Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has come out in support of struggling infielder Rafael Furcal. "Fookie still has bat speed," Mattingly said. "We saw [New York Mets All-Star outfielder] Carlos Beltran struggling in the middle of last season, and everybody was ready to get rid of him, saying he can't do this and he can't do that. But [Dodgers hitting coach Jeff Pentland] and I watched him, and he still had bat speed. All of a sudden, he got it going. Well, Fookie still has bat speed. I know he is disappointed because he is being counted on so much, but he has been hurt so much. "One thing I can't get away from is that this guy plays with energy every time out. There is no doubt that he is trying. He may not be the player he was five or six years ago, but that doesn't mean he can't play." Furcal entered Sunday's game hitting .170 for the season. He was 3-for-34 with no extra-base hits since returning on July 3 from his most recent disabled list stint. The veteran was out of the lineup on Sunday, but Mattingly insisted that was merely because of his desire to rest Furcal. "There is something about hitting that when you lose confidence, it's not good," Mattingly said. "When you go through a period of time where you're not squaring up balls, your confidence isn't going to be high. We can talk to him all we want to, but it's a matter of him squaring some balls up in a game and getting his feel and his confidence back and getting on a roll again."