The new manager is looking and sounding calm, but his words are revealing something else.

Joe Torre admits he didn't spend as much time with the nucleus of his club as he would've liked, that he's relying on the eyes and ears of his coaches more than usual to make decisions. He has no clue when his wounded players will return or how much of a problem their bodies will give them over the next six or seven months.

And though Torre's face is on billboards around Los Angeles and owner Frank McCourt has trumpeted his signing as the start of a new era in the franchise's history, the man himself has repeatedly said he didn't do much differently compiling a losing record with the Atlanta Braves than he did managing the New York Yankees to four World Series titles.

With the Dodgers opening the season against the San Francisco Giants on Monday on the 50th anniversary of their move west from Brooklyn, Torre seems to have far more questions than answers. Even for a 67-year-old manager who frequently talks about the unpredictability in baseball, this level of unpredictability is unusual.

When asked two days ago how his team was shaping up, Torre raised his eyebrows and said, "I've never been this close to the end [of spring training] and not knowing the makeup of the club."

Nor has he ever traveled so much in a single spring.

Torre left camp in Florida with a split squad for the first major league games in China, two exhibition contests against the San Diego Padres in Beijing two weeks ago. He reunited with the part of the team that stayed behind in Florida -- and had most of his projected starters -- a week later in Arizona.

After a 2-2 tie against the Angels in an exhibition game in Anaheim on Thursday night, General Manager Ned Colletti drew laughs in Torre's office by cracking jokes about the history made by the Dodgers.

"We tied in China, California, Arizona and Florida," Colletti said. "Nobody's ever done that before. Nobody."

Said Torre: "I knew I wanted to make my mark here."

But on a more serious note, the travel cost Torre a week with Blake DeWitt, a 22-year-old prospect who probably will start the season at third base because of injuries to Nomar Garciaparra, Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu.

How much time Garciaparra will miss because of a microfracture in his wrist is unknown. LaRoche will be out until at least May and Abreu is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.

Second baseman Jeff Kent has battled a strained hamstring over the last month.

The health of Garciaparra, Kent and closer Takashi Saito (calf) are of particular concern because of their ages -- 34, 40 and 38 -- and their recent histories.

"You have to expect anything to happen at any time," Colletti said.

Especially after last season, when the deteriorating health of the pitching staff caused the team to tumble to a fourth-place finish.

Torre has maintained the team's fortunes will largely be decided by the pitching and, so far, that area has remained relatively unaffected by injuries. The exceptions are former All-Star Jason Schmidt and reliever Yhency Brazoban, who are recovering from shoulder surgeries. Schmidt will be shelved until at least late May and Brazoban was sent to double A to rebuild shoulder strength.

But the Dodgers might've come out of the spring with a deeper rotation than expected, as the two injury-plagued pitchers competing with Schmidt for the fifth spot, Esteban Loaiza and Chan Ho Park, had solid exhibition seasons. Park, who went into camp on a minor league deal, pitched well enough to force his way into the bullpen as a long reliever.

The Dodgers look solid in the first four rotation spots. Opening-day starter Brad Penny was 16-4 last season with a 3.03 earned-run average despite battling abdominal problems over the final month and a half. Derek Lowe is a consistent innings-eater, and though 23-year-old Chad Billingsley had a rough spring, management is expecting that time on the mound will allow him to correct his mechanical flaws.

No. 4 starter Hiroki Kuroda, who left Japan to sign a three-year, $35.3-million contract with the Dodgers, appeared to get a better feel for the wider American strike zone as the spring progressed.