Nomo’s Situation Offers Few Options

Barring a trade, the Dodgers’ lack of acceptable alternatives might compel them to stick with Hideo Nomo even if the starting pitcher’s struggles carry over into the second half of the season.

While Jim Tracy acknowledged Tuesday that “sooner or later, we need some results” from Nomo, who is 3-7 with a 7.56 earned-run average, the manager also conceded there was no “obvious move” to make within the Dodger organization if the veteran right-hander’s troubles persisted.

Tracy has already moved Jose Lima into the rotation, and onetime starters Wilson Alvarez and Darren Dreifort have been relegated to the bullpen because of concerns about their durability. Edwin Jackson, 20, has made one spot start but is not considered a viable option as a long-term replacement because the Dodgers don’t want to rush the development of a pitcher key to their future plans.

The lack of in-house options could force the Dodgers to look outside the organization. General Manager Paul DePodesta said he was trying to bolster the team by “looking for the player who’s going to have the biggest impact on this club,” though that player might not necessarily be a starting pitcher.

The Dodgers led only the New York Mets and Montreal Expos among National League teams in runs scored before playing the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium and are also looking to add another bat.

“We could score more runs and we could do better in the rotation, so I’m really looking at those two areas,” DePodesta said.

Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn appeared to differ as to their opinions on Nomo’s struggles, who has lost his last six decisions and has not pitched more than six innings in any of his 11 starts this season.

While Tracy said Nomo has had much better results pitching out of the stretch as opposed to the windup and that the team had offered “some suggestions of things like that for him,” Colborn said he didn’t think pitching out of the stretch was the solution.

Tracy and Colborn also differed in their assessment of Nomo in his two starts since returning from a broken fingernail. While Tracy said the results were “very similar” to Nomo’s struggles earlier in the season, considering Nomo had a 9.72 ERA in those two starts, Colborn said Nomo possessed “the stuff we’re looking for to be a winner.”

Colborn said Nomo simply made a few bad pitches during a 7-1 loss to Toronto but helped himself by making good pitches to escape several jams against Boston.

“And so I’m thinking to myself, Well, maybe he can iron himself out,” Colborn said. “But in the end, his control wasn’t good enough and kept putting him into jams. ... Right now, I’m committed to Nomo; he’s our man. He’s proven he can win, he’s done it time after time after time, and I believe he’s going to make this discussion be moot before long.”

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DePodesta said infielder Brian Myrow, acquired to complete the May 15 trade that sent pitcher Tanyon Sturtze to the New York Yankees, is a left-handed hitter with power and patience who could play first and third base. DePodesta said he envisioned Myrow, who hit .268 with three home runs and 15 runs batted in for triple-A Columbus, eventually contributing with the Dodgers.