--INF Blake DeWitt left the March 23 game with a bruised quadriceps. He didn't play March 24, and he was day-to-day.

--RHP Josh Lindblom, the Dodgers' second-round pick in last year's draft out of Purdue University, was promoted to major league camp on March 19. Lindblom impressed manager Joe Torre in one "B" game appearance against the Chicago White Sox and later a Cactus League game against Oakland in which he retired six of the seven batters he faced. Lindblom has no chance of making the opening-day roster, but club officials want to evaluate him more closely for a possible in-season call-up.

--RHP Hiroki Kuroda was appointed the starter for the Dodgers' season opener on April 6 at San Diego. Kuroda is having an outstanding spring, having given up just one earned run in 12 innings through March 20. He also performed extremely well for the Dodgers in last year's playoffs, going 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two starts and pitching the club to its only victory in the National League Championship Series.

Although Kuroda was technically a rookie last season because it was his first year in the USA, he had previously spent 11 seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Japanese Central League.

--LHP Clayton Kershaw celebrated his 21st birthday in grand style on March 19. He pitched five shutout innings against Colorado, facing the minimum 15 batters while allowing only one hit and one walk. Kershaw also hit a home run, his first since high school, a lefty-against-lefty shot into the right field bullpen against the Rockies' Franklin Morales.

--RHP Yhency Brazoban was released after making just 11 big-league appearances over the past three seasons. Brazoban, who came from the Yankees along with Jeff Weaver in the December 2003 trade for Kevin Brown, became the Dodgers' closer for a time in 2005, saving 21 games when Eric Gagne went down with elbow surgery. But elbow, shoulder and weight problems ultimately led to Brazoban being non-tendered this winter and re-signed to a minor league contract before club officials finally gave up on him.

--RHP Jason Schmidt is no longer a candidate for the vacant fifth spot in the rotation, manager Joe Torre said. Although he is basically healthy, Schmidt still appears tentative in his delivery after missing most of the past two seasons with shoulder problems and twice undergoing shoulder surgery. He probably will begin the season on the disabled list so he can make at least a couple of minor league rehabilitation starts before returning to the majors.

BY THE NUMBERS: 2 -- Career major league home runs for Valentino Pascucci, who hit them both during a 32-game stint with the Montreal Expos in 2004, his only time in the majors. Pascucci, who signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers this winter and came to big-league camp with no shot of making the club, had hit three home runs in 17 Cactus League at-bats and was hitting .529 with a .579 on-base percentage through March 20.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "He kind of taught everybody around here that you can be the best player in baseball and still have a lot of fun playing the game you have been playing since you were a little kid. I think that was something we needed." -- OF Matt Kemp on the impact Manny Ramirez's arrival at last summer's trading deadline had not only on the way the team performed on the field but also in the team's collective attitude and approach to the game.