Healthy Martinez Displaces Astacio in the Rotation

Ramon Martinez has returned to the Dodger starting rotation.

That is no surprise to anyone who has seen Martinez pitch in five rehabilitation starts without pain since he suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder in mid-June.

The Dodgers have moved Martinez into Pedro Astacio’s slot in the rotation, sending Astacio to the bullpen.

That should be no surprise to anyone who has seen Astacio pitch lately.

It was assumed veteran Tom Candiotti, who had filled in for Martinez, would return to the bullpen. And that was probably a safe assumption when Astacio, after a seven-game losing streak, seemed to turn his season around by winning four in a row. But in his last three outings, Astacio is 0-2 with a 7.98 earned-run average.

Candiotti, meanwhile, has won four of his last five outings, the only defeat coming in a game in which he had to leave after two innings because of a cracked fingernail.

Dodger Manager Bill Russell isn’t ready to say that Astacio has been removed from the rotation, only that Astacio will miss his next start, which would have been Thursday in New York.

And indeed, Astacio will start next Monday when the Dodgers play a doubleheader in Pittsburgh.

“After that,” Russell said, “we’ll see where we’re at. [Astacio] is just missing one start. Read into that what you want.”

It’s difficult to know what Astacio is reading into it since he refused to talk to the media Sunday.

But Candiotti had some advice for his fellow right-hander.

“He should not regard this as a demotion,” said Candiotti, who will start Thursday’s series finale in New York. “At the beginning of the year, I was the guy on the bubble. Now, it’s Pedro. He shouldn’t take it personally. We may be the only team in baseball with six good guys for five spots. You have to remember what a great job Astacio did for us out of the bullpen in ’95.”

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After 15 days on the disabled list because of a fractured bone near his right elbow, and two rehabilitation games with the team’s Class-A team in San Bernardino, outfielder Todd Hollandsworth was ready to return, the Dodgers figured.

So did Hollandsworth--until he took batting practice Sunday afternoon.

When he experienced pain in the arm, however, the Dodgers were forced to pull Hollandsworth out of the starting lineup and replace him with Roger Cedeno.

Hollandsworth is scheduled to undergo an MRI and bone scan today to determine whether he has suffered a serious setback.

“Before it was sore,” Hollandsworth said. “But today, I had sharp pain. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.”

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Second baseman Tripp Cromer is scheduled to undergo a second MRI today to determine why he continues to experience pain around his right elbow. Cromer came out of the lineup after a July 28 game against Pittsburgh because of a sprained right elbow. An MRI done in Chicago two weeks ago showed nothing more serious.