Injury Slows Goodwin a Little

Pitchers Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby are on the mend, and right fielder Shawn Green and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek are improving, but an already bustling Dodger training room grew a little more crowded Thursday.

Center fielder Tom Goodwin strained a muscle on his left side swinging a bat in a simulated game Wednesday and will be sidelined for several days.

“It’s a bad injury to have, considering how much you have to use those muscles when you’re swinging and throwing; it can affect everything,” said Goodwin, who was scratched from Thursday’s 4-2 exhibition loss to the Houston Astros. “It’s sore today. I can feel the pain. But it’s nothing I couldn’t play with.”

Goodwin, who has a $3.25-million guaranteed contract but is in danger of not making the team, hasn’t distinguished himself in the four-man competition for the center-field job; he has one hit and two walks in 10 spring-training at-bats. Any injury would diminish what little trade value Goodwin might have.

But Manager Jim Tracy said the injury won’t put Goodwin any further behind Marquis Grissom, McKay Christensen and Dave Roberts.

“If he’s out for a few days, it won’t be a problem,” Tracy said. “If he was out for a long time ... that would be difficult for a young guy, but we know Tom Goodwin, and we know what he’s been working on. It won’t be held against him.”

Green, slowed by a mild case of tendinitis in his left shoulder, took part in throwing drills Thursday morning and hopes to make his first exhibition appearance in the field this weekend. Grudzielanek hasn’t played in a Grapefruit League game because of a sore right hamstring but was feeling better Thursday.

Brown and Ashby, both recovering from elbow surgery, are scheduled to pitch Sunday against Houston. Japanese left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii is scheduled to make his first exhibition appearance today against Atlanta.

*

Right-hander Hideo Nomo gave up one run and three hits in three innings of Thursday’s game and threw several nasty split-finger fastballs, one of which struck out Brian Hunter to end the third inning. Nomo also threw first-pitch strikes to seven of the 12 batters he faced.

“A better first-pitch efficiency will make him an even better pitcher,” Tracy said. “His first-pitch ratio last year wasn’t very good.”

Nomo went 13-10 with a 4.50 earned-run average for Boston in 2001, and led the American League with 220 strikeouts. Opponents hit .231 against Nomo, .407 on the first pitch but only .172 after falling behind in the count, 0-1.

“I’m concentrating harder on keeping the ball low and throwing first-pitch strikes,” Nomo said.

Reliever Paul Quantrill retired the side in order in the sixth, and catcher Paul Lo Duca had two hits, but Tracy grew more concerned about defensive lapses. First baseman Dave Hansen and third baseman Mike Kinkade committed errors that enabled Houston to score, and the Dodgers have 14 errors in six games.

“We don’t want to give the opponent unnecessary opportunities,” Tracy said, “because our pitching staff is beginning to show me that it’s not going to be the easiest thing in the world to score runs off the Dodgers.”

*

Who says an older pitcher can’t learn new tricks? Dodger Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax has spent a lot of time in camp this spring, and left-hander Terry Mulholland, 39, has taken advantage, seeking advice from Koufax about the grip on his curveball.

“I told him he had the greatest curve of any left-hander in the game, ‘I’d like to know how you did it,’” Mulholland said. “He was more than obliged to show me, and he worked with me. You can’t really argue with the success he had with it. I’m always willing, even at this age and stage of my career, to try something new.”

Mulholland, who is competing for a bullpen job, had trouble controlling the curve in his first outing, but he looked sharp in his next game, throwing three scoreless innings against Florida on Wednesday.

*

Kinkade, one of several players competing for a utility job, sprained his right knee on a fifth-inning groundout. He was scheduled for examination Thursday night.