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          Dodgers Report

          Hanley Ramirez back in lineup, rotation still unsettled

          • Mark Saxon, ESPN Staff WriterSep 18, 2014, 07:32 PM ET
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              Mark Saxon covers the St. Louis Cardinals for ESPN.com. He served as the Dodgers team reporter for ESPNLosAngeles.com. through the 2015 season. He spent six years at the Orange County Register, and began his career at the Oakland Tribune, where he started an 11-year journey covering Major League Baseball. He has also covered colleges, including USC football and UCLA basketball.
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          CHICAGO -- Shortstop Hanley Ramirez returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup Thursday after sitting out two games because of a strained right elbow, but the team's pitching plans remain unsettled for later this weekend.

          Pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, whose flight to Chicago was delayed, is scheduled to begin what the team is calling a "sub-maximal throwing program" on Friday.

          Veteran Dan Haren is scheduled to start Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, but the Dodgers could instead hold Haren back for Monday and use a combination of relievers to pitch Sunday's game, manager Don Mattingly reiterated.

          Ryu had to leave last Friday's start at the San Francisco Giants after one inning because of left shoulder inflammation. Mattingly said it would be "a stretch," to consider Ryu a possibility to pitch Monday in the opener of a crucial three-game series with the Giants at Dodgers Stadium.

          Carlos Frias, who threw 38 pitches in the first inning at Coors Field on Wednesday -- setting a record by giving up 10 hits while getting only two outs -- will be available in the bullpen starting Friday and could be part of Sunday's mix, if the Dodgers go that route. Mattingly said he isn't necessarily worried about the uncertainty in his rotation beyond the starts of Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw.

          "If I had to worry about going through 162 games right now, it'd be a little different feel. But we're really not in that situation," Mattingly said. "We've got 10 games. I feel pretty good with where we're at. We feel like we're going to get Hyun-Jin back. It's going to be a few days, but we're going to get him back."