DODGERS REPORT

It’s no secret that the Dodgers are in desperate need of left-handed relief pitching. Their Achilles’ heel has been exposed with frightening regularity of late.

Hello, Onan Masaoka.

The left-hander was recalled from triple-A Albuquerque on Wednesday when reliever Mike Fetters was put on the disabled list, and will fill the role of left-handed long relief. Funny thing is, he was supposed to fill that role from Day 1 this year.

“That’s where I started the season and I think my stuff just got better when I went down there [to the minor leagues],” Masaoka said Wednesday afternoon as he was unpacking his bags in the Bank One Ballpark visitors’ clubhouse. “Coming out of the ‘pen now, just that short while, I think my velocity is going to come back up, which it has, over my starting period. So I’m just going to go out there and try to get them out.”

Dodger pitching coach Claude Osteen is intrigued.

“The reports we’ve gotten on him is that his velocity is up,” Osteen said. “We hope to see that good fastball again that we saw last year.”

At triple A, Masaoka worked as a starter and went 1-0 with a 4.35 ERA in five starts and held batters to a .214 batting average. But he had an inordinate number of walks--25 in 20 2/3 innings pitched.

Masaoka said that was primarily because he has a shorter attention span in game situations thanks to his reliever’s mentality, comparing starting to a long-distance race while relieving is comparable to a sprint.

“I’m as confident now as I was last year, especially now that I’ve got my fastball back,” said Masaoka, a native of Hilo, Hawaii. “I think I’m just going to be that much better because starting caused me to concentrate a lot more. It’s not just that one-hitter, one-inning role which will be a little easier for me to [focus and concentrate] now.”

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Fetters, 35, was put on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 4 because of a sore right elbow. The set-up man is 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA in 11 appearances and last pitched May 3 in the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium. Fetters made the Dodger roster as a non-roster invitee in spring training.