Blister might limit All-Star Penny

Brad Penny’s participation in Tuesday’s All-Star game could be limited by the blister the pitcher developed on his right index finger in Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Braves.

“We would recommend him not [pitching] certainly if we thought it would affect anything after the break,” Dodgers Manager Grady Little said Friday.

Penny developed a water blister in the first inning and, though he was able to continue pitching, the sore finger was a major contributor to the right-hander’s worst outing of the season. Penny lasted only four innings, giving up six runs and nine hits while tying a season high with four walks, though he did not receive a decision in the 8-6 loss.

“It’s fine,” said Penny, whose index finger was bandaged Friday. “I didn’t come out of the game because of the blister.”

But it may be something that keeps him out of Tuesday’s game at San Francisco.

“I would think he would be able to [pitch], but at the same time it’s something that we’ll have to monitor,” Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. “It’s a tough call because it’s a great honor to make the All-Star game. I know he wants to pitch in that.

“But at the same time we want him to be smart and not do something that would delay him in the second half.”

Penny (10-1), tied for the National League lead in wins and third in earned-run average at 2.39, started for the NL and went two innings in last year’s All-Star game, striking out the side in the first. And he was among the candidates to start again this year before Thursday’s blister.

“It’s something that may cut him back from two innings to one inning in an All-Star situation,” Little said. “But he should be able to pitch in that game and should be able to go for us right after the break.”

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Left-hander Joe Beimel was back in the Dodgers bullpen Friday after spending two days in the hospital because of heart palpitations.

“They don’t know what caused it,” said Beimel, who had never been hospitalized. “It’s just good to get back to normal. I can’t say I was really that scared about it because the doctors told me what it was. [It was] just a little strange.”

Beimel, who faced one batter Friday and gave up a single, said his heart began to “flutter” during batting practice Tuesday and the team’s medical staff sent him to the hospital for evaluation. When medicine failed to relieve the problem, doctors performed a cardioversion, in which an electric shock is used to convert an abnormal cardiac rhythm to a normal one.

“I feel perfectly fine,” said Beimel, who spent 20 minutes riding a stationary bike under a trainer’s supervision Friday. “It’s kind of weird. You get shocked one day and you’re back to normal the next.”

Trainer Stan Conte said Beimel was cleared by a team of medical experts, including two cardiologists.

“All the tests that they did indicate that he’s fine and ready to go,” Conte said. “They don’t know what triggered this and a lot of times they never do find out what triggered [it].”

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With bullpen depth becoming a concern, the Dodgers signed 42-year-old right-hander Roberto Hernandez to a minor league contract and assigned him to triple-A Las Vegas. Hernandez, who has pitched in 988 games with nine teams over 17 big league seasons, was 3-1 with a 6.23 ERA in 28 games with the Cleveland Indians before being designated for assignment June 20.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com