BASEBALL : DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Benzinger Probably Done for Season

After beginning the season with three first basemen, the Dodgers will end it with one.

Todd Benzinger, who has started three times this month and had not played in a week, said he will “probably” sit out the final 12 games because of a torn right calf muscle.

“(Therapist) Pat (Screnar) said something like this usually takes two to three weeks to heal,” Benzinger said. “I don’t see me coming back.”

In a career-low 293 at-bats, Benzinger is hitting .239, also a career low.

He acknowledged that his standing with the team had fallen so much, few will miss him.

“Most of the fans won’t even know I’m gone,” he said. “The way it’s been going, I’ll just miss a few at-bats, a few games. They are going with the kids and I wasn’t playing much anyway.”

Although Benzinger is still one year shy of free agency, he doesn’t expect to return to the Dodgers.

“I don’t know if I will be taken in the expansion draft, but I know that the draft will open up a lot of spots on other teams,” Benzinger said. “I know I’ll be somewhere in spring training, trying to squeeze my way in somewhere.”

Benzinger was acquired last winter from the Kansas City Royals for Chris Gwynn in a trade that had little impact on either club.

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Despite playing for most of the last two years, Mike Piazza has agreed to join Billy Ashley, Greg Hansell, Mike Busch, Jamie McAndrew and submariner Todd Williams as Dodger prospects who will play for double-A manager Jerry Royster for Sun City in the new Arizona winter league. Play will begin Oct. 6 and end Dec. 9. . . . McAndrew, a former No. 1 pick who has struggled this season, is being converted to a middle reliever. The Dodgers feel that in this role, McAndrew may have a chance to make the big-league club next year. . . . Tom Lasorda will celebrate his 65th birthday today by swimming 102 laps at the Los Angeles Police Academy pool.