Spring headlines: Jim Thome scheduled to play — oh, boy — defense ()

Baseball is back! Here at Big League Stew, we'll take a quick dash around the league each morning in an attempt to keep you updated on all the springtime story lines. • The Philadelphia Phillies have warned us all spring it would happen. On Monday, we'll see the plan in action. Jim Thome, at 41 years old, who has played in the field a grand total of eight innings and one batter since 2006, will play four or five innings at first base in a minor league Grapefruit League. Reporter Ryan Lawrence of the Delaware County Times writes that Thome will work his way up to major league exhibitions later this month. Thome's chronic back problems, along with being in the American League where they use a designated hitter, have limited his opportunities on defense. But Thome is game to help the Phils at first while slugger Ryan Howard continues to recover from his Achilles' tendon surgery. "We've been doing our work. That's no worries there, just have to continue to try to make improvement. Any time you haven't done something in 6 or 7 years, you know there are going to be those steps you have to take to get where you wan to get. We've been trying to do that, and its been great." • It doesn't sound so bad once you read the details — that David Wright is heading back to New York to get a cortisone shot in his ribcage . But when you think "Mets" and "injury" and "medical staff" and " getting on an airplane ," it does give you pause.