Ishii Makes Split Decision on His Repertoire

Left-hander Kazuhisa Ishii has resurrected a split-fingered pitch that he used to throw in Japan but had abandoned upon coming to the Dodgers in 2002.

“I had success with it in Japan,” he said. “If I do the same thing here, it could make me more effective.”

Ishii hopes the splitter will enable him to reduce the number of curveballs he throws and give him an effective third pitch. At times last season he slowed his arm when throwing the curve, resulting in a soft pitch that hung in the strike zone.

“Sometimes his curve was his best pitch, so he still needs to throw it,” Dodger pitching coach Jim Colborn said. “He has a sensitive personality and sometimes he would try to avoid mistakes that he felt let down his teammates rather than go out there with an aggressive mind-set.”

Ishii’s well-documented control problems -- he has walked 305 batters in 473 innings with the Dodgers -- disappeared during a stint pitching against Japanese all-stars in November. Colborn was in Japan at the time and could hardly believe his eyes.

“I have more confidence in him now than ever before,” Colborn said. “There was an aura about him that I hadn’t seen in the states.”

Ishii, 31, has competition for the No. 5 berth in the starting rotation from Wilson Alvarez, Edwin Jackson and Scott Erickson, among others. Even though he is 36-25 with the Dodgers, he must pitch well this spring to keep the spot.

*

Manager Jim Tracy said Erickson will start the first Grapefruit League game Wednesday against the Florida Marlins at Holman Stadium and probably go two or three innings. He will be followed by Alvarez, Joel Hanrahan, Franquelis Osoria, Buddy Carlyle and Aquilino Lopez.

Jeff Weaver will start Thursday and will be followed by Duaner Sanchez, D.J. Houlton, Derek Thompson, Yhency Brazoban, Ryan Rupe and Kelly Wunsch.

Derek Lowe will start Friday and Jackson will start Saturday. Ishii is scheduled to follow Lowe on Friday.

Brad Penny, whose bullpen work has been encouraging the last several days, is not scheduled to pitch during the first four games.

Plans for an intrasquad game Tuesday were scrapped because the Dodgers have only 25 pitchers in camp, fewer than most teams.

Minor injuries have compounded the numbers problem. Left-hander Mike Venafro and right-hander Elmer Dessens are recovering from pulled leg muscles and have not practiced the last few days. Eric Gagne has a mild knee injury that will keep him from throwing in the bullpen until Tuesday or Wednesday and Odalis Perez has tendinitis in his left biceps and is not scheduled to pitch in a game until March 11.

Also, two minor league pitchers in major league camp -- Orlando Rodriguez and Ryan Ketchner -- are recovering from surgeries and are not ready for game action.

*

Third baseman Norihiru Nakamura resolved his visa problems in Japan with the help of Dodger official Luchy Guerra and is scheduled to arrive Tuesday evening.