No Rest for the Dreary : Dodgers: Strawberry, other slumping players forgo a day off to work on hitting in preparation for today’s home opener.

Like a golfer working on his swing, Darryl Strawberry was at Dodger Stadium taking a private lesson Monday. With coach Manny Mota throwing batting practice, Strawberry hit ball after ball while Manager Tom Lasorda, coach Joe Ferguson and Mota helped him work on his mechanics.

Eventually, the problem was narrowed to how Strawberry has been planting his foot. Once he corrected it, the ball started jumping off his bat and landing in the outfield seats.

“My foot is closing too much instead of allowing myself to open up and generate bat speed,” said Strawberry, whose .136 batting average is the lowest on the team. “When you are slumping, it’s because you are doing little things that you usually don’t do, but you can’t notice it and your coaches can, so that is why (Ferguson) had me out here.”

What would have been a rare day off for Lasorda, his coaching staff and some of the players didn’t quite work out that way. The team returned home Sunday night in a .198 batting slump after seven games. With St. Louis coming in for the home opener today at 1, Lasorda told his players that he would be at the stadium if anyone wanted extra work.

“Any time you are in a severe slump, you try everything,” Lasorda said. “Each day you try something different to get out of it. You call the guys in, you holler at them, chew them out. If that doesn’t work--and I’m not necessarily listing these remedies in order--then you call them in, pat them on the back and tell them how proud you are of them.

“If that doesn’t do it, you take extra batting practice, then you try changing the lineup, then you try benching guys.

“It’s like a snowball rolling down the hill. The farther down the hill it rolls, the bigger it gets, so you’ve got to derail it.”

Strawberry, who had back surgery in September, has looked awkward, both at the plate and in the field. He skipped batting practice Sunday to spend extra time stretching his back, but says the back is not bothering him.

Hitting coach Ben Hines also worked with regulars Eric Davis and Eric Karros, and reserves Lenny Harris, Mitch Webster, Mike Sharperson and Tom Goodwin.

The only starter batting higher than Jody Reed at .250 is rookie Mike Piazza at .316. Tim Wallach, who bats behind Strawberry, has slumped to .200. The top of the order has Jose Offerman at .138 and Brett Butler at .227.

There will be lineup changes today, Butler moving to the leadoff spot and Reed moving up from eighth to bat behind him. Offerman will go from leadoff to eighth.

The middle of the batting order will probably remain the same, although Piazza might be moved up.

“It’s going to turn around,” Butler said. “If Tommy thinks there needs to be a change, then he’ll make it. This year isn’t like last year. Last season when things weren’t going well, the tendency was to sit back and see what would happen. This year, they are going to make things happen.”

Most frustrating to Lasorda is that his team returned from its season-opening trip with a 3-4 record that could easily have been 4-3. Atlanta starters Tom Glavine and John Smoltz gave the Dodgers plenty of scoring opportunities in two of the four games, usually with the Dodgers’ big hitters at the plate. Against Dodger pitchers, the Braves’ team batting average fell to .182. And still, the Dodgers could manage only one victory.

“I’m going to make a few changes in the lineup, but I’m not going to panic when we are 3-4 in the first seven games of the season,” Lasorda said. “We know the hitting is going to come around.”

Butler led off for his entire 11-year career until midway through last season, when the Dodgers told him they thought he had lost a step and put him behind Offerman. Both players responded well to the changes, but Butler doesn’t know how much of that is because he has always been a better second-half player.

“I feel more comfortable leading off, but it’s whatever is best for the team,” Butler said.

Reed batted in the second spot for his entire career with the Boston Red Sox.