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2005
MLB Baseball NL CENTRAL Preview Cuban LHP Raul Valdez won't be able to resume throwing until April after injuring his left thumb fielding a comebacker one week before camp started. LHP Glendon Rusch could end up back in the bullpen if needed. Rusch was a swingman last year, and the Cubs may use RHP Sergio Mitre as the fifth starter. SOFT SPOT: The Cubs will need six weeks to determine who
the closer is. RHP Joe Borowski might reclaim the job.
He rehabbed six to seven hours a day, which resulted in
a 15-pound weight loss, to get his right shoulder stronger.
He's got the pop back in his fastball in early workouts.
RHP LaTroy Hawkins should be more familiar with the N.L.
hitters this season but would prefer the setup role. RHP
Ryan Dempster could be the surprise but needs to show his
durability after having Tommy John surgery in 2003. All
Baker will say is he has a plan. Even though Eric Milton is probably the Reds ace of the future, he isn't expecting to get the start on opening day. One reason is that he considers Paul Wilson the ace of the staff after the season he had last year, plus it sets the Reds up righthander, lefthander, righthander with Milton in the middle of Wilson and Ortiz. Look for Rob Stratton to open some eyes this spring. At 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, the medical staff said he's the strongest player they've ever tested - and that includes Adam Dunn and Wily Mo Pena. SOFT SPOT: Despite all of their offseason additions, the
Reds' biggest weakness will be defense up the middle. Catcher
Jason LaRue led all of baseball in passed balls last season,
D'Angelo Jimenez doesn't have great range at second, Rich
Aurilia lacks the range he once did at shortstop, Felipe
Lopez is talented but unreliable at short and Ken Griffey
Jr. isn't the same player that won 10 straight Gold Gloves.
Unfortunately, the Reds can't do much to fix the physical
attributes of their current roster, but they'll have to
focus on making the routine plays this spring in order
minimize the number of outs they give away. Raul Chavez will likely receive more playing time than a typical backup catcher, although Brad Ausmus is still considered the No. 1 backstop. Ausmus is not much of a presence offensively, and Garner will likely add a start or two per week to Chavez's schedule in addition to pairing him exclusively with Roy Oswalt. SOFT SPOT: The Astros have had three true center fielders
in the last 13 years: Steve Finley, Carl Everett and Carlos
Beltran. Again in 2005, the club will likely have to use
a corner outfielder to play center, namely, Jason Lane.
CF prospect Willy Taveras has a chance to make the team,
but ideally, the Astros would like the 23-year-old to spend
a full season at Class AAA. Non-roster invite Barry Wesson
isn't generating much attention, but as one of only two
true center fielders the Astros have in camp, Wesson, a
former Astros farmhand who spent the last two seasons in
the Angels' organization, may have a chance to make the
team out of spring training. Wesson doesn't put up the
offensive numbers the Astros have been seeking this offseason,
but he's solid defensively and will likely contend for
the fifth outfielder's position. If G.M. Doug Melvin makes any more moves before the start of the season, look for him to add a veteran utility infielder. One candidate to fill that role is former All-Star Jeff Cirillo, who played exclusively at 3B during his first tenure with the team. Since then, Cirillo has seen action at 1B and 2B. To win a job, he needs to rediscover the once-sweet swing that made him the franchise's all-time batting average leader. SOFT SPOT: With the departure of RHPs Dan Kolb and Luis
Vizcaino, the back end of the bullpen is a question mark.
Mike Adams, who is coming off a breakthrough season as
a rookie, will get a chance to win the closer's job, but
veteran Ricky Bottalico might make a run at the job. Bottalico
does not throw as hard as he once did, but he throws four
pitches for strikes and showed last season that he still
has the know-how to induce outs when he needs them. The
team also acquired RHP Justin Lehr in an offseason trade
with Oakland to bolster an area that has been a relative
strength in recent seasons. All-Star shortstop Jack Wilson has regained much of the weight that he lost after undergoing an emergency appendectomy in December. However, Wilson's conditioning is far behind what it would typically be at this time of year. The team has set a March 15 target date for Wilson's return to game action. Wilson is confident that he'll be back on the field at least a week before that. SOFT SPOT: With Jason Kendall now playing in Oakland,
the team will turn over the catching duties to aging veteran
Benito Santiago and second-year player Humberto Cota. Santiago,
who will turn 40 in March, must show that he is healthy
after missing most of the 2004 season because of a broken
left hand. Cota, who has just 108 career at-bats, will
be given the opportunity to prove that he can be an everyday
big league catcher. Neil Walker, the team's No. 1 pick
in the 2004 draft, is considered an outstanding prospect,
but he is probably at least two years away from competing
for a big league job. The Cards have some interest in adding a middle infielder, perhaps even one who could fit in at second base for more than the short term. However, such an acquisition would almost certainly need to be young and inexpensive, preferably a player not yet arbitration-eligible. SOFT SPOT: Two valuable righthanders (Kiko Calero and
Dan Haren) have been removed from the bullpen, as has one
critical lefthander (Steve Kline). Getting from the starters
to closer Jason Isringhausen will be a concern in the early
going. The Cards will take long looks at in-house options
such as Cal Eldred and Al Reyes from the right side, and
if they don't work out, St. Louis might look at the trade
market. As the season goes on, promising prospects such
as Adam Wainwright and Anthony Reyes could play themselves
into bullpen consideration, the way Haren did late last
year. Still, the late-inning setup pairing of Julian Tavarez
and Ray King should be effective again.
Baseball
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