MLB Capsules - NL: Astros hope to improve before leaving NL
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — In 113 major league at-bats, Houston pitcher Bud Norris has never hit a home run. Now he feels like he's running out of time.
"I've got one year to get it done," Norris said. "Hopefully I can just get one and say I did it."
Norris and the Astros are entering their final season before moving to the American League in 2013 — and adjusting to the designated hitter a year from now isn't the only transition this franchise is facing. After 106 losses last year, Houston has a new owner, a new general manager and a bit of a clean slate as spring training begins.
"There's not very many guys with guaranteed spots. Everybody's going to be fighting," left-hander J.A. Happ said. "There's competition throughout — no matter what camp you're in — but you know this one, especially this year, is going to be exciting."
Houston's pitchers and catchers have their first workout Monday, and the Astros are eager to put last season behind them as quickly as possible. They'd never lost 100 games before 2011, when they finished 15 games behind the fifth-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
Change has been swift since then. After the season, the sale of the team from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane was completed, and the Astros agreed to move eventually to the AL West.
Jeff Luhnow was then brought in to be the team's general manager. Players haven't learned too much yet about the new regime, but manager Brad Mills has been working with the front office.
"With any different group, it seems like you're going to have, maybe some different ideas in certain areas. ... A lot of their ideas might come from looking at numbers, which is because they haven't seen the guys," Mills said. "Maybe a different mindset that they have coming in, and that's all good. There's nothing wrong with that."
The Astros have been dismantling their team for the last couple years. They traded stars Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt around the deadline in 2010 and dealt outfielders Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn during last year's downward spiral.
"A lot went on last year that kind of hampered away from playing baseball — living in limbo-land with the ownership," Norris said. "Finally we got that settled. I'm sure Crane's going to have an opportunity to talk to us, and we're going to have an opportunity to talk to him. It's a fresh start. It's what we needed, and we've got to roll forward."
Norris went 6-11 with a 3.77 ERA last season and has struck out just under a batter an inning in his three-year career. Wandy Rodriguez was also solid in 2011, going 11-11 with a 3.49 ERA. Right-hander Brett Myers returns for his third season with the Astros.
Happ struggled last season, going 6-15. Houston signed Zach Duke and Livan Hernandez, two more starters with experience, to minor league contracts.
First baseman Carlos Lee — one marquee name the Astros have kept — hit .275 last season but had only 18 home runs, his fewest since his first year in the majors. In December, Houston acquired shortstop Jed Lowrie from Boston in a trade that sent reliever Mark Melancon to the Red Sox.
Infielder Brett Wallace, still trying to establish himself after hitting .259 in 336 at-bats last year, was already at the team's spring training complex Sunday, even though the first full squad workout isn't until next weekend.
"I think we're all excited to get going. It's an opportunity to get down here and get on the field and work with the coaches and just kind of get adjusted a little bit early," Wallace said. "You can only do so much in the cage or at home. You've got to get down here."
After what the Astros went through last year, there's a sense that pretty much everyone has an opportunity.
"Each year, you always start over, and that's kind of cool," Mills said. "We want to get these guys to be the players they can and compete for jobs. There's a lot of opening spots."
Former 20-game winner Wainwright thinks he's back
JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Adam Wainwright's season-ending elbow injury last February was supposed to have wrecked the St. Louis Cardinals' season.
Instead, they went on to take the World Series. And now the former 20-game winner is healthy again, ready to rejoin a rotation that was strong enough to win it all without him.
That's a major reason spring training opens with optimism for a team that lost three of its pillars — slugger Albert Pujols, manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan, since the World Series victory parade.
Even if the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Wainwright throws fewer than 200 innings, the estimate the Cardinals have used in their try to play it safe with a pitcher not yet a year removed from elbow reconstruction, they view it as a major plus.
At the team's Winter Warmup last month, outfielder Matt Holliday said that getting Wainwright back was like signing a big-ticket free agent that would help compensate for Pujols' departure.
After the first official throwing session Sunday at what he estimated as 85 percent effort, Wainwright said he had no worries that by opening day he'll be all the way back.
The lost 2011 season, he said, was merely a "speed bump" in his career. There were no flashbacks to last spring when he blew out his right elbow. Instead, the word he used was "comfortable."
"I get home at night, I'm not thinking about icing (my arm) or anything like that," Wainwright said. "I'm wondering what time "American Idol" comes on. That's all."
Catcher Yadier Molina was on the receiving end, and gave the pitcher a big hug afterwards to note the symbolic nature of an outing that lasted 30-35 pitches.
"I was waiting for that moment since last year and finally today I was able to catch him," Molina said. "I was so happy for him, to see him throw and to see him happy, too."
Molina's not the only one. New manager Mike Matheny said Wainwright has looked "fantastic," and general manager John Mozeliak said the pitcher's rehab thus far has been "flawless."
The 30-year-old Wainwright was one of the teams' twin aces along with Chris Carpenter before getting hurt last spring training. He was second in the NL Cy Young balloting in 2010 after going 20-11 with a 2.42 ERA, and in 2009 he was 19-8 with a 2.63 ERA and third in the Cy Young.
In 2009, he pitched at least six innings in 26 consecutive starts. In 2010, he had five complete games. Wainwright believes he's ready to be that horse again and wants to be treated like everybody else.
Putting any limitations on the upcoming season, Wainwright emphasized, does nobody any good. His plan is to make it difficult for the Cardinals to "yank me out of the game."
"What happens if I throw 185-190 innings going into September? I can't pitch the rest of the season?" Wainwright said.
Wainwright was among four starters — all except Kyle Lohse — to throw on the first workout for pitchers and catchers. No doubt he faced the most scrutiny. Mozeliak said Sunday that Wainwright's outings will be closely monitored and adjusted if necessary.
The pitcher has been throwing every third day since mid-January, including three times to hitters, and said there's been no pronounced soreness the next day. In short, that's how he felt prior to the injury.
"I don't feel like I missed a year, I really don't," Wainwright said. "The games haven't happened yet, so I'm going to slow-play that a little bit, but I feel like I'm stepping into something that I'm real comfortable with."
Wainwright played a major role on the Cardinals' 2006 title team as the fill-in closer for injured Jason Isringhausen, getting the final out in both the NL championship series and World Series. He was reduced to cheerleader during the team's October 2011 surprise as the Cardinals upset the Phillies, Brewers and Rangers.
"It gives me an appreciation for how much I love this game," Wainwright said. "Spring training is fun. It's a great time, it really is. Good weather, good place to be, good team to be on, family time at night, baseball in the morning.
"I mean, it doesn't get a whole lot better than that."
Matheny shared that feeling. Prior to camp, he said the offseason had gone so slowly that he felt like a kid whose parents put out Christmas presents in October that couldn't be opened for a couple months.
In his first pre-camp speech, he urged players to aim for career years.
"Up to this point it's just been a lot of talk," Matheny said. "It's time to go get busy."
-- R.B. Fallstrom
Posey back in action for Giants at last
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Buster Posey squatted into a catcher's crouch for his first spring training bullpen session and began receiving pitches from ace Tim Lincecum, then Matt Cain.
He practiced springing up to throw after catching the ball, with no hesitation or signs that he had ever been seriously hurt.
Posey showed he has plenty of pop in his bat, too. He cleared the fences a couple of times in his first round of batting practice at Scottsdale Stadium on Sunday, Day 1 for Giants pitchers and catchers.
After bench coach Ron Wotus surrendered those home run balls, Posey quipped: "Four-seamer coming at 55 (mph), I tend to square that one up."
Clearly, San Francisco's cleanup hitter is loose, good-natured and in a positive frame of mind.
"It was special for me because I've put in a lot of work to get back to this point and this is just another step," Posey said. "There's still some work to do but I was very happy with today."
More than 50 fans lined the fences throughout the ballpark trying to catch a glimpse of Posey getting back to work with the team at last.
"For him, it's an important day," reliever Santiago Casilla said. "He's waited a long time to play. He'll be OK. He's been working hard. Everybody wants to watch him."
The 2010 NL Rookie of the Year made his highly anticipated return to the field in a formal setting after a season-ending leg injury last year. He tore three ligaments in his left ankle and broke a bone in his lower leg in a frightening home-plate collision with Florida's Scott Cousins on May 25.
Posey is one of a handful of key major leaguers working back from injuries this spring — including Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, Colorado's Jorge de la Rosa and reliever Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees.
Through his entire ordeal, Posey has been able to reflect on his baseball career.
Yes, he wants to keep catching for years to come, though changing positions did cross his mind a few times. He refuses to get involved in speaking out about the need for any rules changes when it comes to making contact with the catcher (manager Bruce Bochy is handling that campaign). Posey wants to do everything he can to stay in the lineup as a regular.
"I think it's just a greater appreciation for doing what I do, just enjoying this, being out here today catching a couple of pens and maybe some of the not-so-glamorous stuff of a catcher's job," he said. "Enjoying that stuff a little bit more and just knowing that it can be gone quick."
General manager Brian Sabean, Bochy and the brass kept a watchful eye on Posey in the bullpen. It was a monumental moment for Posey, whose long road to recovery included having screws removed from his surgically repaired left ankle in July and pushing himself around on a makeshift scooter to keep weight off the injured leg.
Everybody is encouraged seeing Posey in uniform.
"I threw to him Friday," left-hander Madison Bumgarner said. "He looked normal to me, ready to go, like he hadn't missed a beat."
The Giants have a plan in place to keep Posey from overdoing it now — and he understands that. He will do all he can to avoid another injury that could derail his plan and force him to become a full-time first baseman.
It would mean a lot to Posey to play in the first Cactus League game March 3 against defending NL West champion Arizona, and Bochy believes that's possible. For a while, Bochy will check in with the medical staff after each of Posey's games in which he catches five or six innings.
Posey won't catch bullpens Monday but is expected to participate in other baseball activities.
"That's our decision, not his," Bochy said.
Sabean watched Posey during the fall as he began catching again.
"He thinks everything is fine," Sabean said. "He's ready to get out here. It'll be us holding him back."
These days, Posey said he consciously thinks about picking up his 6-month-old twins — daughter Addison and son Lee — by squatting down first as to not aggravate anything. It's all of these little things he has learned through what became a painful blow to the Giants, who missed the playoffs a year after winning the World Series.
After Lincecum's session, the right-hander greeted his catcher with a friendly handshake and thumbs-up.
"It just kind of picked up where we left off," Lincecum said. "It's nice having a chance to do that down here and just kind of having a clean slate and a new season to work with. He's got a new season to work with. I don't think he's thinking about the injury too much."
Posey has distanced himself from the collision — though he has watched it multiple times — and the emotional aftermath. Cousins has expressed how sorry he is the injury happened but called it an aggressive baseball play.
Posey said Sunday he accepts that Cousins does care, even if they haven't spoken despite efforts by the Marlins outfielder.
"The biggest thing for me back then and now is looking forward and being positive and trying to get ready for another season," Posey said.
Posey has regained his rhythm at the plate in a hurry. Even when he first started hitting last fall after about five months off, the swing came back fairly quickly.
"I'm blessed in a sense. I enjoy this game," he said.
Posey's presence was missed every day last year.
In 2010, he wasn't even called up from Triple-A Fresno until late May but still batted .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 108 games to help the Giants capture their first NL West crown since 2003.
This is the player San Francisco gave $6.2 million when he signed in August 2008 as the fifth overall pick out of Florida State, the richest deal ever for a Giants amateur.
"I know they're glad to have him back," Bochy said. "He's very popular in the clubhouse and they know how long a road he had to endure in his rehab. That's a tough road. The talent he brings makes us a better club."
Not to mention all the other intangibles.
"Buster's the core of this team just because he's on both sides, offense and defense. He's our leader," left-hander Barry Zito said. "It's good for the morale of the team. We feel like we're a full unit again."
-- Janie McCauley
Gibson prepares Diamondbacks to aim even higher
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks were a last-place team two years running entering spring training a year ago, with manager Kirk Gibson cracking the whip to create an attitude of winning.
The difference on Sunday was palpable, when pitchers and catchers reported. These are the NL West champions, and after a couple of offseason additions, they are aiming higher this year.Gibson, the NL manager of the year after the D-backs' worst-to-first run, says "success can be very dangerous," though,
"We have to kind of continue to do the same things we did last year, plus more," he said. "What we did last year was good, but obviously it wasn't good enough. We have to get better. We're going to work on a lot of things we worked on last year, plus more. We're going to make sure that we have a team that doesn't complain about it — they cherish what we do again and we'll move forward from there."
The Diamondbacks lost to Milwaukee in a division series that went the full five games, the Brewers winning the deciding contest 3-2 in 10 innings. The team won 94 regular-season games.
"To reflect on that is probably helpful in certain ways, but the thing you have to understand is it means nothing for this year," Gibson said. "It gives you a starting point of confidence, but if you're going to sit there and say we're going to win because of last year — we had what, 48 come-from-behind wins? That's pretty special. Boy, if we could do that again we'd be in good shape. That's pretty hard to duplicate."
Players were mostly absent on Sunday at the team's swanky Scottsdale facility. Some phoned in. Others have been around for days. The first workout is Monday.
"There's been several players out here working out for some time," Gibson said. "Their actions certainly seem like they feel like they have unfinished business. We're way ahead of where we were last year as far as we talked about certain cultural changes. One of those things was our preparation and workout regimen and stuff like that. They're on target and on task with that, and some of the new guys that we picked up, they've been out there and they're seen that and they're starting to get on that program, too."
Arizona's two biggest additions are pitcher Trevor Cahill and left fielder Jason Kubel.
Cahill, acquired in a trade with Oakland, was 12-14 with a 4.67 ERA last season. But two years ago with the A's, the young right-hander was 18-8 with a 2.97 ERA. The addition leaves the starting rotation seemingly set with Ian Kennedy (21-4, 2.88) at the top, followed by right-hander Daniel Hudson (16-12, 3.49), Cahill, righty Josh Collmenter (10-10, 3.38) and lefty Joe Saunders (12-13, 3.69).
Gibson noted Cahill has thrown more than 200 innings two of his first three seasons in the majors.
"He's been here a couple of weeks now," the manager said. "I've watched him and he looks good. Again, on paper it seems like we'd be better. We'd be stronger, and everybody knows about the young kids together? We like where we are today."
Waiting in the wings are young right-hander Trevor Brauer and left-hander Tyler Skaggs. Barring something unforeseen, they could start the season in the minors. But Gibson said that doesn't mean they, or others, won't be up to help the team later on. As examples, he pointed to Collmenter, reliever Bryan Shaw and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. All were minor leaguers who were called up last season and became important parts of the team.
The other major addition is Kubel, signed as a free agent by general manager Kevin Towers. Kubel has 104 career home runs. He hit .273 with 12 home runs for Minnesota in a season limited by injury to 99 games last year. With rising star Justin Upton in right, Chris Young at center and Gerardo Parra backing up all three positions, Gibson called the outfield one of the team's strengths.
Gibson vows to work hard on bunting, calling last year's performance in that area "brutal." But he will ease up a bit, perhaps, in other areas.
"We won't have to spend more times on certain things as we did last year," he said, "so hopefully I won't have to beat them down as much."
Still, he wrote the players a letter saying it said: "if they were in shape they'd have a tough spring, if they weren't in shape they'd have a tough spring."
"They know that from last year," Gibson said, "but for the new guys we'll have a ton of things that we do. We'll keep moving all the time, mentally and physically both. One of our goals is to get physically tougher, just like it was last year. We came a long way last year, but we need to do better."
Shortstop Stephen Drew, recovering from a broken ankle and ligament damage, will do some baseball activity for the first time on Monday, Gibson said.
-- Bob Baum
Braves report for spring with mostly same team
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Looking around Atlanta's spring training clubhouse, Jason Heyward sees most of the same faces that were there last September, when the Braves blew a seemingly comfortable lead in the playoff race. Now, Heyward and his teammates are eager to prove that was the right call.
As pitchers and catchers get set for their first official workout Monday, the Braves have decided to stick with largely the same group that played so well most of the season — then frittered away a commanding NL wild-card lead over the last month. The collapse was even harder to take when St. Louis claimed an improbable World Series championship after passing Atlanta on the final day.
"Everyone took it personally," Heyward said, sitting at his locker Sunday.
Some teams might have opted for a major shakeup, or at least done some fairly significant tinkering. But the Braves, a franchise that always preferred a steady path over headline-grabbing moves, barely touched the roster over the winter.
Unless there's an unexpected trade during spring training, the only significant changes will be rookie Tyler Pastornicky taking over at shortstop for Alex Gonzalez and someone — anyone — moving into the rotation to replace 17-game loser Derek Lowe, who was dumped on Cleveland even though the Braves will continue to pay most of his $15 million salary.
"I'm not surprised," reliever Jonny Venters said. "I thought we had a great team last year. I know it didn't pan out at the end of the year the way wanted it to, but we played good baseball most of the year."
Rather than shaking up the roster, the Braves are counting on several of the players they already have to put up much better numbers in 2012.
At the top of that list is Heyward, a rookie sensation two years ago and perhaps the most disappointing player in baseball last season. Bothered by an ailing shoulder early on in spring training, the right fielder got all out of whack with his mechanics, then had a meltdown of confidence that resulted in a hideous .227 average with just 14 homers and 42 RBIs.
Things got so bad that Heyward wasn't even a full-time starter coming down the stretch, sharing the duties with trade-deadline acquisition Matt Diaz and career minor leaguer Jose Constanza.
"This game is hard enough anyway. You're going to have those spells where you get away from something, where you have those bad habits," Heyward said. "But not being able to correct it because you're hurt, well, that's definitely not a fun game to play. Sometimes you need to push through those things. That's living and learning. At the same time, I'm fortunate to go through it at a young age."
Indeed, Heyward is only 22 years old — hardly washed up after one poor season. If he gets back on track, or at least puts up stats more in line with his rookie year (.277, 18 homers, 72 RBIs), the lineup will look much more imposing than a year ago, when the Braves were able to score in spurts but never found any sort of consistency — especially in September.
From the looks of his chiseled frame, Heyward has gotten himself in the best physical shape of his young career. Now, if he can just rediscover his hitting stroke, which was his main focus during the offseason.
"I told myself that I needed to start over," he said. "Go back to your base and really be fundamentally sound. I'm paying a lot more attention to that right now, while trying to regain the feel that I had. I'm trying to go back to something that I already had, which is a good thing. I already had it. I've got it. I know what I need to do and how I need to do it. I've just got to get back to it."
With the 25-man roster largely set, the major decisions of spring training will be on the fringes of the pitching staff. Who will be the fifth starter? Who will take the last one or two spots in the bullpen?
There's certainly a plethora of talented young pitching, a reminder of the team's golden era in the 1990s. Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson and Brandon Beachy are locks for the rotation, while Mike Minor, Randall Delgado, Julio Teheran and Kris Medlen are in the mix. No one in that group is older than 26. Then consider the bullpen, anchored by NL Rookie of the Year closer Craig Kimbrel and two more 20-somethings, Venters and Eric O'Flaherty.
"What would you change?" O'Flaherty asked. "If you look at every position, we've got somebody fully capable. We just got cold at the wrong time last season. A lot of people want to analyze it and look deeper than that, but we just got into a slump. That can happen to any team."
Still, no one has forgotten what it was like watching the Cardinals celebrate a World Series title. veryone wants to wipe away that bitter taste, which explains why most of the team is already at the Braves' Disney World complex even though the first full-squad workout is nearly a week away.
"It could have been us," O'Flaherty said. "Trust me, no one is happy about it."
-- Paul Newberry
Giants starter Vogelsong injures his back
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — San Francisco Giants right-hander Ryan Vogelsong strained his back earlier this month while lifting weights and said Sunday he will miss at least the first 10 days of spring training workouts while he recovers. The pitcher realizes it's worth being cautious at this stage so that he's healthy for the long haul.
"It's not too bad but we want to make sure we're cautious," Vogelsong said before Giants pitchers and catchers went through their first workout at Scottsdale Stadium. "I'd say probably, cautious side, 10 days maybe just to make sure I'm feeling good and don't go out there and try to throw and tweak it again and come back in here. We're just going to go really conservative right now."
Vogelsong, who became an unlikely All-Star last year in a comeback season, said he was squatting on a balance ball with 70-pound dumbbells — weights he had used all winter — on Feb. 7 when he got hurt.
"Just a regular workout, trying to do a little bit too much weight wise," he said. "Right now, we want to make sure I'm 100 percent ready to go before I go out there and try to start throwing and running around again."
Manager Bruce Bochy said the Giants might hold Vogelsong out for two weeks. He underwent an MRI exam.
Last month, Vogelsong received an $8.3 million, two-year contract to give him some job security. The 34-year-old Vogelsong set a career high for wins last season while going 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA in 30 games and 28 starts.
At this stage, the Giants believe Vogelsong will bounce back in plenty of time to be ready for opening day. Eric Surkamp will be preparing as a starter, so there is insurance.
"He in such good shape anyway," general manager Brian Sabean said of Vogelsong. "He was ahead of schedule."
All-Star closer Brian Wilson, who didn't pitch down the stretch last season because of an elbow injury, is eager to get going — and he's set to throw another bullpen Monday. He isn't expected in games until the second week.
Wilson spoke little about the injury late in 2011, when the Giants failed to reach the playoffs after winning the World Series a year earlier.
"Maybe other people were frustrated but I certainly wasn't frustrated. It's nothing I could have controlled. I'm never going to be frustrated with anything," Wilson said Sunday. "I don't ask for days off. I don't complain about anything. I don't ask for a timeout for a breather. I ask to throw the ball, get three outs. I can do that until I die."
Wilson — the majors saves leader in 2010 with 48 — went 6-4 with a 3.11 ERA and 36 saves in 57 outings last year.
"I feel great. I felt good the whole time, it's just I was just limited back then," he said. "I would have thrown but I was told I couldn't throw. I think anybody who takes six months off, it's good. It gave it enough time to heal. Ready to rock."
-- Janie McCauley
Strasburg, Nationals excited to get started
VIERA, Fla. (AP) — Stephen Strasburg is looking forward to the next phase in is recovery from Tommy John surgery.
The 23-year-old right-hander walked into the Washington Nationals' clubhouse Sunday, the day for pitchers and catchers to report for spring training, and said his arm feels much better than it did during the five September starts he made last season.
"It feels so much more natural now than it did coming off the surgery," Strasburg said. "My mind's a lot clearer. I just go out and throw the baseball. I don't think as much about mechanics or anything. I don't feel myself holding back a little bit. I just let it go."
Strasburg was the overall No. 1 draft pick in 2009. He got off to a sensational start in the majors in 2010 before injuring his right elbow and having major surgery.
Strasburg said he hasn't been told by the team how many innings he will pitch this season. It's expected Washington will limit him to around 160, as it did when Jordan Zimmermann returned last year.
I'm going to go out and throw until they take the ball out of my hands, whether it's throwing a complete game (or) going on three days' rest," Strasburg said. "That's something that I'm working hard to be able to do. I'm not saying they're going to do it this year, but that's something I'm working toward."
Strasburg also made it clear that while he expecting big things from himself, he's not expecting to be treated as the diva of the Nationals' pitching staff. He just wants to fit in.
"The one thing that I really benefited from in college (at San Diego State) is that they treated me just like I was another donkey," Strasburg said. "That's how I want to be here. I don't want the special treatment. When they tell me to go out there and pitch, I'm going to give it everything I have. When they say I'm done, I'm going to be done. That's the bottom line."
Having Strasburg back, plus the additions of starters Gio Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson — not to mention reliever Brad Lidge — has certainly made for an exciting clubhouse atmosphere for a team that won 80 games last season, an 11-game improvement over the year before.
The Nationals finished third in the NL East in 2011 and expectations for this season are high, despite lingering questions about whether or not outfielder Jayson Werth will bounce back from a disappointing year and if 19-year-old rookie outfielder Bryce Harper will make the team.
"There's a lot of outside buzz about us this year," closer Drew Storen said. "It's exciting. We're just excited to get here and try to live up to it."
Zimmermann said he believes the Nationals will have one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball in 2012.
"I think it's time to turn the page and put a winning ballclub in DC," he said. "We had some key additions this offseason and I'm pretty excited to get going."
NOTES: Shortstop Ian Desmond will wear No. 20 this season in honor of former manager Frank Robinson, whom he considers the first person in the organization to really believe in him and mentor him. Also, because it was Barry Sanders' jersey number, one of Desmond's NFL favorite. Desmond previously wore No. 6 for Washington. ... Zimmermann, who was limited to 161 1-3 innings last season in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, said he hopes to throw 200 innings this season. ... In preparation for the season, Strasburg said he not only hit the weights and did some running, he also did a lot of yoga to help make himself more flexible, hoping that would allow him to recover faster from each outing.
Akerfelds happy to be back with San Diego Padres
PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Darrel Akerfelds is looking forward to the mundane routines of spring training and the season after a difficult winter.
San Diego's 49-year-old bullpen coach was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2010. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment throughout the 2011 season in an attempt to shrink a tumor attached to the vein in his pancreas so it could be removed in an October surgery.
Doctors discovered during the surgery that Akerfelds' tumor hadn't grown, but it also hadn't shrunk enough to be removed. Instead, doctors performed a stomach bypass, which Akerfelds said has resulted in a loss of sleep and decreased appetite.
Akerfelds, who missed several road trips last season for treatment, is currently going through a round of oral chemotherapy so he can stay with the team. He also said his physical activity is restricted in order to protect his torso, which means he won't be allowed to run or hit ground balls this season.
Even though he's limited, Akerfelds believes the work he can perform is his best form of treatment. Padres pitchers and catchers reported to camp on Sunday and will hold their first workout on Monday.
"Even if I'm not feeling good, I come to the park and it takes your mind off it," Akerfelds said. "Just the mental side of preparing for spring training and the season, I think that will help my appetite and help me sleep better instead of just being some place to be treated.
"It's the best therapy I know."
Akerfelds made his major league debut with the Oakland A's in 1986 and pitched for eight different organizations in a professional career that spanned 13 seasons. The cancer was originally discovered when a dermatologist determined Akerfelds was severely jaundiced. Akerfelds said he had suffered from severe stomach and upper back pain in November 2010, just weeks after he had undergone lower back surgery.
Only five percent of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer live beyond five years. But Akerfelds, who was last screened on Feb. 8, is optimistic he can survive long enough for a cure to be discovered.
"That's my goal is to maintain this until there's a procedure," Akerfelds said. "I don't know when that will happen. But I'm very optimistic I can stay in this long enough for that to happen to me."
Reds sign RHP Tomko, open camp
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Right-hander Brett Tomko is back with the team that launched his career, signing a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds as they opened camp on Sunday.
Tomko, who turns 39 on April 7, was invited to camp, which opened with all 36 pitchers taking physicals before a two-hour workout. Position players are scheduled to report for physicals and work out on Friday. Tomko is a footnote to Reds history — part of the four-player package traded to Seattle for Ken Griffey Jr. on Feb. 10, 2000.
The Reds made him their second-round pick in the June 1995 draft. He reached the majors in 1997 and played three seasons with Cincinnati, going 29-26 with a 4.35 ERA in 86 starts and two relief appearances.
The right-hander has pitched for 10 teams during his career — Cincinnati, Seattle, San Diego, St. Louis, San Francisco, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City, the New York Yankees, Oakland and Texas. He was 0-1 with a 4.58 ERA in eight games for the Rangers last season, most of which he spent in the minors.
The Reds' rotation and bullpen have a much different look this year. They traded four players to San Diego for right-handed starter Mat Latos, giving up first-round picks Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal along with starter Edinson Volquez.
Unable to sign closer Francisco Cordero, they got closer Ryan Madson and acquired set-up man Sean Marshall, giving the back end of the bullpen a totally different look.
Cincinnati won the NL Central in 2010 and returned its roster virtually intact last season, then struggled to a third-place finish at 79-83. The Reds spent the offseason revamping a pitching staff that was the biggest problem. Manager Dusty Baker, entering his fifth season in Cincinnati, likes the way his team looks as it opens camp.
"It boils down to the more talent you have, the better your chances are," Baker said. "I genuinely like this team."
Cameron retires after 17 seasons
VIERA, Fla. (AP) — Mike Cameron has told The Washington Nationals he is retiring after a 17-season career in which the center fielder won three Gold Gloves. The 39-year-old outfielder signed a minor league contract with Washington in December and was expected to have a good shot to make the roster with the Nationals unsettled at center field.
The Nationals made the announcement Sunday, six days before position players were to report to spring training. The 2001 All-Star played for eight franchises, hitting .249 with 278 homers and 968 RBIs. Last year Cameron hit .203 in 78 games for Boston and Florida.
Jayson Werth could start the season in center field, making room for 19-year-old phenom Bryce Harper in right field if he makes the team.
With Cameron's retirement, Roger Bernadina and Rick Ankiel will likely be the top center field options beyond Werth and could platoon there if Harper starts the season in the minors.
Phillies, Kendrick agree to two-year deal
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Philadelphia right-hander Kyle Kendrick agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the Phillies on Sunday.
Kendrick, 27, went 8-6 with a 3.22 ERA in 34 games for the Phillies last year. He made 15 starts, as Philadelphia won the National League East division title. He is now under contract through 2013, and the deal includes performance and award bonuses.
Kendrick was at his best within the division last year. In 18 games against the NL East, in fact, he went 5-2 with a 2.14 ERA.
Drafted by the Phillies in the seventh round of the 2003 draft, Kendrick is 43-30 for his career, with a 4.41 ERA in 127 games. He has made 98 career starts.
