Wang will go on DL

With Chien-Ming Wang headed to the disabled list, Carl Pavano could end up being the Yankees' Opening Day starter.

Wang, a 19-game winner last year and runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award, will begin the season on the DL with a right hamstring injury. He is expected to be sidelined at least a month.

Andy Pettitte has been bothered by back spasms and the Yankees don't want to rearrange Mike Mussina's schedule late in spring training, so the oft-injured Pavano appears to be the most likely candidate to pitch April 2 against the Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium.

It would be his first major league outing since June 2005.

Manager Joe Torre said the Opening Day assignment would probably go to Pavano, Kei Igawa, or Jeff Karstens.

Marlins right fielder Jeremy Hermida might miss Opening Day because of a deep bone bruise on his right knee. Hermida fouled a ball off the knee March 17 . . . At Lakeland, Fla., Tigers shortstop Carlos Guillen limped off the field against the Braves with a bruised shin but expects to be out for only one game . . . According to manager Manny Acta, the Nationals' No. 1 starter, John Patterson, "kind of passed out" after shagging flies in Viera, Fla. The club said Patterson complained of dehydration and was given intravenous fluids -- but he is expected to make his next start . . . Angels righthander Kelvim Escobar left an 11-1 loss to Colorado in Tempe, Ariz., after straining his back.

Ken Griffey (hand) made his long-awaited spring training debut, singling in his first at-bat, later doubling, and making two routine plays in his new position of right field during the Reds' 7-0 victory over the Phillies at Sarasota, Fla. . . . In Tucson, the Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson (back) looked strong while throwing 33 pitches in his first game action since having surgery at the end of last season. Johnson went two innings of a "B" game against the White Sox . . . White Sox rookie John Danks got word from manager Ozzie Guillen he's won the job as Chicago's fifth starter . . . The Royals optioned shortstop Angel Berroa, the 2003 AL Rookie of the Year, to Triple A Omaha. The demotion came one day after the Royals acquired shortstop Tony Pena Jr. from the Braves . . . Bobby Murcer's brain tumor is "clear," and the Yankees broadcaster will begin experimental cancer treatments, the New York Daily News reported. Murcer had surgery Dec. 28 to remove the malignant tumor . . . Ed Bailey, an All-Star catcher with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1950s, died of cancer Friday in Knoxville at 75.