Kemp gets a chance in right

MILWAUKEE —  What seemed like clarity to Manager Grady Little was cloudy to right fielder Andre Ethier.

Little informed Ethier a day earlier that right-handed hitter Matt Kemp would be starting in right field on Tuesday against left-handed pitcher Chris Capuano. Ethier, however, had no idea whether the move was made for one day or if Little plans to platoon the two young players.

“Nobody talked to me about it,” Ethier said. “But I can’t complain. I’m still in the big leagues.”

He didn’t seem averse to a platoon, even though he batted .357 with one home run in 77 at-bats against left-handers last season and .298 with 10 homers in 319 at-bats against right-handers. Ethier led the Dodgers with a .308 overall average.

“If they get 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in from me and Matt, that’s pretty good for two guys making a combined $700,000,” he said. “And that’s good for the team.”

Little said he wasn’t worried about Ethier misinterpreting not starting the second game of the season.

“He’s a young player, but we do a lot of communicating around here,” he said. “People know why we do things because we tell them.

“Ideally we’d like to get everybody on the roster an opportunity to play this first week of the season, so Matt’s in the lineup.”

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Outfielder Larry Bigbie will have a second opportunity to leave the Dodgers organization if he isn’t promoted from triple A.

According to his agent, Seth Levinson, an escape clause will be triggered in Bigbie’s contract June 1 similar to the one he had for three days beginning last Thursday.

Bigbie, who batted .357 in the spring, reported to Las Vegas rather than request his release. Levinson said in an e-mail that he was not allowed to contact other teams during the opt-out period.

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Shortstop Rafael Furcal is still unable to run on his sprained left ankle and it is becoming increasingly likely that his stay on the disabled list will extend beyond Saturday, the day he is eligible to be activated.

Furcal injured the ankle during a spring training collision with outfielder Jason Repko on March 22. Ramon Martinez played shortstop for the second day in a row.

“It was a significant ankle injury and hasn’t been that long ago,” trainer Stan Conte said. “He’s having a hard time making the transition from jogging to running. He hasn’t had any setbacks, but if he pushes it, it could cost him more days.”

The Dodgers don’t expect Furcal to require a minor league rehabilitation assignment.

“This is Rafael Furcal we’re talking about, and he’s a little different than most people,” Little said. “If he’s ready to play in a game, he’s ready to play in a game for us.”

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Little held a team meeting before the game, something he wanted to do opening day but refrained because “there was so much other stuff going on.” ... Jeff Kent’s home run on opening day shouldn’t have surprised anyone; he leads active players with a .456 batting average on opening days and his run batted in tied him with Ken Griffey Jr. in that category with 16.

steve.henson@latimes.com