Around NL Central Spring Training, 3/16: Dotel Takes The First Step

Pirates: Reliever Octavio Dotel, who has yet to pitch in a game this spring due to a strained oblique, pitched off a mound for the first time Monday, and was seen high-fiving teammates afterwards, usually a good indication that all went well. Dotel will likely pitch in a minor league game sometime this week and could see his first Grapefruit League action shortly thereafter.

Reds: Prospect Juan Francisco, who has played third base in 390 of his 395 career minor league games, is expected to start in left field Tuesday against the Diamondbacks. Francisco has very limited experience in the outfield but the Reds would love to find a place to stash his bat: He’s hit 75 home runs in the minors over the last three seasons.

Cardinals: Brad Penny dodged two bullets in his outing Monday, as he avoided serious injury while taking line drives off both his right forearm and left shin. He remained in the game and allowed three runs on six hits in 3.2 innings.

Cubs: Lou Piniella announced yesterday that Ryan Theriot will be the Cubs’ primary leadoff hitter this season, with Kosuke Fukudome batting second. Theriot is 11-for-20 at the plate this spring with two doubles and four stolen bases.

Astros: Rookie shortstop Tommy Manzella has a lot to learn in his first camp as a likely major leaguer, but he’s added to that work load a bit by attempting to learn some Japanese to better communicate with double play-partner Kazuo Matsui. Manzella says he’s already learned about 50 or 60 words, but still doesn’t know the word for "baseball."

Brewers: He’s 42 years old and entering his 18th major league season, so Trevor Hoffman has earned the right to slow things down a bit this spring. He pitched live BP for the first time on Monday, and will make his Cactus League debut on Friday. Hoffman opened the season on the DL with an oblique injury in 2009, so the Brewers are building him up at a more gradual pace this spring.