LaRoche appears ready for Dodgers’ hot corner

Andy LaRoche went to spring training in 2005 sure he wouldn’t be the Dodgers’ starting third baseman that season.

“We just signed Bill Mueller to a two-year contract,” he said, “so I was going in thinking, ‘I don’t really have a chance of making it because we just got an ex-batting champion.’ ”

A year ago, Wilson Betemit had the edge when camp began.

“I went in thinking, ‘OK, I kind of have a legitimate shot of winning this job, though I’d kind of have to go out and do something pretty tremendous in spring training to get it,’ ” LaRoche said.

He didn’t come close. Then again, Betemit didn’t seize the moment, either.

Eventually Nomar Garciaparra was moved from first base to third base and Betemit was traded, while LaRoche spent most of the season with triple-A Las Vegas.

This year, with 34-year-old Garciaparra coming off a season of plummeting power and production, there’s nothing standing between LaRoche and a place on the opening-day roster.

“He’s almost going to have to not make the club,” General Manager Ned Colletti said. “It’s a pretty good spot to be in.”

It’s potentially a terrific spot if LaRoche can get his mind, body and swing together and claim a job the Dodgers seem eager for him to win.

“Andy and Nomar give us two great options at third base,” Colletti said, “and we’re going to let them figure it out.”

Working out Wednesday at Dodger Stadium with more than a dozen other top prospects, part of a two-week development program that has taken players onto the field, into the classroom and into the community, LaRoche seemed comfortable at third base.

He looked primed to settle in, free of his old back problems and ready to pounce on this easy one-hopper sent his way.

“I think right now they’re in limbo with who to go with,” he said, “so I’m going in hopefully in top shape and good form and good baseball shape, and I’ll just try to show the new coaching staff what I can do and hopefully leave them with a tough decision.”

Colletti said LaRoche, 24, is “on the verge” of being where James Loney and Matt Kemp were a year ago and where Andre Ethier and Russell Martin were two years ago.

“So I think it’s time to give him an opportunity to stick with the club and to play as much as he earns,” Colletti said.

He’s so sure of it, he said he’s not looking to add a third baseman “at this point.”

Of course, that can change as quickly as the weather did Wednesday when the dense fog burned off and the sun emerged to brighten the field.

But LaRoche is going to get every chance to stay. If he doesn’t immediately start, Colletti is inclined to keep LaRoche around so Garciaparra can give Loney an occasional break at first.

“If Andy can produce power, even if it’s once in a while, or if Nomar takes the job, that’s OK, too,” Colletti said.

Maybe Colletti’s optimistic side was talking, fueled by the happy thwack of bat against ball and the knowledge that pitchers and catchers will report to Vero Beach, Fla., in only 28 days.

And maybe LaRoche really is ready for this, having gained confidence from a strong showing for the triumphant U.S. team in the World Cup tournament in November (.333, three home runs, 10 runs batted in).

He didn’t show much power last season. He was summoned from Las Vegas in May and batted .211 with no home runs and two doubles in 38 at-bats before he was sent down. Recalled in September, he batted .236 with one home run and seven RBIs in 55 at-bats.

“I struggled pretty big time up here at the plate. I think a lot of that was just trying to do too much,” LaRoche said.

Working last week with Don Mattingly, one of the new coaches brought in by new Manager Joe Torre, LaRoche got a clear picture of why he had flailed at the plate.

Pressing for a power stroke, he had changed his swing from what had worked in the minor leagues, where he batted .309 with 18 home runs and 48 RBIs in 73 games. With the Dodgers, he was trying to go deep every time up and was pulling off the ball.

Mattingly told him to relax and just try to hit line drives, assuring him that the extra-base hits will follow. And when Mattingly speaks, hitters listen.

“He said the other day, ‘I tend to repeat myself when I talk,’ and I told him, ‘When you have your credentials you can do that and get away with that,’ ” LaRoche said, laughing.

“It was great getting to know him and just listen to him. Everything he said sunk in. It’s like wow, it’s that easy, but nobody really tells you that until [you struggle] and it shows on the field.”

After this mini-camp, LaRoche plans to go to Arizona to refine his swing, take grounders and give himself every advantage when he reports to Vero Beach to fight for a job.

“I got my cup of coffee last year a couple times,” he said. “I kind of learned what it’s about and what it is up here.

“I think I’m a lot better prepared this year, mentally and physically, going into spring training.”

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Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.