Guzman’s First Start Is at Third

For a guy who has spent the last few months bouncing from position to position, Joel Guzman seemed plenty agreeable when asked which he would prefer to play.

“I’ll play wherever they put me,” said Guzman, the converted shortstop who this season has been asked to play left field, first base and third base. “Not catcher.”

Guzman made his first major league start, at third base, Friday when the Dodgers played the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium, though Manager Grady Little said the prized prospect might also appear at any of his other positions, including shortstop “in an emergency.”

Guzman said he had been working with first base coach Mariano Duncan since January to acquaint himself with each of his infield positions, so “it’s not like this is new to me. I’ve been doing this for a while.”

Dodgers officials insisted that they would promote Guzman to the major leagues only when the move would be permanent, but injuries altered those plans. Guzman was recalled from triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday when second baseman Jeff Kent became the 11th Dodger this season to go on the disabled list.

“It’s not exactly the way you’d like to do it if you had a perfect world, but we’re not operating in one of those right now,” Little said.

Guzman, the eighth rookie on the Dodgers roster, acknowledged feeling “a little disappointed, a little frustrated” when less-heralded prospects such as Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp received promotions ahead of him. Little said that was merely a function of the Dodgers’ needs rather than a reflection of the pecking order of the organization’s prospects.

Regardless of where Guzman is penciled into the lineup, Little said the utilityman’s priority should be his hitting.

“That will dictate exactly how much he’s going to play and where he’s going to play,” Little said. “That’s his No. 1 position.”

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Little said he gave catcher Russell Martin the night off “to keep him as sharp as we can.” The Dodgers were 19-4 with Martin in the starting lineup and 12-19 with their other catchers going into Friday night’s game.