NL Report for 3-5-02

[Baseball Guru]

Courtesy of MLB.com

NL East

Atlanta
Travis Wilson has never drawn many walks. Last year, he led the Grapefruit League in hitting (.415) without drawing a walk in 53 at-bats. Then, he drew just 10 walks in 506 minor league at-bats last year. But he has drawn a walk each of the past two days. ... Marcus Giles will not be with the team while the Braves are in Ft. Myers the next two days. Giles tweaked his groin in Saturday's game at St. Petersburg, and manager Bobby Cox wants to give him a few days to rest. ... Monday's game also gave Jimy Williams and Cox a chance to get reacquainted. Williams served on Cox's staffs in Toronto and Atlanta. ... B.J. Surhoff, who started in right field, had two hits in three at-bats on Monday. ... Cox elected to play Julio Franco the entire game at first base. ... Matt Belisle, the Braves top pick in 1998, allowed three earned runs on five hits in two innings of work on Monday. -- Mark Bowman

Florida
Cliff Floyd saw his spring perfection at the plate end in the bottom of the third inning in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to Montreal. Through two games, Floyd had been 4-for-4, and extended his streak to 5-for-5 with a single in the first. Facing Britt Reames in the third frame, however, Floyd grounded out to the first baseman. Floyd went 2-for-3 in the game ... Florida is winless in Grapefruit League play ( 0-4-1). -- J.S. Trzcienski

Montreal
Lee Stevens is expecting a comeback year defensively after a 2001 that saw him post a career-worst 19 errors and .986 fielding percentage. Stevens has added 20 pounds of muscle -- mostly in his upper body -- in the offseason, and is intent on being healthy enough to play in 150 or more games in 2002. A new playing surface at Olympic Stadium will likely help in that regard, as the first baseman was bothered throughout last season with both off-the-field personal issues and some doubt about the park's old carpet, particularly after a bad hop smashed him in the face ... The Expos' overall pitching has been strong thus far this spring. Through five games and 44 innings, the team ERA sits at an impressive 2.05. "All out guys are looking good," noted Monday's starter Tony Armas. "It's going to be a good season for us, I think" ... One thing that has been practically nonexistent for the Expos, to date, has been the running game. Endy Chavez stole just the second base for the team on Monday, while the first bag was lifted by Stevens ... At present, the Expos are a veritable United Nations in terms of the diversity of players in camp. On the 40-man roster (which currently lists 39 players), the United States (23), Dominican Republic (7), Venezuela (3), Japan (2), Puerto Rico (2), Australia (1) and Colombia (1) carry representation, while players from the U.S. (20), D.R. (3), Cuba (2), Canada (1), and Puerto Rico (1) are featured among the non-roster invitees. -- J.S. Trzcienski

New York
LHP John Franco, making his way back from elbow surgery three months ago, again played catch Monday. He made about 45 tosses of 60 feet and "slightly felt (discomfort) on a couple of them," reported manager Bobby Valentine. Franco is due for a bullpen session on Thursday and, if that goes without a hitch, will throw his first batting practice Saturday ... RHP Armando Benitez made his spring debut amid unfamiliar surroundings Monday, as the closer blanked the Dodgers in the third inning ... LHP Shawn Estes attributed his rough outing (five runs on six hits in the second inning alone) to "throwing too many strikes, too many good pitches." He wasn't troubled by his ugly line: "I don't mind the results down here. It's what you accomplish physically, not with statistics. And I'm real happy with how I felt." -- Tom Singer

Philadelphia
Phillies RHP Turk Wendell is out with tendinitis in his right elbow. ... Pat Burrell hit his first homer of the spring in the third inning off Chuck Finley, and Marlon Anderson added three of Philadelphia's 14 hits. ... Vicente Padilla, a converted reliever battling for a starting spot, allowed two hits and one run -- a homer by Bill Selby -- in three innings and struck out three. ... In the Phillies other split-squad game against the Devil Rays, right-hander Brandon Duckworth tossed three shutout innings in his first spring outing, striking out two. ... Terry Adams, who strained his right calf during the first weekend of workouts, pitched a perfect inning, inducing three groundouts. ... Through the first five innings, Duckworth, Adams and Allen McDill retired all 15 batters, including nine ground balls. ... The Phillies and Cardinals added a "B" game on March 7 in Jupiter, Fla. -- Ken Mandel

NL Central

Chicago
RF Sammy Sosa (sprained right ankle) took batting practice with the team Monday and will likely get the go-ahead to play this week. However, OF Moises Alou (strained left side) and 3B Bill Mueller (sore left knee) have yet to play in a game. ... SS Augie Ojeda is sidelined with a sore right elbow after being hit by a pitch Sunday. X-rays taken Monday were negative. ... 1B Seung-Yeop Lee, a three-time Korean MVP who is in camp on invitation, hit his second homer in as many days Monday. ... IF Mark Bellhorn has impressed the Cubs with his versatility and could be a key addition to the bench. He started at third Monday and went 3-for-5. -- Carrie Muskat

Cincinnati
Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Larkin were originally scheduled to make the trip to Haines City for a game against the Royals, but manager Bob Boone opted to leave them both behind because of wet grounds. "I'm not going to put Griffey on a wet field especially after what I went through last year," Boone said. Griffey tore his left hamstring while rounding third base in a March 26 Spring Training game last year at Haines City. "I'm treating those guys like cotton candy," Boone said. ... Two Reds pitchers were scheduled for surgery Monday in Cincinnati. Right-hander Jose Silva was to have bone chips removed from his elbow. Chris Booker was to have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. ... The Reds committed three errors against the Royals and have 10 in their first six games. ...Outfielder Anthony Sanders singled and homered against the Royals and had six hits in his first 12 at-bats. -- Alan Eskew

Houston
With the potential to hit 40 homers and drive in 100 runs, Daryle Ward does not seem like the prototypical No. 2 hitter in the lineup, but that's exactly where he has hit in all four Spring Training contests. Manager Jimy Williams places more importance on receiving enough at-bats rather than wins and losses during the spring season, and it's likely that Ward is batting second in order to grab an extra at-bat or two ... Ward and Chris Truby are the only projected Opening Day starters who have played in every game so far this spring ... In addition to third base, Truby will see some playing time at first in order to keep him in games ... Williams spent nearly 45 minutes chatting with Braves manager Bobby Cox during batting practice before Monday's game. Williams served as Cox's third base coach from 1990-96. --Alyson Footer

Milwaukee
Plans to start right-hander Jamey Wright on Opening Day might have to be scrapped. Wright felt a muscle strain in his left side in a Saturday start against Colorado and will be examined by a team doctor Tuesday morning. He suffered a similar injury to his right side last year and went on the disabled list from May 25 to June 10. ... Francisco Campos, a veteran of the Mexican League who could be Milwaukee's No. 5 starter come Opening Day, is scheduled to throw another bullpen session before the Brewers play Seattle Tuesday afternoon and could start in place of Wright on Thursday against San Francisco. ... New hitting coach Gary Matthews is the man charged with breaking Milwaukee's free-swinging ways, and he's pressuring players to think even in the batting cage. When players like Jose Hernandez, who whiffed 185 times last year, wait for an offering, Matthews calls out mock pitch counts and is teaching hitters to react accordingly. Hernandez said it's helping make workouts more productive and fun, but still, Brewers hitters have whiffed 47 times in five Cactus League games including 11 on Monday. ... Nick Neugebauer may be watching his shot at the No. 5 spot in the rotation slip away. Already slowed this spring by soreness in his surgically repaired right shoulder, Neugebauer was sent home Monday with flu symptoms and will miss a few more days. -- Adam McCalvy

Pittsburgh
Kevin Young got his eighth RBI of the spring in the first inning on a double to right center. He finished 2-for-3. ... Pirates starters had worked 10 innings in the first five spring games without allowing an earned run before Dave Williams gave up a two-run homer to Cleveland's Earl Snyder. ... Scheduled to pitch tomorrow against Toronto in Dunedin are Kip Wells, Pat Rapp, Mike Williams, Joe Beimel and Kevin Tolar. -- Paul C. Smith

[Baseball Guru]

St. Louis
Second baseman Fernando Vina will get his first start of the spring on Tuesday against the Dodgers in Vero Beach. Vina arrived in camp late for personal reasons. ... Manager Tony La Russa said that the most impressive newcomer in camp might be right-handed pitcher Kevin Joseph. Joseph has been very sharp in both of his spring appearances, allowing a total of one hit in four innings. ... So Taguchi was a hero in the morning's B game against the Orioles. The Japanese outfielder had a pair of hits -- he remains hitless otherwise -- and threw out a runner at the plate to preserve the 0-0 tie. ... Garrett Stephenson threw 2 2/3 shutout innings in the B game, and reported that his surgically repaired elbow felt "awesome." La Russa and GM Walt Jocketty also had glowing reviews of the veteran's performance. -- Matthew Leach

NL West

Arizona
John Patterson is expected to pitch for the Diamondbacks in one of Tuesday's split-squad games. The right-hander was scheduled to throw Sunday, but had some irritation in his triceps and threw on the side that day instead. The club says it is not related to his Tommy John surgery and that he still has good strength and range of motion ... Hitting coach Dwayne Murphy rejoined the club on Monday. Murphy had an emergency appendectomy performed last week. He revealed on Monday that he had pain the night before and after leaving the park that day following workouts, he turned around 10 miles into his trip to seek help from Diamondbacks athletic trainers. It was a tough offseason for Murphy, who lost 30 pounds during the offseason due to a variety of ailments, including an abscessed tooth ... Murphy, who also works with the team's outfielders said he was looking forward to getting back to work especially since there have been some dropped flyballs over the past few days. -- Steve Gilbert

Colorado
Right-handed pitcher Scott Elarton said he is unfazed by the "deead arm" flare-up that forced him to be scratched from starting Monday's 9-3 victory over san Francisco at Hi Corbett Field. "I definitely don't want to rest it, but at this time of the year you can afford to rest it, so that's what we're doing," said Elarton, who has been penciled into the fifth starter's role but needs to make sure someone doesn't come along with an eraser. . . . Right-handed Jason Jennings, who would like to be in the rotation threw three perfect innings in an attempt to demonstrate the consistency and pitch variation that he needs to become a Major League pitcher, instead of one in Triple-A. " I was able to get some good movement out of my sinker, threw a couple of good 'changes,' kept the ball down in the zone, got some ground balls and let my defense work behind me," said Jennings, who didn't have any strikeouts but didn't need any. . . . After going 0-for-3 with some "shaky" at-bats early in Spring Training, catcher Ben Petrick came off the bench for an RBI triple and an RBI double. Petrick earned an Opening Day roster spot last spring by batting .392, and he's battling Tony Eusebio, Carlos Hernandez and Gary Bennett for a spot this spring. . . . Manager Buddy Bell was due back in Tucson Monday night after flying to Dallas to have his surgically repaired back examined by specialists. Bell left camp Thursday to be examined by team medical personnel in Denver. . . . Right-handed starter Pete Harnisch, recovering an elbow injury last season, and right-handed reliever Mike James, who suffered a slight tear of a pectoral muscle earlier in camp, are close to returning to action. . . . Benny Agbayani started in left field and went 2-for-4 against the Giants. The Rockies will be counting on the right-handed hitting Agbayani for similar work when he spells left-handed hitting Todd Hollandsworth. ... The Rockies signed pitcher Shawn Chacon and agreed to terms with catcher Gary Bennett and outfielder Jack Cust, all on one-year contracts. Only outfielder Juan Pierre, who has been offered a multi-year deal, and shortstop Juan Uribe and right-handed relief pitcher Justin Speier, who have been offered one-year contracts, remain to be signed before the March 11 contract renewal deadline.
-- Thomas Harding

Los Angeles
Wednesday looms as an important day for rehabilitating pitchers Kevin Brown and Andy Ashby. Brown is scheduled to throw a simulated game at Vero Beach a few hours before Ashby is expected to make his first spring start in Viera against Florida. Both pitchers have been progressing on schedule from similar elbow operations last year . . . Japanese import Kazuhisa Ishii is also scheduled for a simulated game Wednesday that would put him in line for his first spring game start . . . Tracy said second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, hobbled by a chronic hamstring injury, could make his first game appearance this spring by the end of the week . . . Tracy said Shawn Green, out with shoulder tendinitis, has an "outside chance" of appearing in a game at the end of the week . . . In the battle for a fifth starter, Odalis Perez allowed only one hit in three innings with four strikeouts against the Mets Monday, while Eric Gagne threw three hitless innings. Gagne has allowed one hit in five scoreless innings over two games. . . -- Ken Gurnick

San Diego
Lost in the glow of the breakout hitting of third baseman Sean Burroughs, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs Monday, was the injury to catcher Wiki Gonzalez, who hurt his triceps in his right shoulder. The team is awaiting further tests. Last week Padres GM Kevin Towers chided Gonzalez about coming into camp overweight. Backup catcher Tom Lampkin, who began his career with the Padres, has looked good this spring, hitting and handling the young and older Padres pitchers and he might be counted on more. The Mariners were 40-15 in Lampkin's starts last season ... Speaking of Kevin Towers, Padres President and CEO Bob Vizas say he is close in getting a contract extension done with the Padres GM and will then proceed to lock up Padres manager Bruce Bochy with a contract extension ... Bochy has been buoyed by the solid pitching of veteran relievers Steve Reed, Allan Embry and Brad Clontz along with Trevor Hoffman. "Those guys have been coming in, throwing strikes and going right at the batters," Bochy said. "Our pen is going to be better than people think because of those veterans. We need them to have them to have big years for us, they're doing well now." ... Strangely enough, Hoffman said he was very nervous before his first pitching assignment Sunday and admitted, "I get more nervous at Spring Training than I do in the regular season. I think knowing exactly when you're going to throw." Like his manager, Hoffman, who retired three straight batters, says he can appreciate the experience the veterans bring to the bullpen. "If we get some good innings from our starters, and the middle relief is good, hopefully we'll be in business and win some games." -- Sandy Burgin

San Francisco
Two pitchers vying for the fifth-starter role made opposite cases in Monday's game against the Rockies. Prize rookie RHP Kurt Ainsworth threw two scoreless innings, surrendering only a leadoff walk, while RHP Manny Aybar took the loss with a disastrous seventh inning, allowing a leadoff double, triple and walk to surrender the Giants' lead. Aybar has had two horrible outings, while Ainsworth, competing primarily with RHPs Ryan Jensen and Joe Nathan for the rotation slot, has allowed a single hit and no runs in his two appearances. "He threw the ball good," said Manager Dusty Baker of Ainsworth. "He had a good slider working. He's looking good, very good, very poised; [he has] good control around the plate." ... CF Tsuyoshi Shinjo is 2-for-10 this spring as the Giants' potential new leadoff hitter, but Baker isn't worried. He hasn't yet talked to Shinjo about trying to keep the ball out of the air in order to get on base and take advantage of his speed, but he plans to do so later this week. "I'm gonna stick with him at No. 1 for a while," said Baker. "I haven't stressed it to him yet, but I'm not gonna say he's got to do it or else. You gotta be patient." ... Results on the MRI and CT scan of 2B Jeff Kent's injured left wrist are expected Tuesday morning. -- Chris Shuttlesworth