According to the San Jose Mercury News Alex Pavlovic, San Francisco Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez and starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong will both likely start the 2012 season on the disabled list, bringing another interesting twist to some positional battles this spring.
"It's fair to say," Sanchez will start on the DL, Bochy said. "Nothing official yet, but we're at the stage where that's a strong possibility."
Freddy is scheduled to make his debut at second base in a minor league game this weekend, but his surgically repaired shoulder has not progressed as quickly as all would have hoped, and is certainly under the gun to be ready for opening day. The team figures it better to err on the side of caution with the 2006 NL batting champion than try an push him.
The duo of Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot could see some more action if Freddy is on the DL to start the year, but Emmanuel Burriss has been stellar so far this spring, batting .436 in 39 at bats with five stolen bases and five strikeouts. He's averaged a hit a game that he's played in, while his speed makes him more valuable in the infield and on the bathpaths.
As for Vogelsong, he threw on Friday but Bochy noted that they "don't want to push him" figuring on a April 15th start against the San Diego Padres to be his first start of the year. That technically would make him the fifth starter behind Lincecum Bumgarner, Cain, and Zito, effectively spitting up the lefties, and keeps the team from having to call anyone up because of an off day the first week of the season. We'll see how Bochy re-shuffles the rotation later on in the season.
"We're being cautious and (Vogelsong) knows that," Bochy said, "He's on his way, but we'll take it slow with him."
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