Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal not ready to play

Reporting from San Diego -- Rafael Furcal’s planned return to the Dodgers was delayed Friday when the shortstop and leadoff hitter said his injured left hamstring was still nagging him.

The Dodgers expected to put Furcal, 32, back in the lineup for their series with the San Diego Padres, but Furcal said before Friday’s game that “they don’t want me to play today” because the hamstring was “still bothering me a little bit.”

Furcal, who was batting .309 when he went on the disabled list, said, “I don’t want to say I can play and then go play two innings and then [they] take me out and then put me on the DL again. It’s better you lose two days and then don’t lose 15 more days.”

Asked if he might have to skip the three-game series with the Padres, Furcal said, “I don’t know, we’ve got to see. We’ll keep working on it.”

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre said “it’s probably going to be a few days” before Furcal returns.

“He just didn’t feel sure that he could just turn it loose,” Torre said. “He feels down about it but we can’t have him unless he’s all the way there. His speed means too much to his game. He didn’t re-injure anything, it’s just not all the way back.”

Furcal had played two rehabilitation games with the Dodgers’ Class A affiliate in San Bernardino this week in anticipation of his return, and “if I have to go to the minor leagues and play a couple of more games, then I’ll do it,” he said.

“It’s been a disappointment for me,” Furcal added. “I don’t want to be hurt, I want to be on the field, doing what I used to do.”

Furcal injured the hamstring while running to first base April 27 in a game against the Mets in New York.