FALLING STARS TRY TO CATCH A BREAK TOP DODGERS PROSPECTS DEAL WITH SETBACKS.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

It seemed to be a matter of when and how, not if pitchers Edwin Jackson and Greg Miller would win games for the Dodgers.

Either they would team up in Los Angeles, perhaps becoming a 21st-century Drysdale-Koufax combo, or one of the can't-miss minor-league prospects would be traded for a superstar who would drastically improve the team.

During the 2003 season and ensuing winter, then-Dodgers general manager Dan Evans' phone would ring often, with fellow GMs eager to deal for Jackson and Miller, dangling some of the biggest names in baseball - Randy Johnson and Derrek Lee, among them - as trade bait. But the Dodgers held firm, unwilling to trade their potential aces and risk regretting it later.

Two years later, Jackson and Miller are simply trying to pull their careers out of frustrating stalls.

``Look at Greg Maddux,'' Jackson said. ``He lost 14 games in his first season before he started winning. Everybody goes through some kind of trials and tribulations. It's a matter of how you get out of it.''

Jackson, a right-hander, recently was dropped to Double-A from from Triple-A in a move the Dodgers hope will restore the combination of confidence and talent that helped him beat Johnson in his major-league debut. Miller, a left-hander, is in Vero Beach, Fla., rehabbing from his second shoulder surgery in 11 months.

Both pitchers have plenty of motivation this year. Jackson wants to prove wrong critics who think of him as a flash in the pan. Miller seeks to shed the ``fragile'' tag brought on by injuries.

The good news? Jackson, 21, and Miller, 20, are younger than Luke Hochevar, the pitcher the Dodgers drafted in the first round last month, and general manager Paul DePodesta retains confidence in both.

``These guys still have incredibly bright futures,'' DePodesta said. ``If Edwin made a normal career path and he was 21 at Double-A, he'd be thought of extremely highly.''

But Jackson hasn't been ``normal'' since Sept. 9, 2003, his 20th birthday, when he was promoted from Double-A and allowed one run in six innings to beat Arizona.

Manager Jim Tracy tentatively named Jackson his fifth starter in January 2004, but Jackson started the season in Triple-A after a poor spring. Jackson split the 2004 season between Las Vegas and Los Angeles and didn't make a strong impression in either city.

This season, an 8.62 ERA and control problems led to the demotion last month.

``I'm feeling back to normal, the way I was before,'' said Jackson, who has a 2.88 ERA in four starts for Double-A Jacksonville. ``I'm not so much of a head case now. I'm just going out and pitching and having fun, trying to make the game less complicated.''

It would be easy for Jackson to say he was under too much pressure - from Tracy and a front office that fast-tracked his career, and from fans and media - but Jackson said his problems have been mechanical.

``I'm a power pitcher and I was trying to be a finesse pitcher, paint the corners here and there,'' Jackson said. ``You miss, and next thing you know you're behind in the count and then they've got three or four runs up real quick. Now I'm back to just going out there and competing. 'Here it is, hit it.'

``It was important for me not to show that I was disappointed about going to Jacksonville. You hear about a lot of pitchers going from Double-A to the majors, so I'm just here to get back on track.''

In the 46 months since he outdueled Johnson in the game that was supposed to announce his arrival as one of the game's top young pitchers, Jackson has started only seven games and won three.

The victory over Arizona, once a cause for celebration, now is something Jackson rallies behind.

``Everybody talks about the first game,'' said Jackson, who was the third-youngest L.A. Dodger pitcher to start a game. ``I don't forget about it, but that's the past. I'm looking toward the future.

``To me, it's not even close to being over. You can have success early in your career, but you don't want that to be your story. First game, pitching in Arizona and getting the win, you don't want that to be your whole career. You don't want that to be the highlight.''

It was almost Miller's highlight. The Dodgers considered calling up Miller to start that game, but chose Jackson, and through no fault of his own, Miller hasn't come close to the majors since.

In 2003, his first full season, Miller was the Dodgers' minor-league pitcher of the year, an award Jackson won the year prior. Miller went 11-4 with a 2.49 ERA for Single-A Vero Beach, then made four starts for Jacksonville and allowed just three earned runs in 15 innings.

Late in that season, Miller began experiencing shoulder pain that carried over into spring training and led to arthroscopic surgery in March 2004. Miller experienced more pain as he attempted to come back and had a second surgery in January to shave down a bone in his shoulder that was irritating a nerve.

The second surgery seems to have solved the problem and Miller returned two weeks ago in the rookie-league Gulf Coast League, his first game action since Sept. 2003.

Miller is encouraged that he doesn't have structural damage in his shoulder.

``It's given me a lot greater perspective on the game,'' Miller said. ``I don't think I'll ever again take for granted just going out there and playing catch. For two years I did it and it hurt. Now that I'm out there throwing pain-free, it just feels so good. I can't even put it into words.''

``It's tough to go through, but luckily I'm still 20 years old. I've got time on my side and I'm feeling awesome now so hopefully I can just keep this going and get on the mound every five days.''

Jackson also is looking for some consistency, not with health but with results. DePodesta pins some of Jackson's problems on pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, which he likened to ``pitching at Coors Field all the time,'' and said he is confident Jackson can work out his issues in Double-A.

Miller could end up in Jacksonville this season, but by then Jackson could be with the Dodgers as a September call-up. Then again, little for these two has gone according to plan.

``I look at it like everything happens for a reason,'' Jackson said.

``I had quick success and I had failures, just at a higher level than a lot of other people. Everyone has failures. Everyone fails before they succeed. I really didn't have any failures until after I succeeded, so it just made it seem like it was bigger.

``Opinions are opinions. As long as I know what's inside me, that's all that matters.''

Rich Hammond, [phone]

rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Edwin Jackson

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(2 -- color) JACKSON

(3 -- color) MILLER

Box:

A TOUGH ROAD