Fifth-starter spot is up for grabs Kuo, Loaiza could be in role by season's end for Dodgers By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com LOS ANGELES -- An imbalance in the makeup of the Dodgers roster has manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt contemplating another change in the fifth-starter spot. Esteban Loaiza had the role for one start, then was replaced by Hong-Chih Kuo for two starts, including Tuesday night's in Cincinnati, in which Kuo lasted 3 2/3 innings. Even though Torre said on Tuesday night that he was anticipating keeping Kuo in the rotation, on Wednesday he indicated that Loaiza and Chan Ho Park were candidates to start on Sunday against Colorado. And not because of what Kuo did or didn't do on Tuesday night, but because of what he could do out of the bullpen. With Loaiza, Kuo and Park, the Dodgers have three career starters who are not particularly comfortable or adept with the demands of relieving -- namely -- to warm up quickly and pitch frequently. With Takashi Saito as the closer and Jonathan Broxton as the setup man, the only true relievers available to Torre are Joe Beimel and Scott Proctor. And with Dodgers starters averaging only 5 1/3 innings, as Honeycutt puts it, "We've got to have a more useable bullpen." One option would be to increase the pitching staff from 11 to 12, but that would require reducing one position player. If it's Delwyn Young, he could be lost through waivers. Torre isn't comfortable removing rookie Blake DeWitt, because he's the only true third baseman on the bench. Starter Nomar Garciaparra needs time off and Torre isn't comfortable with Chin-lung Hu, a natural middle infielder, playing third. "We have to go to 12, but we can't do that now because of Nomar, in my mind," said Torre. "It's a little tough right at this minute." The third-base dilemma would have been solved if Tony Abreu's groin muscle had ever healed. After being examined by a Philadelphia specialist on Tuesday, he had an MRI in Los Angeles Wednesday and met with team doctor Neal ElAttrache and the club had yet to announce a timetable for his return. Kuo is attractive in relief because has the kind of stuff that can put down an inning with a strikeout. Neither Park nor Loaiza are strikeout pitchers anymore. But putting Kuo in the bullpen for frequent use is risky, because he's already had four operations on his elbow, two of them Tommy John reconstructions. "But he's been bouncing back the day after he throws," said Honeycutt. "Unless something would change there, I think he's been healthier than in any of the years we've had him." Of Kuo's 50 appearances, 26 have been out of the bullpen. Park has started 275 of 330 games, while Loaiza has started 331 of 372 games. Kuo has a 3.60 ERA this year, Park 3.27 and Loaiza 4.32. When the Dodgers go to a 12th pitcher, which Torre said is inevitable, the leading candidate is Yhency Brazoban, who was dominant after opening the season at Double-A and has been promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas. http://0rz.tw/fb41s --

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