Furcal, Abreu done for season

Neither Rafael Furcal nor Tony Abreu will play again this season and it’s unlikely hobbled infielder Jeff Kent will either, Manager Grady Little said Thursday.

Furcal, hobbled all season by a bad ankle, hasn’t played since hurting his back 11 days ago in Colorado. He underwent an MRI exam this week and trainer Stan Conte said he has a “very mild bulge” of a disk in his spine that will heal with rest.

Furcal tried to take batting practice last weekend in Arizona but the pain stopped him after two swings.

“I want to play. But I don’t want to play like I’m feeling,” he said. “It’s getting better but not like I say I can play. It’s been a tough year for me.”

He’ll have another MRI test Monday on his sprained left ankle because, Conte said, the Dodgers don’t want Furcal to return to the Dominican Republic “unless we definitely know that rest and rehab is going to” heal the injury.

Abreu, plagued since July by what Conte calls a abdominal groin strain, has been visiting doctors most of the summer, seeking opinions on a course of treatment and rehab. Surgery is among the possibilities.

Kent has been slowed by a hamstring strain since July but also has a bruise on his left leg, sustained when he slid into Colorado catcher Yorvit Torrealba on Tuesday.

The Dodgers’ 2008 regular-season schedule, which will be released today at dodgers.com, tentatively has the team opening at home March 31 against the San Francisco Giants, part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of both teams’ move from New York to California.

The Dodgers will make interleague visits to Anaheim and Detroit and play host to the Angels, the Chicago White Sox and the Central Division champion Cleveland Indians at Dodger Stadium.

With the Dodgers out of the hunt for a playoff berth, All-Star Brad Penny will give up his turn in the rotation Sunday. Little said he would pick a starter today, either Mark Hendrickson or D.J. Houlton.

But no matter who starts, that pitcher doesn’t figure to be around long.

Little wants to get a look at many of the young pitchers who were called up this month but haven’t had much of a chance to pitch.

The bullpen also could get emptied tonight; left-hander David Wells has lasted five innings or fewer in four of his six starts with the Dodgers.

There may be a split in the clubhouse but during his pregame meeting with reporters, Little suggested he and General Manager Ned Colletti are unusually close.

“Ever since Ned and I came to this ballclub, we do everything together,” Little said. “When decisions are made that work out OK, we celebrate together. When decisions are made that don’t work out too good, we cry together. We don’t sleep at night together.”

Little, red-faced, quickly added:

“I said the wrong words.”

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com