Russell Martin, Brad Ausmus are doing their homework

PHILADELPHIA â€”  Long before many of the Dodgers straggle into the visitors’ clubhouse in Miami this afternoon, Russell Martin and Brad Ausmus will have already gone to work. In what has become a ritual before the start of a new series, the two catchers will find a table in a quiet corner of the clubhouse and begin poring over color-coded cards that detail the tendencies of the opposing team’s hitters.

“It’s just like doing homework with a buddy,� Martin said. “It’s brutal when you do it by yourself. But if you have somebody to do it with, it makes it a lot better.�

Especially when that somebody is an honor student who has taken the class before -- which, in baseball terms at least, is a description that fits Ausmus, an Ivy League graduate who has played more than 16 seasons in the major leagues.

“Experience-wise, you can’t duplicate what he’s gone through as a starter,� said Dodgers Manager Joe Torre, a former catcher.

“And Russell certainly has embraced it. It’s not something that he feels somebody’s telling him what to do. They work this thing together.�

Torre said the January signing of Ausmus was “huge� for the Dodgers, primarily because of what he has been able to do for Martin and the pitching staff.

“Because the catcher is integrally involved in the pitching staff, he becomes a huge asset if you have one who understands not only his pitchers but knows the opposing hitters throughout the league and knows how to get them out,� Ausmus said.

And Martin, he added, is a willing student -- something many Dodgers say has improved his ability to call games.

“Russ has a pretty good grasp,� Ausmus said. “He’s really taken to heart this year the importance of game calling and applied himself diligently to try to get better.�

Manny watch

The Dodgers haven’t seen Manny Ramirez since his 50-game suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy was announced eight days ago. And though Ramirez was expected to return to his South Florida home this week, Torre said he had no idea whether Ramirez, who friends say remains embarrassed by the suspension, will visit the team during its three-game series in Miami.

“Initially, when I was talking to him back home, I was just hoping that we could get him to come,� Torre said. “But I respect the fact that he’s struggling with this. When it happens it happens. We have no anticipation that it’s going to be today or tomorrow or whatever.�

Minor trouble

Xavier Paul batted only four times in his first week in the major leagues, and if the Dodgers can’t find regular playing time for him soon, they may send him back to triple-A Albuquerque to keep him from rusting on their bench.

“It’s definitely an issue,� Torre said. “If we sense that he’s not getting enough at-bats, then chances are that we’ll flop [him] with somebody else.�

That may be difficult to do now that Jason Repko, the most obvious candidate to replace Paul, has a severely strained left hamstring, the same hamstring that caused him to miss the 2007 season.

Paul, a .288 career hitter in six-plus minor league seasons, was batting .344 when he was called up to take Ramirez’s place on the roster.

“How far he’s come in a year, you certainly don’t want to lose that,� Torre said.

Pitching change

After Thursday’s game, the Dodgers purchased the contract of left-hander Eric Milton, a 10-year major league veteran, from Albuquerque and announced he will start Saturday’s game in Florida. Jeff Weaver, the scheduled starter, will go to the bullpen, and rookie James McDonald will head back to triple A.

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