Nunez Remains Optimistic

Left-handed rookie Jose Nunez was surprisingly upbeat Monday, two days after teammates wondered aloud whether he belonged in the major leagues.

Nunez, a Rule 5 draft pick from the Mets who must be on the Dodgers’ 25-man roster or sent back to the Mets, made the Dodger roster out of spring training and is the lone lefty on the staff. But he is 0-1 with a 13.50 earned-run average in six appearances and opposing hitters are batting .389 against him. The Chicago Cubs pounded him for nine runs, five earned, and six hits in 1 2/3 innings of their 20-1 win over the Dodgers on Saturday.

“My future is good, I think,” Nunez, 22, said in Spanish on Monday. “The major leagues are very different from anything I’ve experienced. I’m new to all of this and I’m young. I just need the experience.

“I feel OK right now but I’ll feel better the next time I get out there.”

Puerto Rico natives Alex Cora and Hiram Bocachica have served as interpreters for Nunez. Bocachica, 25, said that Chan Ho Park, Chad Kreuter and Andy Ashby have all asked him to translate for them in talking with Nunez.

“He’s young but I think he’s very mature for his age,” Bocachica said. “If something happened to me like [Saturday’s thrashing at Chicago] when I was his age, I’d be out of baseball right now.”

Adrian Beltre, 11 for 22 in his last four games of his rehab stint at Vero Beach, Fla., is on schedule to be in the Dodger lineup Saturday. Beltre, who has undergone two abdominal surgeries since January, will make a quick stop at triple-A Las Vegas for games Thursday and Friday.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’ LUKE PROKOPEC

(3-0, 3.16 ERA)

vs.

MARLINS’ BRAD PENNY

(1-0, 3.89 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net 2. Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330)

Update--Prokopec, a right-handed rookie, has never faced Florida. Penny, who has won a career-high five consecutive games dating to July 13, is 0-2 with a 7.71 earned-run average in two career games against the Dodgers.

Tickets--(323) 224-1448.