Around NL Central Spring Training, 3/22: Holliday Returns

Cardinals: The team received plenty of good injury news over the weekend, as Matt Holliday is expected to return to action Monday, and Brendan Ryan returned on Saturday. Holliday has missed almost two weeks of action with a strained intercostal muscle, and Ryan was playing for the first time this spring after having wrist surgery in February.

Cubs: Top prospect Starlin Castro opened a lot of eyes with a strong performance this spring, but will have to wait a little longer for his major league debut. Castro was optioned to the minors on Saturday, despite hitting .423/.444/.692 in Cactus League play…Greg Maddux, working as an assistant for GM Jim Hendry, spent Saturday’s game with scouts, learning a bit about their practices and teaching them some things to watch for with pitchers…In injury news, Carlos Silva left Sunday’s game after two innings with tightness in his right quad. He was able to throw in the bullpen to complete his expected outing.

Brewers: Jim Edmonds has surprised many by having a strong spring and becoming a near lock to make the team, and now he’s surprising those same people by raising the possibility that he’ll reject a job as the team’s fourth outfielder. Edmonds told Ed Price that he’s not sure he’s interested in playing a couple of days a week, and told Anthony Witrado he feels a strong pull to spend more time with his family.

Astros: Shortstop Tommy Manzella will be out at least a week after straining his quad running out a ground ball on Saturday. Outfielder Jason Bourgeois also left Sunday’s game against the Red Sox with a strained hamstring, and is listed as day-to-day.

Reds: The normal recovery time for Tommy John surgery would suggest Edinson Volquez should miss the entire 2010 season, but he’s already throwing off a mound in Reds camp, throwing 30 pitches yesterday. He plans to continue throwing bullpen sessions every other day and hopes to be back by mid-July.

Pirates: Zach Duke took a strong step towards opening day over the weekend, pitching five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts in an intrasquad game. Duke was scheduled to throw five innings, but to get him closer to his target pitch count the fifth inning was expanded to six outs.