LOS ANGELES (AP) -The Los Angeles Dodgers activated shortstop Rafael Furcal from the 15-day disabled list Friday night before the game against San Diego, and optioned right-handed pitcher Chin-hui Tsao to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Furcal sprained his left ankle in an exhibition game against Baltimore on March 22. He barely managed to avoid a collision with center fielder Jason Repko on Corey Patterson’s shallow flyball, but landed awkwardly after leaping over the diving Repko.
“It was very frustrating for me, watching my team play and knowing that there was nothing I could do but just come to the ballpark every day and get treatment,” Furcal said.
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“We feel good about the way he’s feeling right now, and we’ll take that on a day-to-day basis,” manager Grady Little said after getting his shortstop back from a two-game rehab stint with the Las Vegas club. “I don’t think we’ll have to treat him with too much care because he feels like he’s ready to go and play nine innings for us.”
Center fielder Juan Pierre, who signed with the Dodgers in November as a free agent, started the Dodgers’ first nine games in the leadoff spot during Furcal’s absence and was 8-for-38 with one RBI and three stolen bases.
Furcal’s injury took place exactly one month to the day that Little announced that Furcal would remain his leadoff man while Pierre would bat second. That’s the way the lineup card read for the start of a three-game series with the Padres.
“I never thought anything of it. Grady made the decision early, and that was it,” Pierre said. “When I signed here, I knew there was a possibility that it would be Furcal, who’s a great leadoff hitter and got them to the playoffs last year. So it would have been crazy for me to think I would just come here and change that.
“Wherever Grady wants me to hit in the lineup, I’m okay with it,” Pierre added. “As long as I’m in the lineup, I’m happy. So it’s not a big deal. I think the media was hyping it up way more than it should have been, and I guess that was expected because he’s a leadoff guy and I’m a leadoff guy.”
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