ST. PETERSBURG - He can play leftfield. He can play rightfield. He can play first base. He can catch.
The only problem Robert Fick might have is finding a place to play every day. Actually, that might be the Rays' problem. With the way Fick is swinging the bat, the Rays might get creative to get him as many at-bats as possible this season.
"It's just a question of how do we get his bat in the lineup," manager Lou Piniella said. "We'll figure that out as the year goes on. "We can move him around a little bit," he said. "He helps us offensively when he is in the lineup, no question."
Fick tied Jose Cruz for the team lead in spring homers by hitting his third in Saturday's 6-4 victory against the Reds at Progress Energy Park. He also tied Cruz for the team lead in RBIs with eight.
By going 1-for-2, Fick improved his average to .367 (11-for-30).
Too bad Fick can't play third. Then again, things are complicated enough at third. The plan before spring was to have a platoon of Damian Rolls and Geoff Blum. But Blum has had a slow spring, hitting .208 (5-for-24). Rolls, though, is leading the team with a .424 average (14-for-33).
Though a right-hander started for the Reds on Saturday, the right-handed-hitting Rolls was in the lineup.
"Just look at the spring training numbers," Piniella said, "and go strictly on that, he's the third baseman when we open the season in Japan. But I don't know if we're going to go strictly by the numbers. After a couple of sakes, we'll find out."
GAME DETAILS: With their eighth victory of the spring, the Rays matched the total from last year when they went 8-19-3. Fick and Carl Crawford each hit two-run homers in the second to give the Rays a 4-0 lead.
The Reds rallied to tie off starter Jeremi Gonzalez, but the Rays added a run in the sixth on a Brook Fordyce ground out and another in the seventh on Rocco Baldelli's run-scoring triple.
ON THE MOUND: Gonzalez gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings but said he was pleased with his effort.
Piniella said, however: "Gonzalez is still not as sharp as you want to see him. We need to get him a little sharper."
Rays relievers pitched well. Chad Gaudin pitched a scoreless inning and has allowed no runs and two hits in five spring innings. John Halama, Todd Jones and Danys Baez also pitched one scoreless inning each.
BIG TIMER: Rays pitcher Victor Zambrano blew away minor-league competition on Saturday. Pitching for Durham against Syracuse, Zambrano allowed two hits, no runs and struck out 11 in six innings.
PACKING THEM IN: If spring attendance is any indication, Rays fans might be twice as optimistic about this year's team as they were about last year's.
Through seven home games, the Rays have drawn 32,341. That's nearly double last year's attendance through seven: 19,943.
ON THE MEND: Pitcher Todd Ritchie, who signed a minor-league deal while recovering from rotator cuff surgery, continues to throw and get stronger.
"Everything feels great," Ritchie said. "There's no pain, and it feels stronger every time out. I think I'm right on schedule."
If all goes well, Ritchie will throw live batting practice this week. General manager Chuck LaMar said the plan is to move slow with Ritchie, who pitched five games for Milwaukee before missing the rest of the season. Ritchie, 32, won 15 for the Pirates in 1999 and is 43-52 in his major-league career.
SAFETY FIRST: Officials from MLB Security, on their annual tour through the spring training sites, met with the Rays and talked about personal security, including how to avoid identity theft and safety.
