Reddick trying to do too much

NEW YORK -- Chasing a playoff berth, and batting in the most important spot in the A's lineup, Josh Reddick may be putting too much pressure on himself to perform. It appeared frustrations hit a high for the young A's slugger when he struck out for a career-high tying fourth time on Friday night. To help ease the mind of the typically consistent right fielder, A's manager Bob Melvin moved him down in the batting order to sixth. On August 25, the manager made a similar move with Reddick and he responded in a big way. "Sometimes you just take a little pressure off," Melvin said. "He's gone back and forth. We took him out of that spot for a while and he went right back in and swung the bat well again." Last month when Reddick was moved down he recorded three hits in the first game. Then went on to bat .500 (14 for 28) with three homers and nine RBI over a six-game span en route to winning American League Player of the Week honors. Reddick hit .268 with 20 homers and 43 RBI before the All-Star Break but is hitting .223 with nine homers and 36 RBI since. His biggest struggles have come with runners in scoring position when he is .211 (30 for 142). On Friday night he flew out with the bases loaded and two outs. "He is just trying to do a little too much," Melvin said. "He's done a lot for us this year both offensively and defensively. Now you get down to the point where you are close to season's end and I think you just try to do a little too much." Reddick leads the team with 29 home runs and 79 RBI. For a young player getting to that 30 home run plateau may be subconsciously weighing on him a little bit. "Nine is a big number in this game" Melvin said. "Whether it's 299, whether its 29, whether is nine wins, 19 wins, I mean there is a lot to those big round numbers and I think you can't but to know where you are as far as that goes." Crisp update:-- Coco Crisp is still out of the lineup with allergic conjunctivitis in both of his eyes. He appeared as a pinch runner last night but has yet to resume hitting. Melvin hopes the veteran outfielder will be available soon."I'm always holding out hope," Melvin said. "Literally day to day if it's not tomorrow we'll hope for the first day in Texas."