BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Worrell Gets Vote of Support

Todd Worrell has converted only seven of 15 save opportunities since signing with the Dodgers before last season, but Fred Claire, the club’s executive vice president, said he believes Worrell will turn things around.

“First, his health is good. He has good velocity and good breaking pitches,” Claire said. “I think there needs to be more consideration to pitch selection. . . . I think he needs to change speeds a little bit.”

Claire said he has no plans to make any more moves in the bullpen, hoping that the new call-ups from triple-A Albuquerque, Ismael Valdes and Rudy Seanez, will help the other relievers get back on track.

Seanez took a long route to get back to the Dodgers, who released him after the 1992 season after he had back and shoulder problems.

Valdes, 21, has made a fast jump, starting the season at double-A San Antonio, then pitching for Albuquerque and now the Dodgers.

“I never got an apartment in Albuquerque. I lived in a hotel,” he said. “And I will have a hotel room in L.A., but I don’t care where I live.”

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Pedro Astacio, who was relieved by Worrell during the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game after Astacio walked the leadoff batter, was quoted by the El Nuevo Herald in Miami as saying he didn’t agree with Manager Tom Lasorda’s decision.

“I don’t know what the old man (Lasorda) is thinking, (but) since he’s the one in charge, I have to continue doing what he asked me to do,” Astacio said. “Today I pitched better than in my last two games, but this type of game is part of baseball, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Astacio left with a 4-2 lead, and the Marlins scored three runs against Worrell and Al Osuna to win the game.

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Playing behind catcher Mike Piazza means barely playing at all, a frustrating fact for Carlos Hernandez, who said he asked Claire to trade him. “I talked to Fred when we were in San Francisco, and he told me to be patient and he would see what he could do at the end of the season,” Hernandez said. “I never talked to Fred before, but I’m 27 years old and I want to prove that I can play--I know I can play--but I don’t think I will ever get a chance to play here or have more opportunities to play.”

Hernandez has appeared in only 10 of 60 games, starting seven. In the three consecutive starts he made when Piazza was sidelined, he batted .385 with two runs batted in. He is batting .296 overall.

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Raul Mondesi extended his hitting streak to 14 games; Eric Karros is at 13 games. . . . Delino DeShields, who had hoped to return by next Monday, might be sidelined a few days longer. . . . Cub broadcaster Harry Caray crashed through a glass table in the visitors’ clubhouse in Philadelphia this week, the Chicago Tribune reported. Caray was uninjured.