DODGERS NOTEBOOK: IZTURIS BECOMING QUITE A HIT.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

Dodgers shortstop Cesar Izturis entered Wednesday night's game against the New York Mets with a career-high 14-game hitting streak, the longest in the majors this season. It is a sign Izturis, long considered a defensive wizard, finally is beginning to blossom as a hitter.

Just as Jim Fregosi figured he would.

Fregosi, the Atlanta Braves scout and longtime major-league manager, was managing in Toronto when Izturis was one of the Blue Jays' top prospects.

In 2000, Fregosi's final season, Izturis jumped from A-ball straight to Triple-A Syracuse, where he was expected to struggle and did, hitting .218. The next year, Izturis returned to Syracuse and batted .292. The improvement cemented his reputation as a quick study. It also earned him his first promotion to the big leagues, something that happened to him three times that year.

Izturis was traded to the Dodgers after that season.

``When I had him, he was just a baby,'' Fregosi said. ``We had (Alex) Gonzalez at shortstop in the big leagues, and Felipe Lopez and Izturis in the minors. Izturis was the best defensive player, even though they used to flip-flop him in the minors between second base and shortstop with Felipe.

``But Izturis has grown up now. He has matured to a level where he knows what his job is where he's hitting (in the two hole).''

The switch-hitting Izturis came into this season with a .246 career average - .233 from the left side and .276 from the right. Technically, that gap has widened - he is hitting almost 100 points better this season from the right side. But the truth is Izturis has gotten considerably better from both sides. He is hitting .381 right-handed and .288 left-handed, with about 2 1/2 times as many left-handed at-bats.

``Switch hitters always become better left-handed because they hit on that side more,'' Fregosi said. ``And also, he can use his speed more from that side. As a young hitter, he seemed to hit a lot of lazy fly balls from the left side, but he has gotten better.

``He'll never hit for a lot of power, but he's going to become an increasingly better player offensively over the course of his career.''

--Gopher balls: Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said the fact Hideo Nomo has surrendered nine home runs through his first five starts - well ahead of his pace of last season, when he gave up 24 in 33 starts - is because of his velocity being down.

``Right now, he's not getting away with a whole lot of bad pitches,'' Tracy said. ``He can't afford to leave the ball in the middle of the plate with his velocity not where it was the last couple of seasons.''

Nomo, who gave up three more homers in Tuesday night's loss to the New York Mets, underwent offseason shoulder surgery, which could be a reason for the drop in velocity.

``Even beyond that, his rhythm and timing, which are very important to him, have been somewhat sporadic this year,'' Tracy said. ``That can lead to some of the things we're talking about. His (previous) start (an April 21 win at Colorado), his balance and rhythm looked very certain. But there are occasions ... when it has looked uncertain. ``But it's something where over time, he'll fix that.'' --Another award: Dodgers closer Eric Gagne was presented before Wednesday night's game with the Players Choice Award as the National League's outstanding pitcher for 2003.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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DODGERS vs. N.Y. METS

- Tony Jackson