Hundley to Miss First Week of Games

Dodger Manager Davey Johnson said Tuesday that catcher Todd Hundley will sit out the first week of Grapefruit League play as a precautionary measure to protect his reconstructed right elbow.

Hundley missed most of the 1998 season after undergoing surgery on his throwing elbow in September 1997. Team physicians have said Hundley’s elbow should be fine, and Hundley said he has not experienced any setbacks in his rehabilitation since he arrived at Dodgertown.

The Dodgers open the exhibition season Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Holman Stadium. They are scheduled to play the New York Mets, Hundley’s former team, Saturday at Port St. Lucie and Sunday at Dodgertown.

“I’ll probably hold him back about a week--and that’s my decision,” Johnson said. “There’s no need to rush him. And it’s not just him, I would do this with anybody if I felt that’s what we needed to do.”

During the first week of spring training, Johnson said he planned to handle Hundley carefully in exhibition games.

“I’m just being careful,” Johnson said. “There’s nothing wrong; it’s just that it’s a long season and I would rather err on the side of caution. I talked to Todd about it and he understands.”

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Kevin Brown was typically impressive in a two-inning simulated game Tuesday at Dodgertown.

He threw 16 pitches in the first inning and 23 in the second. Batters were surprised by the movement on his pitches at this stage.

“Especially his slider, that was moving all over the place,” said outfielder Gary Sheffield, Brown’s teammate on the Florida Marlins’ 1997 World Series championship team. “He’s in midseason form.”

Brown wouldn’t go quite that far.

“I was just trying to break the rust loose,” Brown said. “It’s a gradual thing. I’m starting to step it up and throw all my pitches and start to put it together. I threw some good ones and some that weren’t so good.”

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Closer Jeff Shaw is expected to arrive in camp today, Johnson said. The team had given Shaw permission to remain with his wife, Julie, at their off-season home in Washington Court House, Ohio, as they awaited the birth of their third child. But the baby’s delivery is now expected to be delivered much later this month, Johnson said. . . . As expected, the club signed journeyman catcher Rick Wilkins to a minor league contract.