Tracy Wishes He Had Met With Beltre

Manager Jim Tracy acknowledged Tuesday that he should have informed third baseman Adrian Beltre earlier about changes in the opening-day batting order.

Beltre criticized Tracy’s handling of the situation before Monday’s 8-2 loss to the San Diego Padres, saying Tracy should not have waited until that morning to tell Beltre he had been dropped from third to seventh because of the arrival of center fielder Milton Bradley.

Beltre was especially upset that Tracy met Sunday with players whose positions in the field he wanted to change to accommodate Bradley but apparently didn’t believe it was as important to speak with Beltre, whose position in the batting order would be most affected.

“The information I got was that he had left [the clubhouse], but in essence he hadn’t left,” Tracy said. “With that being said, I wish I would have had the opportunity, obviously, to talk to him on Sunday.”

Beltre reiterated Tuesday he had “no problems with whatever lineup [Tracy] wants because he’s the manager,” adding he understood the situation.

Bradley had a career-high .421 on-base percentage with the Cleveland Indians in 451 plate appearances last season, and Beltre has a career .320 on-base mark.

But batting lower in the order was not the issue, Beltre said.

“I’m a team player,” he said. “I’ve always done whatever they asked me to do, and that’s what I’m always going to do. I just don’t know why he talked to everybody else and not to me.

“I don’t know why I had to leave my house all happy [Monday], then he tells me that when I get here. I had to change my whole thought process again. All I’m saying is, why didn’t he tell me before?”

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Pitching coach Jim Colborn said the Dodgers were concerned about Hideo Nomo’s decreased velocity from last season, saying the club might have “underestimated” how long it would take the right-hander to recover from off-season shoulder surgery.

“It might take longer than we thought because he never had any pain” during spring training, Colborn said.

“But the history with anybody is it takes quite a while after their repair to get back to full strength, so maybe it was underestimated.”

Nomo was pounded for seven hits -- including two home runs -- and seven earned runs in five innings against San Diego. He went 1-4 with an 8.13 earned-run average in exhibition play.

Colborn hopes that Nomo’s velocity, which the coach estimates has decreased a few miles per hour, will increase with some mechanical changes in his delivery.

“He had surgery and he also has a mechanical problem,” Colborn said. “We’ll fix the mechanical problem, or try to, and see what the results are. Even if it is the surgery, you’d still expect [Nomo’s velocity] to come back at some point.”

Nomo, scheduled to start Saturday against Colorado, says he’s not concerned.

“Personally, I think I’m doing pretty good,” Nomo said through an interpreter. “I’m throwing the way I want to throw. I’m not injured or hurt, so I’m not worried.

“I’m going to listen to what coach Colborn has to say, but I’m not worried about what [other] people have to say. It’s just about myself. I just have to focus.”