McGwire’s Return Won’t Be Until June

Mark McGwire’s workout routine is becoming more visible, but that doesn’t mean his return to the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup is imminent.

McGwire, 37, began taking ground balls last week, while the team was on the road. He took batting practice indoors and he performed agility drills on Tuesday.

Still, the earliest the Cardinals expect him back is next month. Although he was eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list last week, there are no plans to activate him any time soon.

“We’re just hoping for June,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “When we were gone, he came to the park every day and did stuff. It’s careful.”

The team’s training staff is wary of McGwire, who has been on the disabled list since April 18, cutting loose in competition. McGwire has been working on strengthening the muscles around his surgically repaired right knee.

McGwire played in only six games, going two for 21 with one home run, before being sidelined because of soreness in the knee.

He’s seventh on the all-time home run list with 555, eight behind Reggie Jackson.

John Vukovich, the Philadelphia Phillie third base coach, underwent surgery to remove part of a benign tumor from his head.

Doctors called the operation a success and said the 53-year-old coach could be back at work in two or three weeks.

“He’s cancer free,” said David Andrews, a neurologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital who performed the 90-minute operation.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ Vinny Castilla was benched again Tuesday, this time after failing to hit behind a runner in a tie game.

Fred McGriff’s eighth-inning homer gave the Devil Rays a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. But apparently it was Castilla’s inability to advance McGriff from second base with no outs in the sixth that prompted Manager Hal McRae to take the third baseman out of the lineup.

McRae, who met with Castilla afterward, declined to say what was discussed or why he made the move. McRae did say that Castilla, who asked to be traded or released after former manager Larry Rothschild benched him last month, will not be in the lineup today.

Houston Astro pitcher Jose Lima plans to have the players’ association drop the appeal of his five-game suspension for hitting New York Met outfielder Jay Payton in a game last week.

The Mets placed Payton on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. . . . Arizona Diamondback right-hander Armando Reynoso was scratched from his next scheduled start after an injection to reduce inflammation in the back of his right shoulder. . . . Pitching coach Dave Smith returned to the San Diego Padres after being treated for alcoholism. Smith, 46, was gone for about 11 weeks. The Padres also activated Tony Gwynn and left-handed reliever Kevin Walker from the disabled list.