Schmidt moves closer to return

WASHINGTON —  Pitcher Jason Schmidt took a giant step Wednesday toward returning to the Dodgers rotation, throwing six shutout innings in a rehab start for Class-A Inland Empire in San Bernardino.

Pitching for the first time since April 14, the right-hander gave up only two hits and struck out seven, fanning a rehabbing Garret Anderson of the Angels twice on six pitches. Most important, however, is that Schmidt said he “felt great” after throwing 71 pitches, 51 for strikes. And he averaged 88 mph with a fastball that reached 91 on occasion.

“It’s a big relief,” Dodgers Manager Grady Little said.

Little said Schmidt, who has sat out seven weeks because of shoulder bursitis, is expected to rejoin the team in Pittsburgh on Friday, where he’ll throw a side session. The manager said he, trainer Stan Conte and General Manager Ned Colletti will make a decision after that where and when Schmidt’s next start will be.

“We’ll see where we’ll go from there,” said Little, who is leaning toward having Schmidt throw a simulated game or make another minor league start before rejoining the Dodgers in mid-June.

“I think he’s going to have to build up to a certain point before he toes the rubber for us,” Little said. “After [throwing] 71 pitches today I don’t foresee that being a problem.”

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Reliever Chad Billingsley joined three teammates and a number of Dodgers staff members on a visit to the Walter Reed Medical Center and said he was moved by the meetings with wounded veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

“Absolutely it was emotional,” said Billingsley who, at 22, is the same age as many of the disabled veterans he met. “Just sitting there and seeing what these guys go through. And what they’ve been through. You just sit back and think to yourself how lucky we are sometimes. That we don’t have to do that.

“You can’t really explain it....It puts things in perspective.”

The players said they were surprised at how upbeat most of the veterans were, including a severely wounded officer who told the Dodgers he couldn’t wait to rejoin his troops in Iraq.

“It gets real when they start telling you what happened to them,” said Juan Pierre, who joined Billingsley, Marlon Anderson, Andre Ethier, Hall of Fame slugger Eddie Murray and broadcasters Jaime Jarrin, Rick Monday and Jerry Reuss on the 2 1/2 -hour visit.

Ethier was greeted by one veteran who drew back his bedsheets to reveal a No. 16 Dodgers jersey -- Ethier’s number.

“It was a cool deal,” said Ethier, who also visited Walter Reed last season. “It’s a good feeling to help the vets. For those guys, it’s a chance for them to step out of the box and step out of their daily life.

“Hopefully, it helps in their recovery process. Whether you agree on everything that’s going on, all the political ramifications, the bottom line is you have to support ... the men and women that are going there and doing a job.”

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A day after saying he was undecided about Saturday’s starter, Little said he’s giving the ball to left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo for the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“Right now, I’m leaning toward Kuo,” Little said. “I’m fairly confident that will be the guy.”

Kuo, who gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings in a triple-A start Monday, threw on the side Wednesday. He has 28 strikeouts and has held opponents to a .243 batting average in 20 innings for Las Vegas this spring.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com