Brown Suffered No New Tears in Elbow

An MRI test revealed some inflammation and irritation in Kevin Brown’s right elbow but no new tears, news that brought a sigh of relief to the Dodgers on Tuesday.

But that does not mean Brown, the 37-year-old right-hander, will be ready to pitch after 15 days on the disabled list or if he’ll be sound enough the rest of this season to return to the form that made him one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers.

This is Brown’s second trip to the disabled list in six weeks, his second significant setback after surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon Sept. 27, and the Dodgers have no timetable for his return.

“We’ll let the coaches determine when he should come back,” said Dr. Frank Jobe, team physician. “I suspect they’ll be more cautious this time because this is the second [setback]. So, it may take longer.”

Such setbacks are normal in the first year after major surgery, Jobe said.

“Look at the Tommy John [surgeries] we’ve done--we’ve followed a lot of those,” Jobe said. “Usually you try not to let them back for about a year, but they’re never quite as good as they’re going to be until the second year.

“It seems it takes another year before they get their rhythm right, their ability to let [pitches] go, and they’ll have peaks and valleys until that second year. I think all surgeries are that way.”

Brown, who allowed only seven earned runs in 261/3 innings of his previous four starts, felt a little stiffness warming up before Sunday’s game at Arizona, but he told trainer Stan Johnston he was well enough to start. He lasted 20 pitches and was pulled after feeling a grabbing sensation in the back of the elbow.

Manager Jim Tracy was not informed of Brown’s stiffness before the game, but he did not consider that a breakdown in communication with the training staff.

“If they felt medically that he could have caused major damage, he wouldn’t have pitched,” Tracy said. “When they say there’s stiffness, it’s stiffness. That happens to a lot of guys, and they get rubbed on.

“I won’t be informed unless they say he shouldn’t [start]. I’m OK with it. If he had really struggled in his last few starts, I’d want to know about every aspirin he was taking, but he was reaching plateaus.”

General Manager Dan Evans looked into the matter and was satisfied with how it was handled.

“There was nothing to indicate that the start would put [Brown] in peril,” Evans said. “It’s not Jim’s job to know if he’s a little sore or stiff. No one feels great all the time. Nothing transpired Sunday that would have caused alarm.”

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Dodger right fielder Shawn Green was named National League player of the week Tuesday after hitting .593 (16 for 27) with nine home runs and 17 runs batted in last week, including a major league record four homers and 19 total bases against Milwaukee on Thursday.... Tracy will shuffle his rotation this weekend in order to start two left-handers against Arizona and to break up Hideo Nomo and Kazuhisa Ishii in the rotation. Lefty Omar Daal will step in for Brown and start Friday night, Andy Ashby will pitch Saturday, and Ishii will pitch Sunday. Odalis Perez will start Monday and Nomo will start Tuesday in Colorado.

TODAY

DODGERS’

ODALIS PEREZ

(4-3, 2.51 ERA)

vs.

BREWERS’

JAMEY WRIGHT

(1-1, 3.48 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, noon

TV--Fox Sports Net 2.

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

Update--The Dodgers will get a valuable piece of their bullpen back today when Jesse Orosco, out since May 14 because of a strained abdominal muscle, is activated. Bryan Corey, recalled from triple-A Las Vegas on Monday, will likely be sent back down.

Tickets--(213) 224-1448.