Barry Bonds left yesterday's game with slight strain of his right hamstring. He incurred the injury during the final week of Spring Training and aggravated it last night. Bonds should be able to continue playing with the injury, taking an occasional off-day as he did on April 7th.

Even if he doesn't re-injure the leg, it will probably be thirty days before he's 100 percent again. The leg would be able to heal faster with rest; the process will be delayed with regular play. For the time being, it shouldn't affect his swing, only activities requiring running. However, there is some danger that he will continue to periodically aggravate the injury as he did on Sunday while he tries to play through this, and he could incur further damage that would force him to spend time on the DL.

On Friday, Charles Johnson has irritated the sprained left thumb that caused him to start the season on the disabled list. Due to the constant bombardment the injury receives when Johnson is catching it has been slow to heal. He sat out both Saturday and Sunday and the Marlins have an off day today, but he expects to play on Tuesday. Florida doesn't currently believe he'll need to head back to the disabled list, but he may receive more rest days than he normally would and this may happen again.

The team is already carrying three catchers, Johnson, Mike Redmond, and Ramon Castro, so they don't need to worry about sending him down in order to add another backstop to the roster. Castro is out options, and although they have sneaked him through waivers last year, the Marlins aren't eager to risk losing him now. If they can't work out a trade, they may even carry three catchers all year when everyone is healthy.

I normally disapprove of carrying more than two catchers as the generally weak offensive players usually limit your options. A team is almost always better off with another utility player, pinch hitter, or even another arm in the bullpen. However, Castro is capable of starting for many major league teams and it would be a crime to let him go without compensation. I believe Charles Johnson has a no trade clause, or I would recommend that Florida look into trading Johnson instead of Castro.

Cubs' catcher Todd Hundley is also having troubles with his left thumb. Hundley bruised the thumb during the first week of the season and then dislocated the top portion during Saturday's game. He had to leave the game on Saturday but maintains that he can handle the pain in the future with the aid of some added protection in his glove without needing to spend any time on the DL.

Chicago plans to rest him for a few days and then re-evaluate the situation. The Cubs are also currently carrying three catchers with Hundley, Joe Girardi, and Robert Machado. They fear that if they try to send Machado down they will lose him on waivers and they like him quite a bit. Also, with two somewhat injury prone catchers, they don't want to risk losing their injury insurance. Therefore they may decide to be cautious with Hundley and place him on the DL in order to call up someone else without having to waive Machado.

I do not think that Machado deserves protection similar to Castro. He's no better than a replacement level back-up catcher, and while he plays relatively good defense, he doesn't have the offensive skills or positional flexibility to allow him to be an asset in other ways like the Cardinals' Eli Marrero. (Although St. Louis shouldn't be carrying more than two catchers either; they should just dump Mike DiFelice.) If Chicago really wants to hold onto Machado they should trade Joe Girardi, a 38-year-old 2002 free agent who the Cubs should not re-sign.

Sean Casey spent 5 minutes on the ground Saturday night before wobbling off the field to the hospital after he was hit in the head while batting with a Robert Person pitch. He was knocked unconscious for a couple minutes when the pitch hit him on the helmet near his ear.

In addition to a concussion, Casey had to have his ear drained and a nearby cut closed with stitches. However, the first baseman is reportedly impatient to return to active duty and might have played on Sunday despite only three hours of sleep if he had been able to fit a helmet over the bandage on his ear.

On Sunday, Jeff Cirillo was also hit in the head by a ball. In Cirillo's case he was standing to the left of the batting cage during BP when a ball that bounced off the pitchers' protective screen and hit him. He reportedly lay on the ground for several minutes. However, he was merely treated for a cut by his ear and did not visit the hospital. His injury is much less serious than Casey's, and while he missed yesterday's game, he should be fine for Monday.