Sun Times Article

[DBAHO]

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Out since Sunday with two sprained wrists, White Sox center fielder Aaron Rowand will attempt to make a comeback today against the Cubs.

 

 

 

Rowand suffered the freak injury in a game against the San Francisco Giants when he slipped near the first-base coach's box. Rowand was taking a wide turn at first and getting set to head for second on a drive to the outfield when the grass in foul territory gave out from under him.

 

Both of his feet shot forward, and instead of taking the impact of the fall on his rear end, Rowand put his hands down and jammed both wrists into the turf. The ball was caught near the warning track.

 

"There is still a little tenderness in there, but it's gotten to the point that I can deal with it,'' said Rowand, who was working out Thursday, the Sox' only day off of spring training. "It's gotten a lot better every day. I went out and took a bucket and a half [of balls] off the tee and a bucket and a half off the pitching machine. It felt pretty good.''

 

Rowand originally was scheduled to play Tuesday in Tempe and Wednesday in Phoenix, but he doesn't think the time off will hurt him. He leads the Sox this spring with a .522 batting average and eight RBI.

 

On the bright side, the injured wrists aren't nearly as bad as the broken bones he was trying to return from last spring after a dirt-bike accident.

 

"We have two weeks left in spring training, so it's not a big deal,'' he said. "It's a minor setback. Those things happen when you play this game; they're out of my control. At least this one happened on the field.''

 

 

WRONG ENDING: Dan Wright admitted he ran out of gas toward the end of his intrasquad outing Thursday against the Sox' Class AAA lineup. He gave up two home runs and his only walk in the final two innings of his six-inning outing.

 

The right-hander allowed four runs and eight hits while throwing 73 pitches.

 

"I had good command of all three of my pitches,'' he said. "I got a lot of ground balls. There were only three or four fly balls, and two of them left the yard. Everything else was on the ground.''

 

Manager Ozzie Guillen also had a chance to look at left-hander Neal Cotts in the game. Guillen wasn't ready to name his No. 5 starter, but he said Wright and Jason Grilli basically have made the team barring any late setbacks.

 

Cotts and Jon Rauch will open the season at Class AAA Charlotte.

 

 

THE NERVE: Jamie Burke is expected to be on the bench today against the Cubs and likely will be the starting catcher Saturday against the Texas Rangers after sitting out more than a week with an irritated nerve in his shoulder.

 

Burke, one of the leading candidates for a reserve role, was hit on the back of his shoulder by a slow curveball March 11 against the San Diego Padres.

 

 

REGULAR PLAN: It won't be their Opening Day lineup, but the Sox will have all of their regulars on hand to face the Cubs. Willie Harris will lead off, followed by Jose Valentin, Frank Thomas, Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee, Paul Konerko, Joe Crede, Rowand and Miguel Olivo. Jon Garland will start for the Sox.

 

Guillen said Thursday that Harris will be his regular second baseman, but he expects to play Juan Uribe at second on Opening Day in Kansas City because the Royals will have left-hander Brian Anderson on the mound. Guillen prefers Uribe in the lineup against left-handers.

[southsider2k5]

AAA is the best place for them. They need their innings. Period.