Juan Uribe's face brightened when he was told he looked different than he did last year.
"Skinnier?" he asked.
Uribe said he lost weight over the winter, though he wouldn't specify how many pounds he dropped.His arms and shoulders looked as if they gained definition.
"I feel good," Uribe said in Spanish. "I worked hard to regain what I lost last year."
The Dodgers' projected starting third baseman, Uribe said he wants to avoid a repeat of his disastrous 2011 season. In the first year of his three-year, $21-million contract, he hit set new career lows by batting .204 with four home runs and 28 runs batted in.
"It was a very hard year," he said. "If it wasn't one thing, it was another."
He acknowledged that his pride was hurt.
"But God knows what he's doing," Uribe said.
Uribe said he has recovered from the hernia surgery he underwent in September and that he has no trouble running at 100%.
Manager Don Mattingly has said he would like Uribe to play exclusively at third base rather than multiple positions the way he did last year. Asked if he thinks he could benefit from that, Uribe replied, "I respect the decision of the manager. My job is to do what he tells me to do. You never know if something like that will help. I just want to be in the lineup every day."
Uribe confirmed he will be in San Francisco on Monday, the day the Dodgers' position players are scheduled to report to camp. He said he didn't know many workouts he would miss.
- Dylan Hernandez
