Pirates’ Sanchez might go on DL

National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez may begin this season in the same place he was on opening day last year: on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bench.

Sanchez, out since March 6 because of a sprained ligament in his right knee, isn’t ready to play and the Pirates are weighing whether he should go on the disabled list, even if it is for only a week.

“I don’t know,” the second baseman said Sunday. “There’s no timetable, none at all. We have to wait and see what happens.”

Sanchez is hitting, but can’t run the bases at full speed.

If he can run the bases by the middle of the week, he might have time to be ready for the opener April 2 at Houston.

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After a tumultuous 2006 marked by off-the-field problems, Dmitri Young found out he’ll be the starting first baseman for the Washington Nationals on opening day because his chief remaining competition, Travis Lee, asked for and was granted his release.

In the span of one calendar year, Young faced an assault charge, was treated for alcoholism and depression, went through a divorce and was hospitalized for diabetes. He also was cut by the Detroit Tigers with less than a month left in the regular season.

Now, he’ll fill in for Nick Johnson, the Nationals’ first baseman who’s expected to miss at least the first two months of the season while recovering from a broken leg.

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St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds took a big step toward being ready for opening day by playing in his first spring training game.

Edmonds walked and grounded out in a 6-5 loss to Baltimore. An eight-time Gold Glove winner, Edmonds has spent the spring recovering from off-season shoulder and toe surgeries.