Roster Will Get Minor Additions

DENVER — One or two more minor leaguers will be added to the Dodger roster Tuesday because the triple-A season will have ended, but none are top prospects or difference makers.

Left-handed Jason Grabowski or right-handed Norihiro Nakamura will come up to give Manager Jim Tracy another pinch-hitter, and right-hander Scott Erickson or left-hander Mike Venafro could be added to the bullpen.

Grabowski batted .163 with four homers in 104 at-bats before being sent to triple-A Las Vegas, where he is batting .318 with six home runs in 176 at-bats. Nakamura is hitting .249 with 17 home runs in 350 at-bats at Las Vegas after batting .128 in 38 at-bats for the Dodgers.

Erickson was 1-4 with a 6.02 earned-run average for the Dodgers as a spot starter and long reliever. He hasn’t fared any better at Las Vegas, going 2-4 with a 7.20 ERA. Venafro has a 6.85 ERA in 53 relief appearances.

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Right-hander Elmer Dessens has been the most reliable reliever of late. He has given up one earned run in his last 15 innings, spanning seven appearances.

“He’s been a bright spot,” Tracy said. “For over a month, he’s been terrific.”

Dessens, who is versatile enough to start, pitch in long relief or in short relief, could be signed for another season soon after the season ends. He has a one-year deal for $1.3 million with a mutual option at approximately the same salary.

Dessens said he wants to remain a Dodger, and General Manager Paul DePodesta has been impressed by his pitching. Dessens has a 2.79 ERA, more than a run better than any other active Dodger.

“We think Elmer has done a great job in filling multiple roles on our staff,” DePodesta said.

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Minor league pitching coordinator Rick Honeycutt is spending two weeks with the major league team to gain information he can impart to young players in the farm system.

“I can see firsthand how Jim Tracy and Jim Colborn run a game,” he said. “It helps me become familiar with how they use guys.

“My role is to take it back to the guys in the minors and get them ready.”

Honeycutt, who pitched in the majors for 21 seasons, also is working with several rookie pitchers with whom he already has a relationship, including Franquelis Osoria, Edwin Jackson, Steve Schmoll, Yhency Brazoban and Hong-Chih Kuo.

Another minor league coach will spend the last two weeks with the Dodgers.

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Jeff Kent’s grand slam gave him 85 runs batted in as a second baseman, breaking the Los Angeles team record of 83 set by Charlie Neal in 1959. Jackie Robinson drove in 124 runs as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949.