BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Bullpen Changes May Be in Order, Claire Warns

Fred Claire, Dodger vice president, said Saturday that he will make changes in the struggling bullpen if its performance does not improve.

“We can’t continue to let games get away,” Claire said, referring to the first-game loss in Friday’s doubleheader with the Atlanta Braves. “We have to have somebody step up and do the job while Jay Howell is out. It’s that simple.

“As far as active trade discussions are concerned, we have nothing going now. But if we continue to let games slip away, that will all change. It has to change.”

Most of the recent struggling has been by Jim Gott, Kevin Gross and Mike Hartley.

Gott, who walked pitcher Kent Mercker with the bases loaded to provide the winning run for the Braves Friday, has given up two runs with seven walks in his last 3 2/3 innings. Hartley has given up eight runs in his last six innings. Gross has given up four runs in his last 5 2/3 innings.

The Dodgers made two minor league transactions this week that could affect the bullpen later this summer.

John Wetteland, who had had shoulder problems, came off the disabled list at triple-A Albuquerque, where he has a team-leading 12 saves. Zak Shinall, the Dodgers’ other bullpen prospect, was recalled from San Antonio and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his first two games for the Dukes. Both are right-handed.

Darryl Strawberry took batting practice Saturday for the first time since going on the disabled list June 18, and again said that he felt good enough to return to the lineup when he is eligible next Wednesday.

“I’m right on time, right on schedule,” Strawberry said. “The shoulder doesn’t hurt one bit. The swelling is all gone, the pain is all gone.”

He is so excited about playing again that he is going to take batting practice on the Dodgers’ day off in Los Angeles Monday, at the baseball school run by Dodger bullpen coach Mark Cresse.

Lenny Harris went hitless in three at-bats, making him hitless in his last 18 at-bats and dropping his average to .298. But Manager Tom Lasorda seems content to stay with him as the regular third baseman while the team continues to win. “I’ve made great catches on some guys, now they’re making those catches on me,” Harris said. “Things will change.” . . . The swelling in Mike Scioscia’s right hand has subsided, but he probably won’t start testing it in batting practice until Monday or Tuesday. . . . Dan Opperman, the Dodgers’ injury-plagued first-round draft pick in 1987 whose career was finally taking shape, underwent a second reconstructive elbow operation Thursday for a torn ligament.