FLB: Spring Training Notebook 3/28
• Last year's fantasy darling, Jeremy Hermida, will begin 2007 on the disabled list, according to the Marlins' official Web site. Hermida has a bone bruise on his right knee after fouling a pitch off of it last weekend and will be out of action for at least the first two weeks of April. In Hermida's place, Joe Borchard is likely to get the left-handed at-bats in right field, while either Cody Ross or John Gall would get the right-handed turns.
• Freddy Sanchez told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he plans on playing in a minor-league game Wednesday, and that he hopes to be in the Pirates' lineup by the end of the week. If all goes well, he might miss just one or two series to begin the year because of his sprained MCL. Jose Castillo will hold down Pittsburgh's second-base job in the meantime.
• Have a cookie, Scott Hairston. The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks told Hairston he'd earned one of the team's bench spots on Tuesday morning, and in Tuesday afternoon's exhibition game, he drilled three homers. With Carlos Quentin hurting, Hairston is likely to be Arizona's starting right fielder to begin the year, but of course, Quentin's basket is one in which the Diamondbacks have placed quite a few eggs, so he'll get his job back when he's able.
• A couple days after Jay Payton injured his hamstring, the Orioles are talking to the Royals about Reggie Sanders, according to the Baltimore Sun. Yeah, because the O's don't have enough aging corner-outfield-DH types. Baltimore is apparently so scared of playing Aubrey Huff in the outfield (isn't that why they signed him in the first place?), they're probably putting Jay Gibbons out there to break his back again, while Kevin Millar will take over the designated hitter role.
• The Associated Press reports that the Twins sent Matthew LeCroy to Triple-A on Tuesday, which could be an indication that Joe Mauer's ankle is doing fine, and LeCroy isn't needed. Or it could, you know, be completely unrelated to that.
• The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Scott Spiezio is likely to be the Cardinals' everyday right fielder while Juan Encarnacion is out to begin the year. So Taguchi still has a chance to play some in center depending on how Jim Edmonds shakes out, but Preston Wilson would appear to be completely without a regular role unless he can carve into the playing time of Chris Duncan in left field.
• Hong-Chih Kuo is likely to miss four-to-six weeks of the regular season, according to the L.A. Times. This is another setback for a guy who's been a major fantasy tease over the last season-plus. His chances to win the fifth starter role for the Dodgers are gone, though given that Brett Tomko is slated to be in this rotation, that's always going to be subject to change.
• The L.A. Times also reports that the Dodgers officially demoted two of their most talented young players, James Loney and Andy LaRoche. They also told reporters that the plan is for each of these guys to get time in the outfield at Triple-A, presumably because that's just how much faith the Dodgers have in Luis Gonzalez in left field. Andre Ethier is in right field, and he shouldn't be going anywhere. I can't see Loney, a first baseman by trade, or LaRoche, a scarily-awkward third baseman by trade, being well-suited for a big-league outfield role, anyway. They'll have to wait for Wilson Betemit to struggle or Nomar Garciaparra to get hurt.
• The St. Petersburg Times speculates that B.J. Upton might have worked himself into some kind of time share with Jorge Cantu at second base for the Devil Rays. The paper concedes that Tampa is holding onto its idea of Upton as a four-start-a-week super-utility guy but says more and more of those starts might come at second at the expense of Cantu. Cantu, meanwhile, is still expected to make the big-league club, though it's possible that he'll be a reserve.
• Emil Brown blew off some steam in the Kansas City Star today, complaining that a guy who's led his team in RBIs two years running shouldn't have to share playing time. That's exactly the situation in which Brown finds himself, as left field will be a busy place in Kansas City. Between Reggie Sanders, Joey Gathright and Ross Gload, all of whom will make the team, Brown is going to give up some starts. Other possible openings -- designated hitter (Mike Sweeney) and right field (Mark Teahen) -- aren't available. It does sound as if the Royals are trying to trade Sanders, but still, Brown doesn't have the fantasy value he probably should have.
• The Padres' official Web site reports that Mike Cameron suffered a hamstring strain in an exhibition game Monday and will miss a few days as he recovers. For now, Cameron isn't expected to miss any regular-season time.
• Get Bartolo Colon back on those radar screens. Early this month, I believe I wrote something to the effect that, "Colon will have to get used to the idea that, after his surgery, he's simply not going to have the same fastball." Well, Tuesday, the Angels' Web site reports, Big Bartolo clocked in at 94 miles per hour during his first minor-league appearance. He's going to return to the Angels in May, and while he was a 98 mph guy earlier in his career, 95-ish is where he's topped out for a few seasons. If that's what you'll be getting from Colon later this year, there's a chance he'll be a big fantasy help.
• On another Angels front, Jered Weaver threw three scoreless innings in the same minor-league game as Colon, and he told the team's official Web site, "Everything felt good." The team still plans on skipping Weaver twice to begin the year. He should make his debut April 16.
Christopher Harris covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.
