Brown’s Exam Offers Hope

The Dodgers were relieved Monday after an MRI exam showed that Kevin Brown’s pitching elbow was not as damaged as initially feared.

During an examination at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, team physician Frank Jobe determined that the right-hander suffered “a very severe sprain to the medial side of his elbow in the muscle,” but that the ligament and outer covering of the muscle are intact.

Jobe is hopeful that Brown, who also suffered a slightly torn flexor tendon muscle last season, does not need season-ending surgery, advising the five-time all-star to rest a month.

Brown, going on the disabled list for the third time this season, will undergo rehabilitation and begin a throwing program in an attempt to rejoin the rotation in late August or early September.

“The plan is to see how he does [with rest],” Jobe said of Brown, who apparently suffered the injury on a wild pitch in the fourth inning of Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

“I’m pushing for a month and he’s pushing for a week, that’s the way Kevin Brown is, but I think he ought to consider a month and get well before he tries to pitch again.”

Left-hander Jeff Williams and right-hander Giovanni Carrara are the leading candidates to move from the bullpen to sub for Brown, 8-4 with a 2.95 earned-run average.

Veteran knuckleballer Dennis Springer--4-5 with a 4.23 ERA at triple-A Las Vegas--is also under consideration, and the Dodgers are attempting to reacquire starter Pedro Astacio of the Colorado Rockies, baseball sources said.

Interim General Manager Dave Wallace said Brown’s status will not affect the club’s plans to pursue deals before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.

“Obviously, it makes a little bit of an impact, but I still don’t see us in a panic mode,” Wallace said. “I mean, Eric Gagne is up and pitching. I don’t know for sure what the time frame is on Brownie, so right now we’re going to continue to do what we have to do to try and seek out a pitcher.

“But again, [the club won’t] react quickly and irrationally and make a decision that would impact anything that we’ve been saying all along, [which is] to make us better.”

Moreover, Wallace said Brown’s situation and the season-ending injuries suffered by starters Andy Ashby and Darren Dreifort have not changed the club’s approach toward Chan Ho Park, who can become a free agent after the season.

“I haven’t even thought about that one,” Wallace said. “That’s something we’re going to address in the off-season and see how it goes the rest of the way.

“I just hate to try and operate from the standpoint of trying to be under the gun for any reason. I think we have to take a step back, be levelheaded and approach it that way.”

The Dodgers were buoyed by the news that the $105-million pitcher might return to the mound in 2001, but Jobe conceded there are no guarantees.

The tendon might not heal quickly enough for Brown to help the Dodgers, who have remained in contention in the National League West and wild-card races despite major injuries that have forced Manager Jim Tracy to shuffle the rotation and batting order.

And even if he does pitch again, Brown still might undergo surgery in the off-season.

“We’ll make that decision as we go along, but I don’t think he needs surgery now,” Jobe said. “If there’s any surgery, we’ll probably think about doing that after the season.

“Here’s what you think about: If he comes back and has no symptoms, then we wouldn’t even think of surgery. But if he comes back and pitches and still is kind of not completely healed, well then that would have to be evaluated.”

The possibility of Brown returning provided a boost to a franchise desperately seeking its first playoff appearance since 1996 and victory since 1988.

Dreifort and Ashby underwent season-ending surgery before the second half began, and the thought of losing Brown, whose injury is similar to Ashby’s elbow problem, had the Dodgers emotionally down.

Their mood improved Monday.

“We feel encouraged by the fact that the news is much better than we thought it was going to be,” Tracy said. “As a matter of fact, Brownie had said that he was throwing the ball [Sunday] better than he had thrown it at any time dating back to early last season, very early last season, that’s how good he felt.”

Left fielder Gary Sheffield was pleased that the news was better than expected.

“The bottom line is that he’s got a chance to come back and be ready if we get to the playoffs,” Sheffield said. “Once you get into postseason play, when you’ve got a Kevin Brown and a Chan Ho Park going back to back, anything is possible.”

Brown pitched well despite the pain of his elbow injury last season, which the club did not disclose, and an Achilles’ tendon injury this season that many team sources said was worse than revealed.

But Brown, 36, understands he must proceed cautiously, Tracy said.

“No question, and he’s a very competitive individual,” Tracy said. “Kevin looks at the situation of this ballclub, and at the progress that we’ve made to this point, under some very adverse circumstances, due to injuries and everything else, and what Kevin wants to do is give this thing the amount of time we’re talking about.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Brown Effect

A look at the Dodger record in games Kevin Brown has started each season and in all other games:

1999

Record with Brown

22-13, .629

All other games

55-72, .433

2000

Record with Brown

21-12, .636

All other games

65-64, .504

2001

Record with Brown

10-4, .714

All other games

41-38, .519

OVERALL

Record with Brown

53-29, .646

All other games

161-174, .481

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

An Ace Among Aces

A look at how Kevin Brown compares to other prominent pitchers since the Dodgers signed him before the 1999 season:

*--*

Pitcher Record IP H/9IP BB/9IP SO/9IP ERA Kevin Brown 39-19 570 2/3 7.35 2.03 8.23 2.82 Pedro Martinez 48-12 534 6.07 1.54 12.59 1.97 Randy Johnson 47-21 660 7.01 2.59 12.55 2.62 Greg Maddux 49-23 603 2/3 9.03 1.45 6.52 3.12 Roger Clemens 39-19 522 1/3 8.46 3.67 8.25 4.00

*--*

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