Park Is Stoic, but Radar Gun Tells Plenty About Nagging Back Pain

Most of the time, Chan Ho Park’s lower back feels fine.

But then the Dodger right-hander pitches, and the pain returns. Team officials are concerned about their standout second-year starter, but they don’t know what more they can do.

“It’s not a case where he’s saying he doesn’t want to pitch because he’s in pain, and we’re telling him he has to pitch,” said Fred Claire, executive vice president. “The health of our players is extremely important to the Dodgers, and it always has been. This is obviously something that we’re going to keep a very close eye on.”

Pitching coach Glenn Gregson has been doing that.

“It’s one of those nagging injuries that just won’t seem to go away,” he said. “Chan Ho religiously follows an exercise program for his back, but it’s an ongoing thing that could just take time.

“I’ve talked to [team trainers] about it, and the feeling is that his back should respond to the exercises he’s doing.”

Park, 3-0 with a 3.96 earned-run average, was removed from his third start Sunday because of back stiffness. He had shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates for five innings in the Dodgers’ 10-5 victory.

“I’m not a big proponent of radar guns, because I think they’re really just for the fans’ excitement,” Gregson said. “But when I saw Chan Ho’s pitches drop from 95-96 [mph] to about 85-86, that clearly showed me there was a problem.

“He wanted to stay out there because he’s such a competitor, but you just can’t ignore a signal like that. If you do, you run the risk of having him make changes in his delivery to compensate for the loss of velocity, and then you can really run into problems.”

Park is getting frustrated. He thought the exercises would end his discomfort, and he has also tried acupuncture.

“The pain goes away for a few days, but then I pitch, and it hurts again,” he said. “I feel like it’s feeling pretty good again, but then comes that [fifth] day.”

How about taking Park out of the rotation for a longer rest?

“Well, it might come to that,” Manager Bill Russell said. “But at this point, he’s still got good stuff, and it’s not preventing him from pitching.”

TONIGHT

DODGERS’ ISMAEL VALDES (2-3, 4.95 ERA)

vs.

BRAVES

DENNY NEAGLE (3-1, 3.27 ERA) Turner Field, 4:30 p.m.

TV--TBS. Radio--AM 1150, KWKW (1330).

* Update--Valdes is having problems on the road, going 0-3 with a 5.56 ERA in five starts. But he is 4-2 with a 3.04 ERA against the Braves in 56 1/3 innings in his career.