PIRATES Sanchez to miss season opener

The Pittsburgh infielder is still relieved his knee injury is not serious.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -- Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Freddy Sanchez, relieved there is no damage to his right knee other than a previously diagnosed sprained ligament, said Tuesday he is resigned to missing opening day but hopes to return to the lineup sometime next week.
The NL batting champion plans to play in the Pirates' minor league camp today, his first game action since he was hurt turning a double play March 6, and he won't be worrying about the injury when he does.
"I'll go out and go as hard as I can," Sanchez said Tuesday. "If I've got to play with a little bit of pain and discomfort, so be it, as long as I know it's not going to get any worse. ... I play the game with no fear, I like to do a lot of things with no fear and you can't be cautious."
Sought second opinion
Sanchez, who has yet to play a full season as a major league regular yet owns a batting title, grew so frustrated with his longer-than-expected injury layoff that he sought a second opinion Monday. Alabama-based orthopedic surgeon James Andrews performed an MRI exam and other tests that confirmed he sprained his right medial collateral ligament.
According to Sanchez, Andrews told him he could play without further hurting the knee, as long as no new injury occurred. That news admittedly came as a relief to Sanchez, and he resumed working out Tuesday by hitting, throwing and doing some running in the minor league camp.
The only hurdles left are running the bases and making the sharp cuts, turns and pivots required to play second base. He was moved from third base, his primary position last season, to second base when camp opened last month.
"We're coming down to crunch time and I need to push it a little more -- and I want to push it," Sanchez said. "That was very, very encouraging that I'm not going to damage it any more, that I can get out there and push it a little more. I'm going to do that and take it from there."
Back for home opener
Because Sanchez was out so long, he probably can't get enough spring training at-bats to be ready to start Monday against the Astros' Roy Oswalt in Houston. Sanchez hopes to be ready for the Pirates' April 5-7 series in Cincinnati or, if not then, the April 9 home opener against St. Louis.
If Sanchez is placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, the Pirates can backdate the move by nine days as long as he doesn't play in a major league exhibition game. That means he could be activated less than a week into the season.
"Maybe I miss one series," Sanchez said.
"If I push it now and get healthy by the [start of the] season, I'm probably going to need some at-bats. It probably wouldn't be good to be healthy and then the day before get thrown into the fire against Oswalt."
What Sanchez doesn't know is how the three-week layoff will affect the performance of a line-drive hitter whose .344 average last season was the Pirates' highest since Roberto Clemente hit .345 in 1969. His 53 doubles were the most by a Pirates player since Hall of Famer Paul Waner also had 53 in 1936.
Layoff effect
Because he was a utility infielder at the start of last season, and didn't secure a starting job for about a month, he doesn't know how long it will retake him to regain his batting stroke at the start of a season.
"You always want to get as many at-bats and as many ground balls as you can," he said.
"Hopefully I can get to 100 percent before the season starts, [or] maybe I'll need a week or whatever to get my at-bats, or maybe three days and I might feel good."
Sanchez went through a rigorous workout program following his breakout season, one that came relatively late into his career at age 28.
"It's very frustrating, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't," he said.
"It's disheartening a little bit, knowing I worked as hard I can to try to repeat it, to be consistent in this league. I finally feel like I've got a starting job and this is a little setback, but I'm going to work to get back as quick as possible and hopefully not miss too much time."
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