Major League Baseball

Royals Gordon, Fields likely on DL

Published Apr. 2, 2010 11:09 p.m. ET

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The Kansas City Royals are running out of third basemen.

Alex Gordon and Josh Fields will likely open the season on the disabled list, and switch-hitting Alberto Callaspo has not played since March 25 with irritation in his right side that bothers him when he swings left-handed.

That means the Royals could be down to their fourth option when they open the season Monday against Detroit. The remaining candidates are Willie Bloomquist, Wilson Betemit and Mike Aviles, who has hit .469 in spring training but is coming off ``Tommy John'' surgery last July.

``I don't really have any doubt,'' Royals manager Trey Hillman said, when asked about Aviles' health. ``Mentally and physically, he said he feels really good. Honestly, that's good enough for me. But we still need to evaluate some things before we make our final decisions on the roster.''

Gordon, the second overall pick in the 2005 draft, will be on the 15-day disabled list with a broken right thumb he sustained March 6 during a headfirst slide into second base.

Fields, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox, has not played since March 27 because of a hip injury. He was hitless in 18 at-bats over his final five games, dropping his spring average to .157.

``Josh is not able to go on the field right now,'' Hillman said.

Callaspo has not played since March 25 with what Hillman called an ``irritation in his right side,'' which occurred during batting practice.

He played five innings in a minor league Thursday, but the switch-hitting Callaspo swung only right-handed and has yet to take batting practice swing left-handed. Callaspo said he could not remember the last time he batted righty against a right-handed pitcher.

The Tigers start hard-throwing right-hander Justin Verlander on Monday at Kauffman Stadium.

``We'll base the next move on how his body feels,'' Hillman said of Callaspo. ``He's doing everything except left-handed swinging.''

In other news, it appears likely that right-hander Gil Meche will also open the season on the disabled list because of shoulder tightness.

Meche threw 69 pitches in 3 2-3 innings in a minor league game Thursday, and is scheduled to throw about 85 pitches Tuesday in another minor league game in Arizona. If he has no setbacks, the Royals could start him April 11 against Boston.

By backdating Meche on the disabled list to the final 10 days of spring training, when he did not appear in a big league game, that would buy the Royals five games into the season for an extra roster spot before activating him.

``At this time anything is possible,'' Hillman said. ``This spring has been more hectic. We've got more difficult decisions to make later. Obviously, we've had some interesting things happen we didn't want to have happen with the injuries.''

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the spring had nothing to do with injuries.

When outfielder Brian Anderson was told he was going to the minors, the 28-year-old told the Royals that he wanted to try pitching. The 28-year-old former first-round draft pick hit .227 with 22 homers in 355 big league games.

He last pitched as a junior at Arizona in 2003, where he has a 5.40 ERA in 17 games.

``Brian has elected to become a pitcher,'' Hillman said. ``I'm not sure how that process is going to go, but it's got to start at the very bottom. We're milling through that right now. He's committed to making a go of it, so that's what we're going to do.''

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