Ted Lilly won’t make next start for Dodgers

PHOENIX — Dodgers No. 3 starter Ted Lilly reported improvement in his stiff neck but still won’t make his scheduled start Tuesday.

“Today, I feel quite a bit better,” Lilly said. “I’m still not to where I’m confident that I’d be able to go out there tomorrow and not regress.”

The move could jeopardize his status for the season-opening series in San Diego.

Manager Don Mattingly said the team has a few days to decide whether to make preparations for No. 5 starter Chris Capuano to pitch in the four-game series against the Padres. If Lilly is available, Capuano’s first turn in the rotation will be skipped as the Dodgers have a day off before their April 10 home opener, which Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start.

For his part, Lilly said he isn’t yet concerned about possibly not making his first start of the regular season. But he also said his neck feels worse than it did last year when he was forced to prematurely exit a game in August. He speculated that his problems are muscular.

Jamey Wright makes the team

Veteran right-hander Jamey Wright has claimed the final spot in the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Wright, who was in camp on a minor league contract, said he was told by General Manager Ned Colletti that he had made the team. Wright recorded the final out of the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday, lowering his earned-run average to 2.16.

The move hasn’t been made official because the Dodgers still have to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Wright, who will be guaranteed $900,000 and can pick up an additional $500,000 in incentives.

Wright’s triumph came at the expense of left-hander John Grabow, who was told he wouldn’t make the club and exercised the escape clause in his minor league contract to become a free agent. Grabow didn’t give up a run in six innings this spring.

Short hops

Infielder Justin Sellers, who was sidelined because of a rash that he said is 90% clear, returned to action as a defensive replacement. … Infielder Adam Kennedy (groin) is expected to be back in a couple of days.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com