Daily Distractions: After a long dry spell, Dodgers catchers are starting to hit.

Tim Federowicz

Tim Federowicz is batting .108 since being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque. (Keith Birmingham/Staff photographer)

A.J. Ellis won’t be catching Clayton Kershaw‘s rehabilitation start Friday in Rancho Cucamonga.

The fact that this was even a possibility, 15 days after the catcher had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, is a bit mind-boggling. Ellis has been taking batting practice regularly, caught Kershaw’s bullpen session Tuesday, and is running on an Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill — the same one that got Matt Kemp in shape during spring training.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that the initial 4-6 week timetable is still in play for Ellis, but that could change soon enough.

In the meantime, a couple trends have emerged. Drew Butera has caught three of Zack Greinke‘s last four starts. The term “personal catcher” hasn’t entered the discussion yet, but the two have had high praise for each other and Mattingly might choose to keep them paired together, even after Ellis returns.

Tim Federowicz has caught 10 games to Butera’s six since Ellis went down, and has just four hits in 37 at-bats. Two of those hits have come since Paul Goldschmidt whacked him in the left hand over the weekend.

“Each day is getting better,” Federowicz said Wednesday. “Right now I’m really focused on my defense. Offense will come. I’m not worried about it.”

Can fans be so patient?

In spite of the fact that the two healthy catchers have a modest three-game hitting streak, Federowicz and Butera are still batting a combined .145 (8 for 55) since Ellis had his surgery. For his part, Ellis was batting just .167 (4 for 24) before going on the DL.

The Dodgers might have bigger problems than this one, so it’s flown a bit under the radar. Just don’t expect to see any catchers batting higher than eighth unless one, at last, catches fire.

Some bullet points for a World Lab Animal Day:

• Greinke dominated the Phillies yesterday. ESPN dug up some more Greinke-related numbers.

• This might have gotten buried in my notebook: The head cold that swept through the Dodgers’ clubhouse was quite a bit worse than that for J.P. Howell, Josh Beckett and Andre Ethier. Mattingly issued the “head cold” lie, but I’ll issue the correction for reporting it.

• Where’s the dividing line between Dodgers fans and Angels fans in Southern California? The New York Times attempts to answer.

Kenley Jansen hasn’t had back-to-back days off in two weeks. How much usage is too much?

• Bloomberg Businessweek created this nifty graphic showing the smartest spenders in sports. The Dodgers rank 20th among MLB teams on the list.

• Ever wonder what would go into a Tommy Lasorda hot dog?

• Grantland.com dug deep into the reasons why hitters are hitting like it’s 1968.

• Who are baseball’s best players under age 25?

• Kevin Costner and Bret Saberhagen are having a Field of Dreams party in Iowa.

From USA Today: MLB teams are learning the value of nutrition. The Dodgers do not have a full-time nutritionist.

• Happy birthday to Mike Blowers (49), Bill Krueger (56), Pat Zachry (62). Dixie Howell was born 94 years ago today.

• Every now and then, it’s good to listen to the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band:

Real question: Did Grizzly Bear watch that video before filming their montage for “Two Weeks”?