but if he continues to swing the bat like this, it’s hard to put anybody else over there (at third base). With him there and Mark Ellis (at second base), I’ll mix A.K. (Adam Kennedy) in now and then to get a lefty in the line-up in a tough match-up or something like that, but for the most part, I pretty much got a line-up that I like playing. Other than giving a guy a breather if a guy needs a day off, I’m pretty much playing that line-up.”

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that he has no intentions of replacing Luis Cruz as the Dodgers every day third baseman. (Photo credit – Victor Decolongon)

That should put us Luis Cruz fans somewhat at ease… for now, at least. I have to say that I heard this same thing when Elian Herrera was called up to replace the injured Mark Ellis, and while Herrera started off extremely hot, he tapered off over the next month and was ultimately sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque. That said, Cruz has not only not tapered off, but has continued to flourish since his July 2nd call-up.

Like all Luis Cruz fans, I was quite concerned when Cruz was suddenly removed from Sunday’s series finally in Atlanta for what was later determined to be a leg cramp as a result of dehydration. I asked Mattingly is this was still the case. “Yes,” he answered “Sue (Falsone) was confident from the very beginning that it didn’t look at all like a hamstring and was more of a cramp. We’re always concerned but today its fine… testing and all that stuff was totally normal, so we’re good with it.”

Phew!

Prior to batting practice, I had a chance to speak briefly with Luis about his unusual batting stance. I asked him if his dad (a former Mexican Baseball League super star) also had an opened stance. “Yes. In fact his was even more open than mine,” he answered. Cruz added that he went everywhere with his dad when he was a kid. He said that one of his greatest memories was meeting Fernando Valenzuela and having his photograph taken with Fernando and his dad. When I mentioned to Luis that Tuesday night was Fernando bobble head night and that there would undoubtedly be a sellout crowd with a lot of Mexicans in attendance, Cruz flashed his trademark smile and joking said “I guess I better bring my passport.”

How can you not love a guy like Luis Cruz.