Perez’s Winter Plans Concern Team

After doubling his previous all-time high with 222 1/3 innings this season, throwing 23 innings in spring training and about another 50 innings in winter ball--giving him some 295 innings in the past year--it would seem the last thing Dodger left-hander Odalis Perez needs this winter is to pitch again in his native Dominican Republic.

But Perez plans to begin pitching for Estrella, the San Pedro de Macoris-based team he has played with for six seasons, in December, a decision the Dodgers are concerned about but can do nothing to stop.

“It’s a very delicate issue, and it’s a no-win situation to say a guy can’t go home and pitch in his own country,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said. “So I’m not going to venture into that. They also have a say-so in how much they’d like to pitch, and that’s where you hope sensible heads prevail. Moderation is the word. As brilliant a future as he has, I would hate to see him jeopardize that if he goes off the deep end with it.”

Perez, who is 15-10 with a 3.00 earned-run average, has discussed his plans with Tracy, General Manager Dan Evans and Senior Vice President Dave Wallace, who would like Perez to throw no more than 20 innings in four or five winter starts.

They feel more comfortable with the decision knowing Mark Brewer, the Dodgers’ roving minor league pitching instructor, will be Estrella’s pitching coach this winter and will keep a close eye on Perez, who missed most of 2000 after undergoing elbow reconstruction surgery.

“We haven’t completely solidified our thoughts, but if he pitches, it will be in extreme moderation,” Evans said. “His focus has to be on Vero Beach and repeating the year he had this year. We can’t prohibit him from pitching there, but we have to work with him to do what’s in his best interests.”

Perez, acquired from Atlanta in the Gary Sheffield trade last January, believes pitching in the Dominican Republic last winter helped prepare him for this season.

“I learned how to challenge guys, and I became more consistent,” Perez said. “Most of the guys in the Dominican are big leaguers, and that helps you a lot.”

*

Several Dodger officials, including Evans and Senior Vice President Tom Lasorda, will travel to Ogden, Utah, today to announce the Dodgers’ new Class-A affiliate in the Pioneer League. The Dodgers left Great Falls, Mont., for a new facility in Ogden.

ON DECK

Opponent--San Diego Padres, four games.

Site--Dodger Stadium.

Tonight--7

TV--Fox Sports Net 2 tonight, Channel 13 Friday night and Sunday, Channel 11 Saturday.

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

Records--Dodgers 89-69, Padres 65-93.

Record vs. Padres--7-8.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

HIDEO NOMO

(16-6, 3.28 ERA)

vs.

PADRES’

BRETT TOMKO

(10-10, 4.49 ERA)

Update--Nomo has been a force since mid-May, going 14-1 with a 3.09 ERA in his last 25 starts, and the Dodgers have won 21 of those games. The right-hander has not lost since July 16. If the final two games of the series don’t have a bearing on the wild-card race, Tracy said neither Andy Ashby, a candidate to start Saturday, nor Sunday starter Odalis Perez would pitch this weekend.

Friday, 7 p.m.--Omar Daal (11-9, 4.11) vs. Jake Peavy (6-7, 4.50).

Saturday, 1 p.m.--TBA vs. Adam Eaton (1-1, 6.48).

Sunday, 1 p.m.--Odalis Perez (15-10, 3.00) vs. Oliver Perez (3-5, 3.81).

Tickets--(323) 224-1448.