Garciaparra back; DeWitt to stay too

Back in Los Angeles from a minor league rehabilitation assignment, Nomar Garciaparra is set to be activated in time for a five-game trip that begins Friday in Atlanta.

“You have steps throughout the whole process to get back and I’ve taken every step,” Garciaparra said. “Now, it’s go out there and play.”

Garciaparra played three games in Sacramento with triple-A Las Vegas, the first and third of them as the starting third baseman. He ended the assignment by going three for three Monday night with a double, a run batted in and a walk. He was 0 for 7 in his first two games.

Plans for Garciaparra to play in a fourth rehab game today were scrapped.

Garciaparra, who was out because of a microfracture in his right wrist, acknowledged that he still feels discomfort in his hand. Though the discomfort is more pronounced when he hits than when he throws, he said it doesn’t affect him to where he’s had to make any adjustments to his swing.

“It’ll never be pain-free,” he said. “I didn’t expect it to be. I wasn’t looking forward to being pain-free. To be pain-free, it would probably take a lot longer than that.”

Because of questions concerning how much Garciaparra can play -- or, for that matter, whether he can remain healthy -- the club will probably keep rookie Blake DeWitt on its major league roster. DeWitt has started every game at third base in the absence of Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche, and, if sent down, would be ineligible to be recalled for 10 days.

Manager Joe Torre said a short-term solution to create the roster space for Garciaparra would be to go from 12 to 11 pitchers.

Asked if Garciaparra could share time with DeWitt, Torre replied, “I think we have to see what [Garciaparra] can do physically.”

Garciaparra said his preference would be to play “every single day.”

LaRoche threw across the diamond for the second day in a row and remains on track to travel with the Dodgers to Atlanta, from where he will go to extended spring training in Vero Beach, Fla.

But the news wasn’t as positive for third-string third baseman Tony Abreu, who is already in Vero Beach. Abreu has been shut down because of lingering discomfort in his groin.

------

To celebrate the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in baseball, all uniformed personnel for the Dodgers and Pirates wore Robinson’s No. 42 Tuesday night.

Before the game Torre spoke at length about his meeting Robinson, seeing a “colored” water fountain for the first time when he visiting his older brother Frank in Atlanta in 1954, and the need to promote baseball in the inner cities. He recalled how, when playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, his team had to switch hotels so everyone could sleep under the same roof.

Torre, whom the Dodgers got permission to hire without interviewing a minority candidate as required by baseball rules, also touched on the subject of the lack of African American managers in baseball. When former Yankees coach Willie Randolph complained about receiving “token interviews” from teams that seemingly wanted to satisfy the requirement and had no interest in hiring him, Torre said he had to convince Randolph, now the Mets’ manager, that the interviews were worthwhile.

“You don’t want to give someone the satisfaction of saying, ‘He’s a bad interview,’ ” Torre said. Asked why someone should prepare for an interview he knows isn’t serious, Torre replied, “You don’t know that for sure. That’s the trick.”

--

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com