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Hu tries to make the best of role

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Times Staff Writer

CINCINNATI -- Chin-lung Hu started Monday’s game the way he started 15 previous games -- on the bench.

The role of utility infielder is one that is completely unfamiliar to Hu, the Dodgers’ minor league player of the year, and something the team’s coaching staff didn’t expect him to fill. But injuries to the likes of Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu forced the lifelong everyday player into being included on the opening-day roster to be a late-inning defensive replacement, pinch-hitter or pinch-runner. Monday, he took over for Jeff Kent at second base in the sixth inning.

Hu admits the transition has been difficult.

“I’m used to being a starting player,” he said. “Right now, I need to change my thinking. It’s just kind of different, you know?”

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Manager Joe Torre acknowledged that Hu, a shortstop who is backing up the two middle infield positions, isn’t the ideal utility player because of the difficulty he has playing third base. Torre said the arrangement might also not be ideal for Hu, who is 24 years old and could be playing every day at triple-A Las Vegas.

“I still think he’ll get something out of this,” Torre said. “Is this going to retard his progress? I don’t know.”

Hu said what he finds most difficult in the role is hitting because he rarely sees live pitching.

Noticing that Hu appeared to be bothered by his low average, third base coach Larry Bowa made it a point to talk to him Friday in Atlanta and tell him to forget what he was batting. Hu was hitting .200 at the time.

“Joe can put you up to hit right now,” Bowa said he told Hu. “He could hit and run with you, ask you to bunt, ask you to steal a base, go from first to third; he can put you at short, second or third.”

Said Bowa: “To me, that’s very valuable. I just named five things he could do to help the team win. Sometimes they get caught up in the numbers. That’s not what this is about.”

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From the start of spring training, Hu has taken extra grounders from Bowa almost daily. On the day of every home game, Bowa said, Hu is at the ballpark at 1:30 p.m. to work with him.

Hu said Bowa has especially helped him learning how to play second base, the position he could inherit next season if the Dodgers re-sign shortstop Rafael Furcal and lose Kent to retirement.

“He’s a sponge,” Bowa said. “This kid’s not going to be a utility player. As his career unfolds, he’s probably going to be an everyday player unless something happens to him physically.”

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Jason Schmidt threw a 50-pitch bullpen session in front of an audience that included Torre, who was encouraged with the right-hander’s progress.

In his previous side session, Torre said Schmidt was throwing his curveball well. When he wasn’t able to duplicate that Monday, Torre observed, “He started to get impatient with it. He’s at that point where he’s feeling competitive.”

Torre said Schmidt would throw another bullpen session during the Dodgers’ upcoming five-game homestand, which starts Wednesday. Torre guessed that Schmidt would throw a simulated game the next time the Dodgers hit the road.

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LaRoche played for the first time since tearing a tendon in his right thumb March 7, as he was two for six in extended spring training in Vero Beach, Fla.

LaRoche, who was the designated hitter, will play third base today and could start a minor league rehabilitation assignment Wednesday.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

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