BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Offerman Is Replaced at Shortstop

After six starts as the Dodger shortstop, rookie Jose Offerman was benched Monday.

Offerman had three hits in 20 at-bats with three errors since replacing injured Alfredo Griffin last week. Tom Lasorda, Dodger manager, said he replaced Offerman with Lenny Harris because Harris is batting .333 against Cincinnati Red starter Randy Myers.

But the Dodgers are not pleased that Offerman sometimes reverts to his old habit of waiting for a ground ball on his heels. And when batting left-handed, he takes the big swings of a power hitter, resulting in only three hits and 11 strikeouts in 32 at-bats left-handed.

“I think I am doing my job in the field, but I know I have to hit better to play every day,” Offerman said. “I feel better now than when I have been up here before. I know it is just a matter of time.”

Griffin rejoined the Dodgers a week after suffering a broken cheekbone in Cincinnati. He is expected to sit out six weeks, but he vowed to return sooner, perhaps within a month.

“This barely hurts anymore,” Griffin said of his right cheek, which is still swollen after surgery to insert a pin in the broken bone. “I know they say six weeks, but I think I can get back faster than that.”

Griffin ran and threw Monday, and hopes to take batting practice as soon as the Dodgers can get a protective helmet.

Darryl Strawberry started Monday after missing a start Sunday because of a sore back. . . . Jose Gonzalez, whose complaints about a lack of playing time led to a trade to the Pittsburgh Pirates, has been designated for a minor league assignment by the Pirates after getting two hits in 20 at-bats. If Gonzalez had been content to stay with the Dodgers, he still would have been on the major league roster.