MR. GOOD WRENCH : Ron Perranoski Is Able to Cure What Ails Dodger Pitchers

Ron Perranoski is a mechanic who tinkers with pitchers. He is the pitching coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he has developed a knack for spotting trouble under a pitcher’s hood.

Take the cases of Tim Leary, Tim Belcher and Mike Morgan, pitchers who always had great arms but never won until they pulled into Perranoski’s shop.

The Dodgers deserve credit for taking chances on them. Perranoski deserves credit for working with them. Those three pitchers, passed over by a total of nine teams, now compose three-fifths of the formidable Los Angeles rotation.

“Give them credit,” Perranoski said. “First, remember they all had the ability. The other thing is they have to be able to make the adjustments. Then, once you’ve had some success, it comes easier.”

The Dodgers obtained Leary, 30, and pitcher Tim Crews from the Milwaukee Brewers for Greg Brock before the 1987 season. Perranoski noticed that Leary, who had been bothered by shoulder trouble, had developed a bad habit of cocking his shoulder down on his delivery. It was a subconscious protective device. It wasn’t until Leary excelled for Tijuana in a winter league after a 3-11 season in 1987 that he fully corrected the problem.

“He threw something like 12 complete games,” Perranoski said. “He finally got it in his mind that he could pitch without pain.”

Leary won 17 games the next season.

Belcher, 27, arrived from Oakland in a trade for Rick Honeycutt near the end of the 1987 season. Belcher conquered his control problems the next year and won 12 games.

“I noticed right away that Belcher had a great delivery,” Perranoski said. “I couldn’t understand why he was so wild. So we concentrated on his warmups and gave him a curveball to go along with his slider and split-finger fastball.

“The warmup was important because it worked on getting his number of pitches down. We do it with all the pitchers. They just don’t throw to loosen up, but they concentrate on throwing to areas. For instance, they’ll throw 20 fastballs to one spot and then 20 fastballs to another. That way when they have to throw to a certain spot in the game, they know just where the release point is. It’s like shooting foul shots. If you shoot 20 in a row and then miss one, you’re going to know exactly what you did wrong.”

Morgan arrived March 11 with the worst record of any pitcher in baseball with at least 20 career wins (34-68). The Dodgers gave outfield prospect Mike Devereaux to the Baltimore Orioles to get Morgan, who had been a qualified bust ever since Charlie Finley gave him his first start one week after he graduated from high school in 1978. The Dodgers are Morgan’s sixth major-league team.

“That’s the story of every trade I’ve been in,” Morgan said. “They want me for my arm, not my numbers.”

Right away, Perranoski noticed that Morgan’s fastball, though it had good velocity, was dangerously straight. It was too easy to hit. So he asked Morgan, “Have you ever tried throwing your fastball on the seams?”

Morgan said no. He tried it, throwing with his index and middle fingers on the seams instead of across them.

“The ball moved about this much,” Perranoski said, holding his hands about a foot-and-a-half apart.

Morgan’s new, improved fastball ran so much that Perranoski had to compensate for it by moving Morgan about a foot to the third base side of the pitching rubber. On top of that, he persuaded Morgan to throw his curveball and changeup more often.

“He had been throwing fastballs and sliders at just about the same speed,” Perranoski said.

Presto! Morgan, 29, has been just about unhittable this year. He is 3-1 with a 0.77 earned run average. He struck out nine New York Mets Monday night, the most batters he has fanned in 166 career games.

“He’s a different pitcher,” said Lee Mazzilli, who played with and against Morgan in the American League. “He always had a good arm. But he never pitched like that.”

Said Morgan: “I’m in my prime. At least that’s what I’ve read. It’s time to get something going and do a good job for somebody.”

Morgan had toiled for 10 managers in his eight seasons in the major leagues. He appeared in the uniforms of the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners and Orioles. But it wasn’t until he checked in with Perranoski for a tune-up that he pitched the way so many people for so long thought he could. That is no coincidence.

Perranoski may have to be a magician, not a mechanic, to fix Fernando Valenzuela. The Mets’ scouting report on Valenzeula after his most recent start was shockingly blunt:

“Very poor performance. Had no velocity. Hitters were sitting on his screwball and could still adjust to his fastball or curveball. Just doesn’t have enough on fastball to get in on anyone and keep them honest.”

Valenzuela, 28, threw his fastball about 87 mph in his prime. It is down to 82 mph now. He has not won in 15 starts since June 14. His left shoulder apparently has given out from the strain of six straight years of at least 250 innings.

“He’s thrown a lot of innings,” Perranoski said. “It’s just the human element. One guy’s different from another. Look at (Don) Drysdale. He threw a lot of innings and was fine. Fernando threw a lot of innings, too. One withstood it and one had problems with his shoulder.

“Right now his shoulder has to get stronger. It’s not where it should be. I think he has to get three to four miles an hour back on his fastball. It’s a matter of time and patience.”