Pierre, Wills develop fast bond

A mutual admiration society comes to order every day when new Dodgers center fielder Juan Pierre meets with base-stealing legend Maury Wills.

Wills is a special instructor, teaching the subtleties of the bunt and the stolen base. To Pierre, Wills is just plain special.

“Something I was looking forward to from the day I signed was working with Maury,” Pierre said. “I know he stole 104 bases one year and that he’s a great coach.”

Wills, whose 586 steals rank 19th all time, has taken a liking to Pierre in a matter of days. Pierre has had at least 45 stolen bases in each of his six full seasons, ranking first or second in the National League every year.

“He’s open to teaching,” Wills said. “Never once has he said, ‘Well, I do it this way.’ ”

Pierre has led the league in times caught stealing four years in a row, so there is room for improvement. “He was caught 20 times last year, and I think we can put half of those on the other side of the ledger,” Wills said.

Pierre is a proficient bunter who has 135 bunt hits since 2001, 50 more than any other major league player.

“He does the little things well,” Wills said. “He knows that you have to bunt the ball before you start running. So many guys are moving before they make contact.”

As for whether Pierre should bat leadoff or behind Rafael Furcal in the No. 2 spot, Wills has an opinion.

“I’d be willing to bet [Pierre] bats leadoff,” he said. “He’s a natural leadoff hitter.”

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The conditioning program implemented by new trainer Stan Conte includes more agility drills and sprints than the leisurely, lengthy jogs customary to baseball players. It strikes the players as odd to be backpedaling and making tight turns around cones as if they are preparing for a football season.

“You will not see a wide receiver get open deep against the Dodgers,” pitcher Derek Lowe quipped.

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Manager Grady Little has had private conversations with his starters, encouraging them not to get caught up in the order they’ll pitch. Little said he would construct the rotation based on matchups.

“We aren’t going to categorize any pitcher as our No. 1, 2 or 3,” he said.

Lowe, the opening-day starter in his two Dodgers seasons, is the logical choice for the opener at Milwaukee on April 2 unless Little wants to sandwich the sinkerball-throwing right-hander between hard throwers Jason Schmidt and Brad Penny.

The third starter would be in line to start the home opener April 9 against Colorado.

“It’s an honor both ways,” Lowe said. “There’s a buzz to opening day, but there’s always a buzz to the home opener. You have to do what’s best for the team.”

Penny was 5-0 with a 2.67 earned-run average against the Rockies in 2006, making him the front-runner to pitch the home opener.

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Position players are required to report today, although all but seven are in camp. Due to arrive are Jeff Kent, Nomar Garciaparra, Olmedo Saenz, Rafael Furcal, Marlon Anderson, Fernando Tatis and Tony Abreu.

steve.henson@latimes.com