Sanchez note

By JOHN LEMBO
jlembo@bradenton.com

ST. PETERSBURG - Inflammation on his surgically-repaired right shoulder has shut Pittsburgh second baseman Freddy Sanchez down for the next two days.
"The area of the surgery is fine," Pittsburgh Pirate general manager Neil Huntington said of Sanchez, who underwent surgery in September. "The not-so-good news is Freddy has inflammation in his shoulder, near his rotator cuff."
Sanchez, who felt sore after playing the field following Friday's game with Cincinnati, will see Dr. James Andrews on Monday. Huntington said Sanchez only feels discomfort when he tries to throw.
"Freddy's been able to hit all spring. He's seeing the ball well, he feels great the plate," Huntington said. "He's been able to take a lot of ground balls. The only thing he hasn't been able to do is cut loose with his throws.
“Conversely, a year ago, when Freddy went down with a knee injury, it shut him down,” Huntington said. “We can keep him as game ready as possible –we can keep his legs in shape, we can keep his bat going, we can keep him fielding the ball. The only thing we have to make sure we rest is the throwing.”
Huntington said it has not been decided who will play second if Sanchez isn’t ready for Opening Day, though Luis Rivas and Josh Wilson are likely candidates.
“We even haven’t discussed what our alternatives are if Freddy is to start on the DL,” Huntington said. “If we come back with some bad news on Monday, we’ll talk about it internally.”
Sanchez, who led the National League in batting in 2006, hit .304 last season with 81 RBIs. He is batting .364 this spring.