Strawberry to Debut as Giant : Baseball: Ex-Dodger declares himself ready; he’ll bat fifth, play right field after stint in minors.

Darryl Strawberry will return to a major league lineup for the first time in more than a year today, when he plays right field and bats fifth for the San Francisco Giants against the Philadelphia Phillies at Candlestick Park.

Strawberry, who recently completed a drug-abuse program at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, was recalled by the Giants Wednesday, having played only three games in a rehabilitation assignment with their triple-A team at Phoenix.

Strawberry had surgery for a herniated disk in September of 1992, made his last major league appearance with the Dodgers on June 16 of last year, then missed the rest of the season while undergoing back therapy.

He appeared in only 75 games with the Dodgers in 1992 and ’93 because of the back problem and entered the Betty Ford Center after going AWOL two days before the Dodgers opened the 1994 season. He signed with the Giants on June 19, after reaching a settlement with the Dodgers on the rest of his $20.5-million contract obligation.

Earlier, Giants officials had said Strawberry wouldn’t join the big-league team until after the All-Star break. But Strawberry’s quick start in Phoenix, and perhaps the fact that San Francisco trails badly in the National League West, appears to have speeded up the move before the Giants’ final series before the All-Star break.

Giant General Manager Bob Quinn, however, said the quick recall had nothing to do with the Giants’ offensive struggle--they are last in the National League in team batting, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and hitting with runners in scoring position.

“We put absolutely no pressure on Darryl,” Quinn said. “That would be foolhardy. Our agreement was that he would establish his own time frame. He told us when he left for Phoenix that he would see us sooner rather than later because he was feeling so good.

“He has 11 years of experience. He knows better than anyone how he feels. He went through 10 or 11 days of rigorous training in the desert (after signing with the Giants), hitting an average of 180 balls a day. It isn’t like he’s had only the two or three games at Phoenix.”

Strawberry will hit behind Matt Williams and Barry Bonds.

“Darryl wanted to come today (Wednesday),” Manager Dusty Baker said. “But we said, ‘No, take another day.’ ”

But Baker said he worries that because Strawberry hasn’t played in the majors for more than a year, he may be susceptible to injury.

Strawberry hit a home run in each of his first two games at Phoenix and went 3-for-10, including an 0-for-3 night Wednesday.

“Everybody to a man feels he’s ready to go, but we still tried to convince him to take a couple more days and maybe join us on the weekend,” Quinn said. “Darryl simply feels he’s ready and would prefer not to wait. In fact, we made a reservation for him on an 8:50 flight that would have gotten him (to San Francisco) about 10:30 tomorrow morning, but he said he wanted to take the first flight at 6:15 so that he was sure to be on time. I think that’s an indication of his attitude.”

Strawberry will receive the prorated $109,000 minimum and $7,000 per game. His brother, Michael, will live with him and travel with him as part of what Quinn called the “comfort zone we’ve tried to create for Darryl.”

At a news conference in San Francisco Saturday, Strawberry said he had consistently used drugs and alcohol for the last nine years and was “looking forward to walking on a baseball field for the first time with a clear mind.”

The Giants trail the Dodgers in the National League West by 9 1/2 games, but Quinn said, “We still have time, and I’ve got to think Darryl will provide a significant lift to our lineup if he can do what he’s done in the past.”