SARASOTA, Fla. -- Ken Griffey Jr. was in the Cincinnati Reds' lineup for the first time Saturday, giving him little more than a week to learn a new position and get ready for opening day.
Griffey broke his left hand while wrestling with his children in December and has been limited to taking batting practice and catching fly balls during workouts. With only eight exhibition games left in spring training, he told manager Jerry Narron on Saturday that he felt good enough to play.
"I asked him if he was ready," Narron said. "He said he was ready."
Narron had indicated earlier that if Griffey didn't play this week, he could be headed for the disabled list.
The 37-year-old outfielder is moving to right field for the first time at the team's request. Narron plans to use Ryan Freel, who is faster than Griffey, in center field. Narron thinks Griffey will have an easy time making the adjustment.
"I've never been an outfielder, so I really can't say, but if you can play, you can play," Narron said.
Griffey has declined to talk about his injury or the position change this spring, other than to make it clear that it wasn't his idea to move to right field.
Since coming to his hometown team for the 2000 season, Griffey has been limited by a series of severe injuries. He's been on the disabled list eight times with the Reds.
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