PHOENIX (AP) - If Manny Ramirez travels with the Los Angeles Dodgers to play Milwaukee on Saturday, he'll only get to pinch hit unless he plays defense.
Manager Ken Macha said Friday that Milwaukee would not allow the designated hitter."We're not going to DH. We've got candidates who are candidates for this team that are going to earn their way with the ability to pinch hit," Macha said. "We'd certainly like to accommodate everybody, but the first accommodation is the Milwaukee Brewers."
Ramirez was scratched from Thursday's exhibition game against South Korea because of tightness in his left hamstring. Dodgers manager Joe Torre expected to use Ramirez as a designated hitter against Texas on Friday.
Ramirez wants to get 40-50 at-bats before opening day, and the Dodgers have 18 spring training games left. Macha joked that he knows how Ramirez can accomplish that.
"He can stand out in left field," said Macha, who was a TV analyst covering the Boston Red Sox the past two seasons before taking the Brewers job this offseason. "There's no wall to go in in the scoreboard area like in Boston."
Ramirez agreed to a $45 million, two-year contract last week after missing the first two weeks of spring training.
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