With Chien-Ming Wang headed to the disabled list, Carl Pavano could end up being the New York Yankees’ starting pitcher on opening day.
Wang, a 19-game winner last year and runner-up for the American League’s Cy Young Award, will begin the season on the DL because of a right hamstring injury. He is expected to be sidelined at least a month.
Andy Pettitte has been bothered by back spasms and the Yankees don’t want to rearrange Mike Mussina’s schedule late in spring training, so the oft-injured Pavano appears to be the most likely candidate to pitch April 2 against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium.
It would be his first major-league outing since June 2005.
“It’s one game,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said Saturday. “To me, if a guy is going to pitch at Yankee Stadium, whether it’s Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, there’s going to be a lot of people there. It’s opening day, but there are 161 other games. It’s certainly an important game, but so are the other ones.”
Royals: Kansas City optioned shortstop Angel Berroa, the 2003 American League rookie of the year, to Triple-A Omaha.
The demotion came one day after the Royals acquired Tony Peña Jr. in a trade with the Atlanta Braves. Royals manager Buddy Bell said Peña would be his starting shortstop.
Berroa, 29, has struggled since his rookie season and showed little sign of improvement in spring training.
“It’s not something he was happy about, obviously,” Bell said. “Angel is going to be a good player again. He’s a good kid and works hard. He had all the ingredients to get better. He knows what he needs to do.”
Berroa hit only .234 last season.
The Royals also reassigned outfielder Billy Butler, a 2004 first-round draft pick, to the minor leagues, although he hit .419 with five doubles and 10 RBIs in 19 spring games. While Butler’s bat is nearly ready for the majors, Bell said the club wants him to improve his defense.
White Sox: Rookie John Danks got a pleasant surprise when manager Ozzie Guillen told him he had won the job as Chicago’s fifth starter.
Danks pitched four shutout innings Friday against Colorado to lock up the fifth spot.
Gavin Floyd, another candidate for the final spot in the rotation, gave up a grand slam in the same game.
Dodgers: The results from an MRI exam revealed a tear in the right hamstring of outfielder Jason Repko, meaning he likely will need surgery and could be lost to the team for several months.
“It’s not good,” Dodgers manager Grady Little said. “He’s going to miss a lot of time.”
Phillies: The team received encouraging medical reports on pitcher Freddy Garcia (sore arm) and catcher Carlos Ruiz, one day after losing pitcher Jon Lieber indefinitely because of a strained abdominal muscle.
Lieber strained his right oblique muscle Friday and has begun treatments, the team said. There is no immediate timetable for his return.
Garcia and Ruiz were diagnosed with mild biceps tendinitis.
Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson looked strong while throwing 33 pitches in his first game action since back surgery at the end of last season.
Johnson pitched two innings of a “B” game against the White Sox. Facing mainly minor-leaguers, he allowed no runs on one hit and struck out three.
Marlins: Florida right fielder Jeremy Hermida might miss opening day because of a deep bone bruise on his right knee.
Reds: Ed Bailey, an all-star catcher with Cincinnati in the 1950s, died of cancer Friday in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 75.
