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player ready...Third baseman Gary Scott was sent down to make room for Jerome Walton, who went on the disabled list just before the season opener with a strained groin. Walton was upset when he went on the DL and is upset now that he is back. He believes the Cubs have broken their word to him. When Walton came in to spring training, he was told he would be the starting center-fielder and leadoff man. Then the Cubs traded for center-fielder Sammy Sosa and told Walton he would play left. And then they called up Derrick May and told Walton he would have to share playing time in left.
”I`m really upset,” Walton said. ”You can`t believe anything they say. I`m not really angry, it`s just a matter of being able to relax. You`ve got to be relaxed to hit and I can`t be relaxed when I know I have to get a hit every time up to keep my job. It`s just like it was last year.”
Walton was the starting center-fielder early last year, but lost his job and would up only starting 59 games. He hit .219.
– Manager Jim Lefebvre, who usually goes out of his way to avoid criticizing the previous Cubs regime, wondered out loud whether Scott might have been rushed to the majors too quickly last season. Scott played in only 185 minor- league games-all in Class A and Double-A-before making the Cubs last year. When he got off to a poor start, he went to Triple-A Iowa and played 63 games. He hit only .208 there. So, in 108 games at the Triple-A and major-league level, Scott has a career average of .161 (50 for 361).
– Scott won`t mention it, but he hasn`t been the same since he was struck down by a severe stomach virus during spring training. He had to be hospitalized overnight, missed a road trip and lost eight pounds. Before he came down with the bug, Scott was 11 for 34 (.324) with two doubles, two homers and five RBI through 13 games. In 21 games since then-eight spring training and 13 regular season-he was 10 for 69 (.145) with two doubles and one home run.