A Relieved Drew Able to Swing Bat

As he lay at home plate at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, his face resting on the soft dirt, many thoughts went through J.D. Drew’s mind, none of them good.

Having just been drilled in the right knee by a pitch thrown by St. Louis Cardinal right-hander Jeff Suppan, Drew, no stranger to serious injury, figured this was yet another.

“I thought it was pretty bad,” he said.

But 24 hours later, the furrowed brow had been replaced by a smile. The initial diagnosis had been correct. Drew has nothing worse than a bruise that has resulted in some swelling and stiffness.

He pinch-hit Saturday in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and lined out to center.

“That is as hard as I’ve been hit,” the Dodgers outfielder said. “Luckily it did not hit the kneecap, but the side of the knee. There’s a lot more cushion there.”

Drew, who appeared in only 72 games last season for the Dodgers because of knee and wrist injuries, has never played in more than 145 games in a nine-year major league career.

Asked if he was concerned that Drew’s injury might hamper his ability to run, Manager Grady Little replied, “One of these days he’s going to hit a ball where he doesn’t have to run.”

Drew, who is expected to supply power on a club woefully lacking in that category, has gone 127 at-bats without a home run.

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With the July 31 trading deadline near, Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti acknowledges that injuries and the team’s offensive problems (15 runs over a nine-game span heading into Saturday night’s game) have changed his thinking.

“We had been concentrating on pitching,” he said. “But we are more open-minded now. Whoever is out there that might be able to help this club, pitching or hitting, we’ve got to take a shot.”

Colletti said there are limits to what he will do, but they are self-imposed.

“Budget is not an issue,” he said, “but common sense is. If there is an appropriate move, we would absolutely make it. But as far as making a move just to make a move, giving up a prospect just for a change of pace, we are not there right now.”

Colletti said the real wheeling and dealing won’t occur for another week.

“It’s in the last 72 hours [before the deadline],” he said, “that you find out the price and the prospects [being asked for a player].”

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With a .396 batting average at home heading into Saturday night’s game, Nomar Garciaparra is well ahead of the franchise record for a season at Dodger Stadium. The mark is held by Mike Piazza, who batted .355 at home in 1997, his last full season in Dodger blue.