Little sticks with Furcal to lead off

VERO BEACH, FLA. — From the comfort of a golf cart, Manager Grady Little led off an informal news conference Thursday by saying Rafael Furcal will continue to be the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter. New addition Juan Pierre will bat second.

“We have the luxury of having two guys who can get something started in the first inning of every game,” Little said. “If one makes an out, we still have another.”

Little agonized over the decision for weeks because both players have batted leadoff almost exclusively. In fact, he was leaning toward Pierre batting leadoff until the last few days.

“This is the way we start out,” Little said. “If we get into the season and see that something could be changed to make us better, we won’t be scared to change.”

Since 2002, Furcal has 3,098 at-bats as a leadoff hitter and 35 from other spots, including 11 batting second. Pierre has 3,058 leadoff at-bats and 235 elsewhere, including 153 batting second.

Both players are consistently among league leaders in stolen bases, but the switch-hitting Furcal has considerably more power than the left-handed hitting Pierre.

The No. 2 hitter is often asked to hit-and-run or to move a runner over with a bunt or a ground ball, tasks that seem better suited to Pierre.

“With Furcal on base, it will open holes for me,” said Pierre, who knew he might bat second when he signed his five-year, $44-million deal with the Dodgers in November.

“I haven’t hit-and-run very often, but it shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “My swing looks like a hit-and-run swing all the time.”

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Tom Lasorda will turn 80 in September, but he can deliver an impassioned motivational speech with the vigor of a man half his age. Knowing this, Little granted Lasorda his 15 minutes of fire and brimstone.

Lasorda, the Dodgers manager from 1976 to 1996, put on his uniform and addressed the players, reminding them that the team pays them extraordinary money.

“What can you do for the people who pay you?” Lasorda asked them. “You can give them your best effort every day. There is a lot of talent on this team, but it means nothing unless it is utilized.”

Lasorda also put in a plug for the easygoing Little, telling the players, “If you don’t like this guy, you don’t like Easter and Christmas.”

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Reliever Yhency Brazoban, who underwent Tommy John surgery 10 months ago, said he is hoping to be back in the Dodgers’ bullpen by early summer.

“I feel good. But you need a lot of patience,” said Brazoban, who threw from a mound for the first time Wednesday.

Brazoban set Dodgers rookie records by appearing in 74 games and recording 21 saves in 2005. But he paid for that last year, pitching only five times before going on the disabled list with a strained elbow that required ligament replacement surgery.

The right-hander worked on strengthening his arm at the Dodgers’ Dominican training facility over the winter. He also is trying to lose weight, eating only salad for lunch after workouts. Brazoban has carried a noticeable gut for two years.

“It is a focus for him,” Little said. “It’s something he’s trying to make better.”

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A day after he lamented being a forgotten man, right-hander D.J. Houlton had the attention of five Dodgers coaches in the bullpen. Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt was explaining to Houlton that he has been throwing across his body and he could command his fastball better if his stride was more directly at home plate.

Looking on were bullpen coach Dan Warthen, triple-A pitching coach Ken Howell, double-A pitching coach Danny Darwin and roving pitching coach Marty Reed.

“It’s a mechanical adjustment and it’s great that they took so much interest in me,” Houlton said.

Times staff writer Kevin Baxter contributed to this report.

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