Sheffield Is Not Exactly Feeling Right in Left

Gary Sheffield, who is moving from right field to left this season, played for the first time Sunday in a 2-2 tie with the New York Mets at Dodgertown.

Sheffield, who went hitless in one at-bat, has been slowed by recurring stiffness in his surgically repaired throwing shoulder. Sheffield sat out the first two exhibition games and could have taken Sunday off as well, but he said he needed the work.

“It’s time I got some [at-bats] already,” Sheffield said. “It’s still early, but I’ve got to start getting some work in.”

“I wanted to take some swings today to just get a feel of being back in action. That’s really all I wanted to accomplish.”

That and work on his fielding.

Sheffield acknowledges he’s not close to being average defensively in left, but he’s doing what he can.

“To be honest about it, I really have no idea out there right now,” said Sheffield, who is also working individually with coaches. “It’s a tough situation to be in because I feel like a stranger on the field.

“I’m just trying to pick up the ball [in the air] and get a little bit comfortable. I don’t know how long it’s going to take because it took me a while to learn to play right [in 1994 with the Florida Marlins].”

So what’s the timetable on this position switch?

“It took me half a year the last time, so it could be that long again, or even longer,” Sheffield said. “I don’t want it to take that long. I’ve just got to get a lot of repetition and see what happens.”

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Third baseman Adrian Beltre displayed his fielding skills Sunday, robbing Rey Ordonez of a base hit in the third inning.

Facing Kevin Brown, Ordonez hit a ball that rolled slowly along the third-base line and Beltre barehanded it, throwing across his body to first baseman Eric Karros to beat Ordonez.

Beltre received ovations from the Holman Stadium crowd and his impressed teammates.

“I was going to make the play, I thought I was the only one who had a shot at it, and he called me off,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘Oh, no,’ but he got him, and not on a slow guy either. He sold me. I was very impressed.”

Beltre also went two-for-two and drove in both runs.

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Brown started and gave up two hits and one run--a solo home run to Edgardo Alfonzo in the first inning--in three efficient innings. Brown struck out one without a walk, and his pitches were clocked between 90-97 mph.

He was scheduled to pitch only two innings, but pitching coach Charlie Hough decided to let Brown work the third because he was within his pitch count.

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In a humorous scene Sunday, a throng of reporters followed catcher Todd Hundley to the clubhouse after he popped out in his first at-bat in a B game against the Mets.

Hundley went to get another bat because his was broken by a pitch from Met starter Al Leiter. But the reporters figured something was wrong with Hundley’s surgically repaired throwing elbow because team physician Michael Mellman, trainer Stan Johnston and physical therapist Pat Screnar happened to be walking to the clubhouse at the same time.

“Geez, guys, I’m just going to get a bat,” Hundley said, laughing with the reporters. “Didn’t you guys see what happened? We kind of need one of these [to play].”

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Dodger closer Jeff Shaw and his wife, Julie, became parents for the third time Saturday night with the arrival of Griffin Lee Shaw. Shaw left Dodgertown on Saturday when Julie went into labor, and he is expected to return Friday. . . . Reliever Mel Rojas gave up a game-tying home run to rookie Mike Kinkade after Manager Davey Johnson brought Rojas in to face his former team in the ninth. Rojas, whom the Dodgers acquired from the Mets in the off-season for Bobby Bonilla, has been struggling to regain his confidence the past two years.