Valenzuela Thrown Into Limbo : Dodgers: After poor outing, his job appears in jeopardy. Morgan will compete with him for starting spot.

Ten days after apparently cementing his position in the Dodgers’ rotation with a strong outing in Mexico, Fernando Valenzuela has pitched himself back into uncertainty.

Is all the talk about his future getting to him? It seemed so Wednesday, when Valenzuela gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings of a 17-9 exhibition loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Holman Stadium.

“I think we’re faced with a very tough call again,” one club official said. “In no way is Fernando a lock to make this team.”

Manager Tom Lasorda, who appears more disconsolate with every poor outing by Valenzuela, said: “He got hit rather hard, he did not pitch well at all. That is all I can say.”

The first indication that Valenzuela’s job is back in jeopardy comes today, when the Dodgers will start Mike Morgan against the Kansas City Royals while using opening-day starter Tim Belcher in a minor league game.

Fred Claire, the Dodgers’ executive vice president, said the club is not showcasing Morgan for a trade. If that is the case, Morgan is being placed in direct competition with Valenzuela for the final starting spot, now that Orel Hershiser has said he will not be ready to start the season. Valenzuela may have one more chance to make an impression, in his next start Monday against the Cincinnati Reds in Vero Beach. The Dodgers must release Valenzuela Monday night or be responsible for his entire $2.5-million salary.

“It is competition,” Claire said when asked why Morgan was pitching in the main game instead of Belcher. “We are faced with a lot of decisions. We need to get down to the best 10 pitchers. We need to evaluate people.

“And is Tim Belcher’s position on the team more secure than Mike Morgan’s? Yes. So Belcher will pitch in the camp game.”

When asked if Valenzuela’s position was more secure than Morgan’s, Claire would not comment.

Valenzuela is 1-2 with a 7.87 earned-run average in 16 innings this spring. Morgan is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in seven innings.

“I know I deserve to be one of the five starters on this team,” Morgan said. “I know I have earned it.”

After being hammered by the Orioles, Valenzuela shrugged and said: “None of this stuff is worrying me--I know I will be in the major leagues . . . somewhere. I think I’m still with this team, and I think I can still pitch in the big leagues for some team. These spring games here, they don’t mean nothing.”

His performance contradicted his apparent coolness. While his victory in Monterrey, Mexico, represented Valenzuela at his best, this was Valenzuela at his worst.

He fell behind almost every hitter. He never found a rhythm. His ball barely moved.

He gave up two mammoth home runs, both of which would have cleared the fences despite the wind. Randy Milligan’s three-run homer in the second inning disappeared over the trees far beyond the left-field fence.

Valenzuela walked four, hit one batter and finally left the mound after giving up two doubles and a single in the fourth inning.

“He forced the ball across the plate, it was obvious to everyone,” one veteran said. “Almost like he was trying to throw it through a wall.”

The pressures of being a pitcher on a team with too many pitchers finally got to another Dodger--Dennis Cook, who blew up on the mound and then blew up in the clubhouse.

Cook, a left-hander whose role was taken by newly signed John Candelaria, followed Valenzuela and allowed eight runs and seven hits in two innings.

Afterward, he was asked if worries over being sent to the minor leagues for the first time in two years had affected him.

“Very much so,” said Cook, who entered the game with a 2.77 ERA. “You can’t use that as an excuse, but it’s got to be on your mind if you are on the bubble. You can’t help but think about it.

“After a while out there, it was like, ‘The hell with them, just throw the ball over the plate, just let them hit it.’ ”

Cook added: “It’s obvious, when they signed Candy, he was going to be their left-hander. This one bad outing may be the excuse they need to send me down.”

Cook doesn’t understand why the Dodgers acquired him from Philadelphia last September for catching prospect Darrin Fletcher if they were going to invite Candelaria to camp four months later.

“If I’m not in their plans, why did they trade for me?” asked Cook, who was 9-4 with a 3.92 ERA in 42 games with Philadelphia and five with the Dodgers. “Shoot, I had a starting job in Philly! I had proven myself in the major leagues. There is no way I should have to go down.

“I still don’t know that I’m not part of this team. But if I am not, I just hope that Mr. Claire will give me the benefit of the doubt and (trade) me rather than send me down.”

Unlike Morgan or Valenzuela, Cook and Jim Neidlinger both have options remaining and can be sent to the minor leagues with no other ramifications.

“I guess they will do whatever they are going to do, so the hell with it,” Cook said. “I just wish I could have come in here where it was my job to lose. But I guess that’s not the way it is.”

Dodger Notes

Eddie Murray hit his second home run in two days, a three-run shot. Gary Carter also hit a homer. . . . Jeff Hamilton hopes to return to the lineup today after missing four days because of a sore right hand. It would allow Manager Tom Lasorda to use his regular lineup for the first time since the early spring games.

Ramon Martinez met with Lasorda about being passed over for an opening-day start. Martinez is still unhappy but resigned. “I thought it was tradition to have the man with the most wins start opening day, but Tommy said it didn’t matter who started opening day, and there’s nothing I can do about that,” Martinez said. “I did all I can; I pitched as well as I could pitch last year. This year, I will just keep working and I will not let it bother me.”

Charlie Leibrandt, a left-hander, is the probable opening-day starter for the Atlanta Braves against Tim Belcher. . . . The tributes to Mickey Hatcher continue. Chris Gwynn, who was coached by Hatcher on the art of pinch-hitting, drew the number 9 on the back of his hat as a tribute. “To me, Mickey exemplified what baseball is all about,” Gwynn said. “He taught me things that I will carry with me forever.”