DODGERS NOTEBOOK: REPKO TAKES REHAB SLOWLY.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Staff Writer

There are many steps outfielder Jason Repko will take before returning to the major leagues. He took one Friday - remembering how to put on his socks.

Eight weeks after surgery to re-attach his left hamstring to the bone, Repko was back at Dodger Stadium getting ready to do some light throwing - less than 90 feet - and take a few swings off a batting tee.

And reminding himself which end of a sanitary sock goes on first, which probed to be a workout in itself.

Repko says his hamstring, which he tore when his leg gave way as he hit the warning track in the final days of spring training, feels just fine. But he's not at a point where he's thinking about being able to return this season - something doctors told him was unlikely, given the typical five- month recovery.

Three times each week, Repko goes through a 2 1/2-hour physical therapy workout, and then repeats some of the same exercises at home.

"Mentally, I'm encouraged," Repko said. "But you can't push this. The best idea is to call this season over, but in the same breath, we'll see how it pans out."

Repko's wait-and-see approach is the product of a career that has been sidetracked by injuries. The first-round pick in 1999 was hampered by a a similar hamstring injury to his right leg, which led to back problems and cost him a year-and-a-half in the minors.

He homered in his first at-bat at Dodger Stadium in 2005, but missed 67 games last year when he injured three ligaments in his ankle climbing the outfield wall trying to take a home run away.

After the season, he underwent surgery to address plantar fascitis in his foot.

"I'm really trying to listen to what (the medical staff) says," said Repko, 26.

Coming back: Before giving up three runs on 13 pitches without recording an out Friday, Yhency Brazoban made his first appearance since undergoing ligament replacement surgery on his elbow last April and struck out the side in the ninth inning against Milwaukee on Wednesday.

"It was extra special," Brazoban said through an interpreter. "It was important for me to be out there to get my confidence back."

Back in Vegas: Utilityman Wilson Valdez, who was out of options, cleared waivers Friday and accepted assignment to Triple-A Las Vegas. The Dodgers were unsuccessful in trading Valdez, and if nobody is interested in him later this summer, Little said there is "no doubt" Valdez would be back in Los Angeles this season.

More waiting: The simulated game Jason Schmidt was expected to throw today was put off a few days when the right-hander came down with the flu.

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