SPRING TRAINING PREVIEW : A Time for Cautious Optimism : Dodgers Learned Last Year That a Good Feeling During Spring Can Turn Sour in the Summer

Had he known that Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis would have combined to hit only 10 home runs last season, Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said, he would have fled to Mexico and claimed amnesia.

He has made that statement often, and he made it again Thursday in his office at Dodgertown, in response to the question: “What happened last season?”

“I could never criticize the players, because they tried to the best of their ability,” Lasorda said. “But I feel good about this season. Fred (Executive Vice President Fred Claire), and Peter (Dodger President Peter O’Malley) and I sat down and said we have to go out and get some guys, and I feel good about who we got.

“Tim Wallach drove in 59 runs last season, and I think he has a lot of baseball left in him. And with Jody Reed at second, I haven’t seen him play much, but the reports on him are good. We have solidified our defense with two new players, and we have made the moves. We got Todd Worrell, who throws harder than any pitcher in the National League. Last season I didn’t have Jay Howell until the first of June.

“But how well we will do, I don’t know. We are a better club. We have improved a great deal. With an outfield of Eric Davis, Darryl Strawberry and Brett Butler, that’s a pretty good outfield. But I said the same thing last year at this time.”

The Dodgers made moves in an effort to stabilize a defense that last season was the worst in baseball. But the uncertainties that remain are anything but peripheral. For the team to be successful, Strawberry and Davis must be productive. Worrell, who was signed as a free agent this winter to be the team’s closer, must recover from tendinitis. Shortstop Jose Offerman must improve defensively--he made 42 errors last season. And it wouldn’t hurt if Ramon Martinez could return to the form of his first two seasons.

Strawberry, who is recovering from back surgery, and Davis, who had surgery on his wrist and shoulder, say they are healthy. Strawberry, taking his second day of batting practice Saturday, hit six balls over the fence, including one that cleared the scoreboard. Worrell threw Friday for 10 minutes and is said to be gaining strength in his arm. And the report on Offerman is that his defense improved over the winter, when he played in the Dominican Republic for former Dodger shortstop Bill Russell.

But Dodger officials are prefacing their hopes for the season with the word if .

“This spring has a different feel to it from last spring,” Claire said. “Last spring, there was a sense that everything was going to be all right. We were just coming off the season where we missed (winning the NL West) by one game.

“But it wasn’t all right. That’s why every day here is significant.

We have to be ready and prepared. The health of our key players is certainly an issue, that’s why it will be important to see Darryl and Eric play in a number of games. And in the infield, we need a blending of Wallach and Reed with (first baseman) Eric Karros and Offerman. The infield needs to fit and be locked in when we get to the end of spring. We have talent, but we face a big challenge.”

The Dodgers cleaned house after last season, cutting loose eight players. Gone are catcher Mike Scioscia, pitchers Bob Ojeda, Tim Crews, Jay Howell and John Candelaria and reserves Todd Benzinger, Dave Anderson and Eric Young.

Also new to the team is infielder/outfielder Cory Snyder. Signed to minor league contracts with a chance to make the club this spring are infielder Kevin Elster, catcher Lance Parrish and left-handed relief pitchers Wally Ritchie, Lee Guetterman and Rod Nichols.

Competing to replace Scioscia will be Carlos Hernandez and rookie Mike Piazza. Hernandez hit .260 with three home runs in 69 games last season and did a solid job defensively, platooning with Scioscia.

Piazza, who played in 21 games during September, was the organization’s minor league player of the year last season. And then there is Parrish, who was acquired to fill more of a tutorial role.

Besides Martinez, the biggest problem the Dodgers’ pitching rotation has is that there are six pitchers--Orel Hershiser, Tom Candiotti, Kevin Gross, Ramon and Pedro Martinez and Pedro Astacio--vying for five spots. The competence of the pitching staff was lost in the misery of last season, when it finished sixth in the league in earned-run average, but the team was last in the division, largely because of a defense that finished last in baseball.

Martinez has been inconsistent since the latter part of the 1991 season, when he was hit by a line drive in the right biceps and eventually had to leave the game. After struggling through last season, his condition was diagnosed as tennis elbow and he sat out September. He rested his arm this winter before working on his mechanics and is said to be back on track.

“Here’s a guy that struck out 18 batters in one game,” Lasorda said. “How could he have gone from here to there in two years?”

In the bullpen are right-handers Jim Gott and Roger McDowell and left-hander Steve Wilson, who is vying for a spot against a group of nonroster left-handers.

Still on the bench are outfielder Mitch Webster and infielders Lenny Harris, Mike Sharperson and Dave Hansen.

The Dodgers also will use the spring to get a good look at their prospects, among them Mike Busch, who is regarded as the team’s future third baseman, and Raul Mondesi, whom Lasorda calls a five-point player. “He can hit, hit with power, run, throw and is a good defensive center fielder,” Lasorda said. “It’s not often you come across a five-point player.”

Then, as always, Lasorda says there is the likelihood of a spring surprise. “There is at least one, whoever he may be,” Claire said. “Just like the spring Orel Hershiser was walking around here with a big number on his back and nobody knew him. He got called into a game and struck out six players in two innings, and everyone started asking how to spell his name.”

Dodgers’ Spring Schedule

All games in Florida unless noted.

All times PST

MARCH 5

N.Y. Yankees at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 6

Houston at Kissimmee, 10 a.m.

MARCH 7

Houston at Vero Beach, noon.

MARCH 8

Florida at Cocoa, 10 a.m.

MARCH 9

Florida (ss) at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 10

Kansas City at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 11

Atlanta at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 12

Montreal at West Palm Beach, 4 p.m.

MARCH 13

N.Y. Yankees at Fort Lauderdale, 10 a.m.

MARCH 14

New York Mets at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 15

Houston at Kissimmee, 10 a.m.

MARCH 16

Montreal at West Palm Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 17

Philadelphia at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 18

New York Mets at Port St. Lucie, 10 a.m.

MARCH 19

(Split squads)

N.Y. Yankees at Fort Lauderdale, 10 a.m.

Toronto at Dunedin, 4:30 p.m.

MARCH 20

(Split squads)

Montreal (ss) at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

Toronto at Toronto SkyDome, 10 a.m.

MARCH 21

Florida at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 22

N.Y. Yankees (ss) at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 23

Kansas City at Haines City, 10 a.m.

MARCH 24

Atlanta at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 25

Houston at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 26

Atlanta at West Palm Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 27

N.Y. Mets (ss) at Port St. Lucie, 10 a.m.

MARCH 28

Montreal at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 29

Atlanta at West Palm Beach, 10 a.m.

MARCH 30

New York Mets at Port St. Lucie, 10 a.m.

MARCH 31

New York Mets at Vero Beach, 9:30 a.m.

APRIL 1

Atlanta at West Palm Beach, 10 a.m.

APRIL 2

Split squad vs. Angels at

Dodger Stadium, 7:30 p.m.

APRIL 3

(Split squads)

Angels at Anaheim Stadium, 7 p.m.

Montreal at Vero Beach, 10 a.m.

APRIL 4

Split squad vs. Montreal at

West Palm Beach, 10 a.m.