DaytonDailyNews.com

SARASOTA, Fla. — For Jerry Gil, it almost is a celebratory return after missing baseball for nealry a year. Jerry who?

Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker notices Gil and talked about the 25-year-old infielder/outfielder even before he crushed a three-run homer Thursday in Ed Smith Stadium during a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Gil missed all but five games last season after Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery on May 8. In less than a week, he has made Baker take notice as a possible utility player with two hits Wednesday against the Phillies and Thursday's homer.

"He can play any place," said Baker. "It is rare a kid can play shorstop AND the outfield I tell him to go (from outfield) to shortstop or third base and he just says, 'Throw me my other glove.'

"He can run and he can throw," said Baker. Throw? Gil said he once stood at home plate and won a bet by throwing the ball over the center field scoreboard."

Gil was not ecstatic afterward. He tried to beat out an infield hit and strained his left quadriceps and won't play today.

"What ticks me off is that I work so hard every winter in the Dominican and I get hurt every spring. Unbelievable. I'm hoping for a mircale, that I wake up (today) and it'll be OK.

Said Baker, "The young man has big-time skills. He won't play (today) because we can't take a chance with a guy who can play so many positions."

On the pitching front, starter Matt Belisle pitched two scoreless innings (three hits). rotation candidate Josh Fogg pitched two scoreless innings (one hit, two strikeouts) and closer Francisco Cordero made hlis Reds debut with a 1-2-3 inning, "And we almost had a shutout," said Baker. "We didn't walk anbody, a beautiful thing, I loved all the strike ones on the first pitch."

Judge and jury

Manager Dusty Baker watched a batting practice session in silence for a while, then piped up with, "OK, guys. Seven swings each (Paul Bako, Juan Castro, Jay Bruce, Joey Votto). Let's see how many hits you can get in seven swings. If you can't get any hits in practice, you won't get any in the game."

Then he stood as judge and jury as each batter swung: "One for one, two for two, two for three, three for four, three for five," he said as each batter connected.

Put me in, coach

Ken Griffey Jr. walked into Baker's office Thursday morning after he saw his name wasn't on the lineup card.

"I'm ready to play," he told Baker. "I came in today ready to play."

Baker laughed when he retold the story and said, "He wanted to know why he wasn't playing? I told him, 'One more day, dude.'"

Baker already had told the media that Griffey and Dunn wouldn't play until today's home game against Tampa Bay.

Asked about Griffey's hitting, Baker said, "I'm not ever going to worry about Griffey's hitting. He'll hit forever. All that matters is his legs. I just want to make sure both he and Dunn have their legs."

Covering up

Third-base coach Mark Berry is wearing a batting helmet when he is in the coach's box, a new rule implemented after minor-league coach Mike Coolbaugh was killed by a foul ball last year.

"Do I like it? No," said Berry. "But a rule is a rule. It's just uncomfortable and feels bizarre."

Berry said he has coached third base at different times for 11 years, "And I've only been hit twice, both times on the leg. Rich Aurilia hit me in the left leg in Chicago two years ago and I was on crutches for a week. The other time was 1993, the other leg, in Class A Winston-Salem when I was smoked by Eric Owens."

Interest in Keppinger

One American League scout, realizing that Jeff Keppinger is out of options, was interested to learn that Keppinger plays not only the infield, burt the outfield — and got to see it when Keppinger moved from shortstop to left field in the eighth inning Thursday.

Quote of the day

Ken Griffey Jr. on Thursday's 42-degree morning: "You know it's cold out when your Canadian teammate (Joey Votto) walks in bundled up in a parka with the hood up."