MLB: After sporadic spring, Dodgers' closer Saito starting to get his groove back

Takashi Saito is 38 now, seemingly too far into a baseball career to run into any new experiences on the field.

Yet the Los Angeles Dodgers' closer does find himself in uncharted territory this season, and it has nothing to do with playing for wildly-popular manager Joe Torre for the first time.

With an irregular pitching schedule this spring training because of two separate injuries, Saito is only now starting to resemble the All-Star form he showed last season.

First there was a strained calf that derailed Saito's early spring schedule. Next came a strained gluteus muscle that interrupted late spring action.

"There is a little time I had to spend on the treatment of my calf, but actually I had a calf injury last spring so there isn't much difference," Saito said through an interpreter, showing his typical reticence to blame anything for a sub-par performance.

Already with two blown saves in the first month of the season, though, after having four all of last year, it seems obvious that Saito is not the same. He said he actually felt good when spring training broke. The real problem, then, is that a lack of consistent save opportunities during the middle of April slowed his progression.

"I'm not going to make an excuse," Saito said. "But there are a lot of times where there aren't many chances for save opportunities. I did what I could during spring training. As a closer, I should be prepared in any situation in any game. That's what I'm concentrating on right now, to prepare for the next game."

Saito's first blown save came in dramatic fashion April 14 when the Pittsburgh Pirates' Nate McLouth hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning. The Dodgers lost 6-4. The second blown save came April 25 when the Colorado Rockies tied the game in the ninth. The Dodgers needed 13 innings to pull out that victory, the first on their current win streak.

Torre was asked if Saito's inconsistent pitching schedule has led to the right-hander's problems.

"I think so," Torre said. "I'm a bad guy to ask because I didn't see him last year, but in talking to (pitching coach Rick Honeycutt), even when (Saito) was getting people out, (Honeycutt) was saying, 'You still haven't seen the real guy yet.'

"So I think not getting as much quality time in the spring hurt and getting sporadic activity here (he didn't pitch for five and six days) I'm sure that hasn't helped any."

There was, in fact, an entire road trip when Saito wasn't needed. When the Dodgers traveled to Atlanta and Cincinnati (April 18-22) Saito never left the bullpen. Before pitching in two games at Florida this week, Saito had been used just once in two previous road trips, April 6 at San Diego when he recorded his first save of the season.

He appears to be in sync now, just as the entire team has started to play well.

Los Angeles fell to the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Sunday at Coors Field to halt the Dodgers' four-game winning streak.

Saito is 1-1 in 12 appearances with a 2.03 ERA. He has racked up 14 strikeouts compared to just five walks.

"I feel just fine," Saito said. "I don't know if I'm 100 percent (healthy), but I'm getting there and doing pretty well."

The spring injuries have proven to be a much bigger challenge than playing for a new manager. After Torre and the New York Yankees parted ways after last season, the Dodgers decided they wanted to make a managerial switch. So Grady Little was dismissed and Torre was hired.

"I don't feel like it's that much difference," Saito said. "Even if the manager's change, my responsibility and duties don't change at all. Except that if Joe wants to tell me anything about pitching I want to let him know that I am all ears."

What has made the transition seamless is the continued presence of Honeycutt as the pitching coach. New bullpen coach Ken Howell, a longtime Dodgers minor-league coach who had worked the pitchers in spring training, also is a familiar face.

"In my third year in Major League Baseball this is the first time that a coaching staff has changed, but not all of them changed," Saito said. "Obviously, (bench coach Bob) Shaffer and (third-base coach Larry) Bowa are new, along with Torre, but as we go along this season I'm sure I'll get to know them better.

"It's not really easy to get to know somebody right away. It takes time like any relationship. As the season goes along and as we play more games I'm sure I'll get to know them better."

It hasn't hurt that Saito knew all about Torre from the manager's Yankees days, even if Saito didn't know him personally.

"In Japan, Joe Torre is probably more popular than I am because of his presence with the Yankees," Saito said."A lot of Japanese fans have followed the Yankees in the past five years."

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Doug Padilla covers the Dodgers for the Los Angeles Daily News.(IHT/Asahi: May 6,2008)