April 13--When the beginning ends usually is when Adam LaRoche begins.
For whatever reason, the march from March and April into May has been an annual struggle for the first-year White Sox designated hitter/first baseman.
Coming into this season, his 13th, LaRoche batted .222 with a .716 on-base plus slugging percentage in 250 career March and April games. He's hitting .190 with a .785 OPS and 11 strikeouts in 22 plate appearances this season.
His average jumps 38 points to .260 in May and June, and to .288 from August through October. His OPS hovers around .800 in May-July, and creeps toward .900 in August through October.
"I've never been able to put a finger on it," LaRoche said. "I've had a lot of years where it has taken me a minute to get going. The bright side is I've been through it before. A younger me would get really frustrated, but I know that doesn't help accomplish anything."
LaRoche, 35, has accomplished a little something during the White Sox's two-game winning streak.
After managing one hit in his first 14 at-bats, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound left-handed hitter has three in his last seven with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored.
It might be no coincidence that LaRoche, who won a Gold Glove in 2012 with the Nationals, began to get into the swing of things Saturday, when he started at first base for the first time.
"You don't feel like you're really in the game (at DH) as much as you do when you've always been a guy on the field," manager Robin Ventura said. "It can become an uncomfortable thing for some guys. He's getting better at it.
"He's not a guy for excuses. He likes playing first base; he's going to still get that to be able to get that going."
First base, though, is occupied by 2014 American League Rookie of the Year Jose Abreu. But Ventura said LaRoche will get some spot starts there. Abreu served as designated hitter in 35 games last season.
LaRoche knew the deal when he signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Sox, his sixth team, after spending four seasons with the Nationals. He came here to protect Abreu in the lineup while batting cleanup.
"(I've) never really been a DH other than twice a year," LaRoche said. "DH is going to be a little bit different, but it's still hitting; it's the same game."
LaRoche is trying to accentuate the positives of being a designated sitter when he's not batting. He has had some minor lower-back, hip and knee aches late in the last two seasons, a result, he said, of always playing the field.
"This will help a lot as far as staying fresh," he said. "I enjoy helping out on defense. ... But here, that's it: It's hit or nothing."
Not surprisingly, LaRoche's approach resides far from any ledges. He said he spends no time thinking about all those early season numbers -- win or lose.
"I know when you're winning, it makes those struggles a lot easier to handle," he said.
"The harder you try, a lot of times the worse things get. This isn't football, where you can muscle your way through it. But that's the tendency we have, is to gear up when things are tough instead of being able to gear down, really slow the game down. That's why a lot of times when you lose a couple you can end up having that snowball."
Seeing as the Sox will have played only American League Central opponents in their first 18 games, LaRoche hopes the end of the beginning comes sooner than usual.
pskrbina@tribpub.com
