Saito had a serious scare last July when he experienced discomfort in his right shoulder, saying at the time that he had similar symptoms when he had disk problems in Japan. The issue turned out to be relatively minor, as Saito missed only a week.
Saito said that on Saturday, he felt no pain striking out Cody Ross and John Baker to start the ninth inning. But on the first pitch to Wes Helms, Saito said he was "hit with a sudden tightness." Saito threw three more pitches and later said he felt the discomfort increase with every pitch.
Saito said he thought at the time, "This isn't normal tightness."
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James Loney has less than two years of major-league service time but will be working with his fourth big-league hitting coach when the Dodgers resume playing on Friday in Arizona.
Don Mattingly is in and Mike Easler is out, the latter moving onto the list of coaches past that includes Eddie Murray and Bill Mueller.
"We'll adjust," Loney said.
But the 24-year old first baseman admitted that he will miss Easler, who remains in the organization as a roving instructor. Loney and Easler worked together last year in triple-A Las Vegas.
"He had tremendous energy," Loney said of Easler, who worked with players in the batting cages several hours before the start of games. "There's definitely a part of me that will miss him. He'll be missed by a lot of guys."
Matt Kemp worked with Easler even more extensively than Loney, as he and Easler were together in double-A Jacksonville in 2006 and in Las Vegas last year.
"He's the reason I'm here today," Kemp said. "We started out in double A. He got me here."
Easler didn't hide the way he felt about the Dodgers' young players, saying he hoped management kept the group intact.
"They need to, as much as possible," Easler said. "I know you've got to make a trade here and there. But if you keep these kids together, you'll have another Lopes, Russell, Garvey. You've got that in the making right now."
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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com
