SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. _ Scott Kazmir was troubled by tightness in his left hip for all but his first start last season. After embarking on an intensive off-season program designed to enhance his strength and flexibility, the hip tightened up on Kazmir again Monday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers removed Kazmir after his first pitch of the second inning of his second Cactus League start.
He said he could not turn or extend his body well enough to make all of his pitches, and the ones he did make topped out at 85 mph.
"The frustration is through the roof right now," he said.
Kazmir went 10-6 with a 4.56 earned-run average last season, the first of a three-year, $48 million contract. He pitched just one inning over the final six weeks of the season, on the disabled list because of neck inflammation that he traced to pitching with the hip tightness, and he did not make the playoff roster.
The Dodgers' starting rotation is expected to be headed by Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda, with Kazmir competing with Julio Urias, Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Ross Stripling and Brock Stewart for the final two spots.
Kazmir said he felt discomfort while warming up in the bullpen Monday but decided to try and pitch through it.
"There was no power, no direction," he said. "That's a tough way to pitch."
He said he was beyond frustrated that the injury recurred despite the combination of intensive exercises to strengthen the hip and bullpen sessions to streamline his mechanics.
"To try to have to manipulate my body just to be able to get through an outing is something that is definitely getting old," he said.
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