Ethier is OK with eighth spot

The flip-side of moving Wilson Betemit out of the No. 8 spot in the batting order Thursday night was inserting Andre Ethier into it. The difference is that Ethier says he isn’t bothered by batting in front of the pitcher, which he quickly proved by driving in a run with a double in the second inning.

“I might not get many fastballs, but batting seventh you don’t get many fastballs, either,” Ethier said.

Batting eighth clearly doesn’t agree with Betemit, who is three for 25 in that spot.

“I was glad to see the lineup card because batting eighth, they aren’t going to throw you anything with the pitcher coming up next,” he said. “It’s a different look. Having a left-handed hitter behind me could help too.”

Ethier believed he had never batted eighth at any level, but it might have been a case of selective memory: He was 0 for 5 in that slot last season.

Former Dodgers manager Jim Tracy made a point of not batting an inexperienced player eighth because he believed it would adversely affect his hitting approach. Current Manager Grady Little has no such reluctance.

“Every position in the batting order has different duties to perform,” Little said.

Besides, Little noted, Betemit has been “getting pitches to hit.”

Yet he’s not doing much with them. Betemit, who hit 18 home runs last season, struck out with the bases loaded, doubled, was hit by a pitch and lined to first, raising his hideous average to .136 with no home runs.

Although no move is imminent, inching up a notch in the order might be Betemit’s last chance before the Dodgers dip into triple A for top third-base prospect Andy LaRoche, who has overcome a slow start and is batting .274 with three home runs.

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Jason Schmidt, on the disabled list because of a sore shoulder, returned after spending a few days with his wife and newborn son in Phoenix and said he is still a long way from pitching.

Schmidt began strengthening exercises but is still several days away from playing catch and perhaps several weeks from taking the mound.

“I’m still rehabbing it from a strength standpoint,” he said. “Obviously I’d like to be moving as fast as I can.

“It’s a definite improvement from where we were, the achiness is not what it was and the range of motion is better. But there is only one ultimate test and that is getting in a game.”

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Left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo is scheduled to pitch Sunday at triple-A Las Vegas, marking his first game action since he injured his shoulder March 21 at spring training.

Kuo threw 30 pitches in a simulated game Thursday and did not aggravate the finger blister that bothered him a day earlier. The only concession to the blister was that he refrained from throwing two-seam fastballs to avoid friction.

“Otherwise, I threw all my pitches and everything was good,” Kuo said.

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The Dodgers expect Mark Hendrickson to be able to throw as many as 90 pitches tonight against the San Diego Padres. The left-hander made 75 pitches against the Colorado Rockies in his first start after three relief appearances.... The Dodgers drew a capacity crowd of 56,000, the third time they have reached that in stadium history for a regular-season game. The other two were the home openers this season and last season.

steve.henson@latimes.com