--LHP Hong-Chih Kuo appears to have made progress with his mechanics and his release point, which Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said Kuo had lost during his two most recent appearances, when he struggled and failed each time to last a full inning. Kuo also had been battling a stiff neck for several days after he slept awkwardly one night last week. Manager Joe Torre said he still wants to use Kuo in a fairly innocuous situation in a lopsided game before putting him back in his eighth-inning setup role.
--RHP Jeff Weaver will move from the bullpen to the rotation at Class AAA Albuquerque this weekend, making his first start Saturday at Omaha. The veteran had a good enough spring training to make the club but didn't because the Dodgers couldn't clear a 40-man roster spot. Club officials now want him to build up his innings and his pitch count to the point that he could be called up either as a starter or a reliever, depending on the team's need at the time. --INF Blake DeWitt will be staying in the majors for a while. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti had said when DeWitt was promoted on Friday to take the roster spot of injured veteran Doug Mientkiewicz that a better solution might be found outside the organization, but Colletti said Wednesday he is no longer looking to make a move. The concern with DeWitt is that he might not get enough playing time in the majors to keep his development on track.
BY THE NUMBERS: .448 -- Collective on-base percentage for the Dodgers during their first homestand of the season, which saw them run the table against San Francisco and Colorado. The Dodgers scored 50 runs in the six games. As a team, they batted .367 (77-for-21) with 11 home runs.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I was just trying not to pull an oblique or fall down, so I guess I was 2-for-2 in that area. Manny (Ramirez) gave me one of his bats before I went up there, which was good because mine are all apparently in other cities. I used my own (batting) gloves, so send those to the Hall of Fame." -- LHP Will Ohman, who delivered an RBI single in his fifth career plate appearance Saturday against Colorado.
