As a befuddled batter, Dodgers right-hander Darvish sticks out like a sore thumb

Yu Darvish began his fifth-inning at-bat Wednesday against Carlos Rodon with one of the most unusual swings ever seen in a major league game, only lightly moving his bat as a low fastball arrived at the plate.

Two pitches later, he struck out looking.

In his last two starts as a Dodger, Darvish has batted four times, seen 14 pitches and struck out each time. After two awkward at-bats in the Dodgers’ comeback victory over the Chicago White Sox, Darvish revealed that he remains bothered by a bruised left thumb suffered in his Dodgers debut against the New York Mets.

Through interpreter Hideaki Soto, he said he is still searching for a pain-free way to swing.

He was injured while swinging and missing at a Jacob DeGrom pitch in that outing, and joked afterward that he planned to exact his revenge at a later date.

Darvish does not have much experience hitting, nor a great track record in his limited experience doing so. He did hit a home run last year, after switching to batting right-handed. He had been a left-handed hitter for most of his career in his native Japan, but switched to protect his pitching elbow after undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery.

The thumb is a secondary injury to the back tightness that forced him to exit after six innings Wednesday. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Darvish would make his next scheduled start.

So, despite two off days this week, the Dodgers are staying on turn in their next starting-rotation cycle. Left-hander Rich Hill will start Friday at Detroit on one week of rest, as will left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu on Saturday and right-hander Kenta Maeda on Sunday. Alex Wood and Darvish will handle the first two games at Pittsburgh before Hill and Ryu pitch on regular rest to finish the trip.

Gonzalez to DH

Adrian Gonzalez’s minor league rehabilitation assignment is complete, and the Dodgers have said they plan to activate the first baseman during this weekend’s three-game series against the Tigers. They’re still not saying which day.

Roberts noted that the Dodgers will not be seeing Tigers left-hander Matt Boyd, who had initially been scheduled to start this weekend. That would have affected Gonzalez’s playing time.

Instead, the Dodgers will face right-handers Jordan Zimmermann, Michael Fulmer and Justin Verlander, in that order.

“One of these three days,” Roberts said of Gonzalez, “we can get him to DH.”

Best of the worst

After two of baseball’s worst teams, the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox, played the Dodgers to tight games on the just-concluded homestand, Roberts was asked if he thought his team was extracting the opposing team’s best efforts.

“Yes,” he said. “When you’re an elite team, and you look at what we’ve done, certainly every time they see us on the schedule, they’re going to bring their best, absolutely. I think our guys have set the bar, and rightfully so.”

pedro.moura@latimes.com

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