Gagne Still Has a Few Surprises Left in His Arm

Eric Gagne dusted off a pitch he hasn’t used in a long time Thursday, much to the astonishment of Cesar Izturis, who was at bat.

Gagne has been working on a slider, a pitch he threw sporadically as a starter but had kept on the shelf since becoming a closer in 2002. In his first spring session facing hitters, he threw it several times.

“That was nasty,” Izturis said to Gagne after getting jammed by the slider and dribbling it foul.

“I’m unveiling a new pitch,” Gagne yelled back, grinning.

Gagne threw 21 pitches and was pleased by the life on his fastball and movement on his changeup. Although he is on a more deliberate schedule than the other pitchers, he is suffering no ill effects from his June elbow surgery.

“I have good days and bad days, but they aren’t much different,” he said. “They are never that bad. It’s very reassuring.”

The slider might be a way to compensate if his fastball doesn’t regain the 96-mph velocity he had before last season. He said the pitch can be effective against left-handers and right-handers.

“I can use it to back a left-hander off the plate and I can throw it down and away to a right-hander to get him to roll over and hit a double-play ball,” he said. “It would be a plus. When you get older, you have to make stuff up.”

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Right-hander Derek Lowe will be the opening-day starter, Manager Grady Little said. Lowe started the opener at San Francisco last season, his first with the Dodgers.

“Outside of a health issue, I don’t think anything could change that,” Little said. “He’s a special pitcher.”

Lowe, who was 12-15 with a 3.61 earned-run average in 222 innings last season, pitched for Little on the Boston Red Sox in 2002 and 2003.

Right-hander Brad Penny and left-hander Odalis Perez are scheduled to pitch the second and third games of the opening series against the Atlanta Braves, which begins April 3. Penny would be the starter April 10 at Pittsburgh in the Pirates’ first home game under Manager Jim Tracy, the Dodger manager the last five years.

Penny, who threw his second consecutive live batting practice session Thursday, also will start the first Grapefruit League game March 2 against the Braves at Holman Stadium.

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Little is as easygoing as they come, but his pregame rules will be stringent.

Clubhouse televisions will show footage only of that night’s opposing pitcher the last hour before games. No ESPN or movies or channel surfing.

Card games, dominoes and cellphones also will be taboo.

“It will help players draw a little better focus on the game at hand,” Little said.

Music will be restricted to headphones. An exception: After wins, the stereo can be blasted.

“Perfect,” Perez said about the rules. “The last four or five years we didn’t play cards close to game time anyway. That won’t be a change.”

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Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Assn., had a lengthy closed-door meeting with Dodger players. Player representative Jayson Werth said the meeting was standard and that the increased penalties for failing a drug test were at the top of the agenda.... Izturis, who is recovering from elbow surgery, made 50 throws from 60 feet -- an increase of 20 feet.... Shortstop Rafael Furcal, recovering from knee surgery, jogged and fielded ground balls.... David Dickinson, fired as Dodger clubhouse manager several weeks ago, has been hired by the team’s triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.... Phil Rizzo, who has been in baseball for more than 40 years, has been hired as a major league scout.