Dodgers Sign Ex-Ranger Correa, Who Hasn’t Pitched in 2 1/2 Years

The Dodgers added another comeback player to their spring training picture Monday when they signed Edwin Correa, a former Texas Ranger top rookie pitcher, to a minor-league contract.

Because of problems resulting from a stress fracture in his right shoulder, Correa has not pitched in more than two years, and, as a Seventh Day Adventist, does not pitch from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, the period his church regards as the Sabbath.

Correa is a right-hander who struck out 189 in 202 1/3 innings as a Ranger rookie in 1986, when he went 12-14 with a 4.23 earned-run average. But he has not thrown a big-league pitch since July 8, 1987, when he suffered the shoulder injury.

After trying and failing to rehabilitate the shoulder, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on June 23, 1988, and finally returned to pitch for the Rangers’ rookie league team in Port Charlotte, Fla., last summer. He was released this winter, but he impressed Dodger minor league officials in a workout.

When camp opens, Correa, 23, will join two other new Dodger pitchers recovering from surgery. Jim Gott is rehabilitating an injured elbow, and Pat Perry is recovering from a sore shoulder.