Spring Training / Dodgers : Biggest Task Now for Lasorda Is Pena’s Comeback Attempt

He jogged four times up the notorious 17th Street Bridge, the incline selected by running instructor Jim Bush. He played pepper with catcher Mike Scioscia, then a pickup game of basketball. After that, he swam laps.

It was only the second day of workouts for the Dodgers, but 58-year-old Manager Tom Lasorda already is training at a breakneck pace.

“Got to get this body in shape,” Lasorda said.

It might have been easier to carve Mt. Rushmore, but you have to admire the effort.

“I told him that one day if he’s not careful, he might drop dead on the mound,” said Dodger Vice President Al Campanis, who has admonished Lasorda to refrain from throwing as much batting practice as he has in the past.

“Tommy said to me, ‘Have you ever seen a pitcher drop dead on the mound?’ I said, ‘No, because most of them are smart.’ ”

Not that Lasorda isn’t taking any precautions. After all his exercising, he went to church.

With 16 pitchers on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster, four more than last season, Lasorda doesn’t need to throw batting practice. Today, he’ll be watching Alejandro Pena, whose attempted comeback will determine the composition of Lasorda’s pitching staff.

Lasorda said Saturday that it’s possible Pena will start the season in the bullpen.

“We have to determine whether he’s capable of starting,” Lasorda said, “and if he can pitch the way he did a couple of years ago. Then we’ll have to pick our five best starters out of six guys.

“If he’s not ready, we might put him in the bullpen to get his arm stronger.”

At the moment, the Dodger rotation is set, with Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Bob Welch, Jerry Reuss and Rick Honeycutt. All the bullpen jobs appear to be taken as well, with three right-handers--Tom Niedenfuer, Ken Howell and Bobby Castillo--and two left-handers, Carlos Diaz and Ed Vande Berg.

And if Pena returns? “That means one of six will have to go,” Lasorda said. “There’s five bullpen men plus one starting spot. It’s certainly not going to be Hershiser, Welch, Fernando or Reuss.”

Even though there apparently will be little competition for spots on the ’86 staff, Lasorda said he plans to work some of the prospects he has in camp.

“Most of these guys are a year away,” he said, “but if something happens during the season, if somebody gets hurt, I want to see what these guys can do.”

Among the pitchers Lasorda can choose from are right-hander Hector Heridia and Felix Tejeda, two Mexicans signed by Mike Brito; right-hander Balvino Galvez, a Dominican; Dennis Powell, the left-hander who spent three months in Los Angeles last season but had a poor winter, and Scott May, a right-hander who was 10-6 for Double-A San Antonio last season.

Also in camp, though not on the Dodger roster, is Shoji Sadaoka, who once pitched for the Tokyo Giants and came here for recreational purposes only.