23 Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

A month and a half into the season, Adrian Gonzalez remains in a power funk, and his lack of clout has left him outside the top 15 in Fantasy value among first basemen. That's not what Gonzalez's owners bargained for on Draft Day, but despite the lackluster results, there are still plenty of reasons to hold out hope for the remaining three-fourths of the season.

Gonzalez is striking out less and hitting fewer grounders and more line drives, all of which goes a long way towards explaining his .331 batting average. He's also driving in runs at a prolific pace, possibly headed towards eclipsing his career high of 119 RBI. Gonzalez's spray chart from TexasLeaguers.com shows that he's hitting the ball deep, so more homers could be in his future.

The only problem that Gonzalez may not be able to fix is his lack of runs scored. He's crossed home plate just 11 times, and given the lack of pop in the latter half of the Dodgers' lineup, that pace may not improve much. With everything else that could go right, though, Gonzalez is a nice buy-low target.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez returned to the starting lineup Monday against the Nationals after getting Sunday off and extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the first inning. Gonzalez finished 2 for 4, producing his second straight multi-hit game and third in May.

Gonzalez is batting .382 (13 for 34) with one double, two home runs and nine RBI during his 10-game hit streak.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (neck) started for L.A. on Monday against Washington after he was removed for precautionary reasons from Sunday's game in the seventh inning. 

Gonzalez was removed Sunday in order to prevent aggravation of a neck injury and apparently it worked, though he's been taking it easy with his playing time since the issue arose. 

Gonzalez, who said Sunday his neck is feeling better every day, was riding a nine-game hitting streak entering Monday. He's hitting .345 and says his neck is not an issue in the batter's box. 

It's not every day first baseman Adrian Gonzalez leaves a game in the seventh inning. But with the Dodgers holding a six-run lead over Miami on Saturday night, he was removed as the team maintains a cautious approach with the veteran slugger in order to prevent aggravating his strained neck.

"We don’t know what gets him," manager Don Mattingly told the Los Angeles Times. "There was that play when he went to his right on that roller and gets the lead guy, that stung him a little bit. Then a swing stung him, so we knew he was hurt and it was a good time to get him out of there."

Gonzalez, who is riding a nine-game hitting streak to raise his batting average to .345, said the neck is not an issue when he's in the batter's box. However, that changes when he's doing everything else.

"It's getting better every day, but once I get out there and start running, throwing and moving it, the pain starts and it gets worse and worse and worse," he said. "You just have to deal with the pain as the game progresses."

Gonzalez took a seat in favor of Scott Van Slyke at first base for Sunday's series finale, but is expected to return to the lineup Monday against Washington.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez returned to action Friday night against Miami.

Gonzalez, who left Wednesday's game with a neck injury, had a three-run homer off starter Jose Fernandez. He finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and three RBI in a 5-4 defeat.

Gonzalez has a .339/.394/.518 line with four home runs and 26 RBI in 112 at-bats.