CATCHING GRIEF; PIAZZA IN PRECARIOUS POSITION.

Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer

One of his knees is the size of a cantaloupe. On the same leg, his quadriceps is so sore it has turned his usual swagger into a half-hobble.

His right hand feels better - better than it did the day it became a sandwich filling between the ground and Brian McRae's spikes. And he can extend his elbow without thinking about it now.

Mike Piazza is the Dodgers' franchise player and one of the best hitters in the game. But he's probably closer to being on the disabled list than anyone on the team.

``He's not in the best position,'' manager Bill Russell admitted of his All-Star catcher. ``He's in a spot where one pitch and it can be over. But you can't think of it that way. Mike's not going out there thinking of that.''

What Piazza does think is this?

``It was a tough month,'' he said. ``I'm glad it's done.''

This season, Piazza has been run over twice in the process of blocking the plate, had his hand stepped on and his left knee bruised by a foul tip. He also was knocked out of a game and missed the next one after being hit on the elbow by a pitch.

Add that to the usual. In 29 games behind the plate, he has had to be the most alert player on defense. He figures out what pitches to call. He decides how to handle his pitchers. He bends at the knees some 150 times a game.

Piazza has maintained his offensive standards while throwing out an impressive 13 of 35 base stealers.

Despite a recent 0-for-11 slump, he's batting .324. His six home runs and 16 RBI are second- and third-best on the team. He is second on the team with 17 walks.

What can he say?

``It's the position,'' Piazza said. ``I'd love to be 110 percent every day. That almost never happens. . . . It's no secret I get beat up a lot, especially with playing the amount of games I play.''

More than once this past month, Piazza declared he was sick of the injuries. Who wouldn't be?

Wouldn't it make sense to find a safer, less-demanding position for the best offensive weapon in the league?

It is a question that has been asked before - and gets asked every time one of the game's most exciting hitters has a month like the one that just passed.

Invariably, another question follows: How good could Piazza be if he didn't have to endure 140 games a year behind the plate? It is a question fueled by predictions.

``If you get Mike Piazza playing third or first base, he might hit 50 home runs,'' said pitcher Ramon Martinez. ``It would be different if he could just go out there and hit.''

The answer to the question, however, lies in Piazza's heart. He wants to play catcher. He has invested a lot of time becoming a better catcher. As he has showed this season, he is an outstanding catcher.

``He is definitely growing defensively into a catcher who can lead this team to a championship,'' said former Dodgers catcher Mike Scioscia, now the team's bench coach. ``His offense will always be there. I think Mike is understanding that for this team to get to another level, his defense is just as important.'' Piazza will not change positions any time soon. Executive vice president Fred Claire said he hasn't given the notion a moment's thought. Steps, however, are being taken to help Piazza endure.

Piazza was a shell of himself at the end of the past two seasons, when the Dodgers were forced to field their best lineup in order to make the playoffs. So the biggest boost to the Preserve Piazza campaign is for the Dodgers to win now, so he and other regulars can rest in the final month of the season.

Maybe then, Piazza will get more than three hits in three games in the playoffs.

``The only solution is to win as soon as we can,'' Piazza said.

The Dodgers got some early help from outside forces. With five scheduled off-days in April, Piazza rested just once. (He missed one game to attend his grandmother's funeral.) The flip side is that the Dodgers have just three days off between now and the All-Star break.

Another break for the Dodgers is interleague play. With a capable backup catcher in Tom Prince, Russell is already thinking about Piazza as a designated hitter.

Not to be ignored is Piazza's own work.

For three years he has been under the guidance of Hermosa Beach-based conditioning coach Jeremy ``Troll'' Subin. And the strength gained in his workouts helps Piazza hit those long home runs. But Piazza works out in order to ward off injuries and help himself recover from them.

Subin called Piazza's training an evolution.

``He's gone from `Lifting weights are good for me' to `I need to train to become a better catcher,' '' Subin said. ``He's realized what a beating his body takes and what he has to do to maintain it.''

Piazza's main focus is his abdomen and lower back, as well as his much-maligned knees. During games, he constantly shifts in his stance behind the plate in order to keep the knees from always being in a squat.

``He's stronger than he's ever been,'' Subin said. ``Barring guys running over him at the plate and foul tips going off his knees and things like that, he's at a point where he can maintain it through the season.''

Yeah. ``Barring . . . things like that.'' It is a phrase the Dodgers will continue to live by.

MIKE PIAZZA

BY THE NUMBERS

13 of 35 - Runners he has thrown out attempting to steal this season.

5 - Meals he eats each day to keep his weight around 215.

4 - Times he has been selected to play in the All-Star Game in his four major-league seasons.

3 - National League catchers in history to catch 100 games and hit 30 home runs in a season three times. (Johnny Bench, Roy Campanella and Piazza.)

DODGERS TODAY

Game time: 5:05 p.m.

TV/Radio: WGN; KABC-AM (790); KWKW-AM (1330, Spanish).

Matchup: In the opener of a two-game series at Wrigley Field that is also the first game of a four-city, 10-game road trip, Dodgers RHP Pedro Astacio (3-0, 2.00) faces Cubs LHP Terry Mulholland (3-3, 2.79). Astacio has Aallowed one earned run in his last 16 innings. Mulholland, who allowed one run on six hits in 8-2/3 innings to beat the Dodgers on May 3, has won three straight starts.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, 2 Boxes

Photo: (1--Color) MIKE PIAZZA

(2) Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza lies on the ground in pain after the Cubs' Brian McRae stepped on his hand. L.A.'s best hitter plays a dangerous position.

Michael Owen Baker / Daily News

Box: (1--Color) MIKE PIAZZA BY THE NUMBERS (See Text)

(2) DODGERS TODAY (See Text)