Torre juggles lineup again

ATLANTA -- Manager Joe Torre scrambled the Dodgers’ lineup Sunday, something he said he could continue for the rest of the season.

“We’re not a power-laden ballclub, so I think that’s what makes moving them around easier to do,” Torre said. “You may do it according to who’s pitching against you, the pitcher and the type of hitter they are.”

With cleanup hitter Jeff Kent taking the day off to rest tired legs, Torre moved Andruw Jones from seventh to fourth. With Jones’ form improving in recent days -- though he was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Sunday, he hit his first home run the previous day -- Torre said he wanted to get him more at-bats. That will probably happen in the fifth or sixth spot, depending on the pitching matchup, he said.

James Loney hit third, a slot Torre also likes for Andre Ethier. Kent’s place at cleanup is the only one set in stone.

The major question for Torre at the moment is how often to play third baseman Nomar Garciaparra, who sat out the final three weeks of spring training and has played in only three games. With Garciaparra struggling defensively, Torre started rookie Blake DeWitt Sunday.

“I don’t think he is where he needs to be yet,” Torre said of Garciaparra. “I think we still have a little time to evaluate where he is when he gets back to full strength. I’m going to try to get him every opportunity because that’s my job as a manager, to try to get everyone in position where they’re going to help your ballclub.”

Torre said the constantly changing lineups aren’t a reflection on this team, as he did the same when managing the New York Yankees.

“I did a lot of changing around,” he said. “Maybe that’s why I’m not there anymore. Not that I’m starting to talk about it, maybe I screwed it up.”

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Third base coach Larry Bowa, who from the start of spring training has been working with the team’s young players on fielding and baserunning fundamentals, said he has been satisfied with their efforts to learn the game -- so far.

“I could tell them, ‘I want you to be out there tomorrow at 9 o’clock,’ and they’ll all be there, which is, to me, very good,” Bowa said.

But Bowa said he wants to see them take the next step in their maturation process, which consists of asking to do extra work.

“A lot of times, young kids, their reaction is, ‘Bo didn’t ask me to come out early,’ ” Bowa said. “It goes both ways.”

The exceptions so far have been DeWitt and Chin-lung Hu, who he said haven’t been shy about asking him to do extra drills with them, sometimes as early as 1:30 in the afternoon.

Though Bowa didn’t name names, he thinks some players are focusing too much on hitting at the expense of other aspects of the game.

“Lot of guys show up for the batting cages,” Bowa said. “The biggest thing is you have to get guys to understand there’s more to this game than batting average. You have to be a complete player.”

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Third baseman Andy LaRoche left for extended spring training in Vero Beach, Fla. . . . Utility infielder Tony Abreu will leave extended spring training Tuesday to go to Philadelphia to be examined by Dr. William Meyers, who performed abdominal surgery on him last year. Abreu, who had to be shut down because of persisting problems in the area, will then go to Los Angeles to be checked out by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com