Bradley approaching time to return to parent team

Nick Christensen

Friday, July 22, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

Earlier this week, Milton Bradley said he hoped he'd be rejoining the Dodgers today in New York.

He might be right on target. Things are progressing well for Bradley, who has been with the Las Vegas 51s rehabilitating a torn ligament in his right hand ring finger.

Bradley is hitting .308 in six days with the 51s, and more importantly has experienced no pain since he finally got some at-bats against right-handed pitchers, allowing him to test that finger.

"Milton's thinking he's pretty close," 51s manager Jerry Royster said. "He's here with no pain ... he's thinking 'Maybe I can get in shape up there,' but I hope when he leaves and goes up he's as productive as he can be."

He's also been feisty, ejected Thursday for arguing strikes with umpire Mike Muchlinski. Royster said Bradley's ejection came after what was to be his final at-bat of the evening anyway.

Meanwhile, third baseman Jose Valentin has also progressed well as he tests knee ligaments he tore in early May.

But don't expect to see Valentin playing anywhere but third. Despite media speculation that the Dodgers are considering moving the veteran infielder to the outfield, Royster said he has no plans to warm him up in the outfield at Triple-A.

"I don't expect to see him in the outfield at all," Royster said. "I'd be surprised to see him in the outfield in L.A. Their outfield is going to be Milton Bradley, Jayson Werth and Ricky Ledee ... and they're going to use (Valentin) like they were going to do at the beginning of the season."

Royster believes Valentin will need some more time at Triple-A before returning to the majors.

"He's doing some stuff well, he's just getting back in shape," Royster said. "He has not had any pain at all in his leg."

"He's fine," Royster said. "We have a pretty good rapport and I don't anticipate any problems. He's disappointed about being sent down but he knows that he's got a month and a half before he goes back and he knows what he has to do when he gets back up there."

Grabowski's return forced outfielder Todd Donovan back to Double-A Jacksonville. Donovan went 17-for-45 for the 51s, was on a 12-game hitting streak and was 3-for-6 in stolen base attempts, but with Henri Stanley, Cody Ross, Bradley and Grabowski in the mix, the 51s ran out of room for Donovan on the roster.

Despite Donovan's impressive plate performance, Royster said not to read too much into the young outfielder's stats.

"His batting average was high but he didn't hit very well here," Royster said. "He wasn't hitting .380 or .390 like George Brett hit it. He was bouncing balls and they couldn't beat them out."

Still, Donovan's speed makes him someone to watch for future years.

"Hopefully he'll keep developing," Royster said. "He has an intangible we're missing in this organization, which is base stealing ability."

Mahomes lost his eighth game of the year Wednesday, giving up a run in the eighth inning with the scored tied 4-4.

"It's just baseball," Royster said. "Some balls that are hit hard off the guy were caught before and now they're not and they're doubles. The reason he's still around is he's got the ability to be as good as he was."