Thursday’s exhibition game against Team Korea will not see Manny Ramirez make his debut as the outfielder felt the need to pull out due to a tight hamstring muscle. Ramirez was running drills in the morning when he felt a tightening of his hamstring. The 37-year old was pulled out of the starting lineup just an hour before the game. 
“Maybe age is catching up to me,” said Ramirez, who turns 37 in May.
“I was going second to home and it just felt kind of tight,” he said. “I only felt it today. It wasn’t that bad, just a little tight. I’ll give it a try tomorrow.”
Ramirez has never had a hamstring injury in spring training while his only serious hamstring problem came in 1995. He was expected to be the designated hitter in the game against Korea but Manager Joe Torre scratched him off the team list despite Manny claiming that he could play.
“It’s no pull or anything. He wanted to play, but I didn’t think there was much sense in that,” said Torre. “He can DH (Friday) and we’ll see what to do Saturday. We’ll try to get the DH (in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers), or we may have to get him in a “B” game (against the Chicago White Sox).”
Ramirez just signed a 2-year, $45-million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and will be looking to get back in form. He mentioned that he had a sore lower body due to a lot of running and also mentioned that he has had extra time working to get up to pace with the rest of the team.
“I’ve been trying to get ready. I need a whole Spring Training,” Ramirez said. “I need 40 to 50 at-bats, the same thing as when I was in Boston. But I’m not disappointed. I know it will get better.”
Although Ramirez will miss this outing, he will have the chance to prove his worth in the remaining 24 exhibition games this season. Although Manny was placed at 3 in the batting lineup, Torre asked everyone not to read too much into it. This would not be an indication of the actual lineup. 
“I let Donnie (Mattingly, hitting coach) do that and he decides who needs at-bats,” said Torre. “We’ll fiddle around with it a little bit. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Rafael Furcal and Orlando Hudson were at the top of the lineup, ahead of Ramirez. The cleanup spot was held by Andre Ethier with Russel Martin following up.
Torre indicated that Ramirez had revelled in his role at 3rd after being moved up one spot in the last season. The player has also indicated that he loves batting at third. The debate is on about who brings up the rear after Manny. While Loney was used to face right-handed pitching last season, Martin came up against the lefties in the post-season, last year.
“Protecting Manny is the first priority at this point,” said Torre.