Bronson Arroyo pitched 6 innings through pain (total) in a win over the Cardinals Thursday, but he may be forced to miss his next one.

A line drive by St. Louis center fielder Colby Rasmus struck the Cincinnati starter in his right leg. Arroyo’s next scheduled start is Tuesday against the Florida Marlins.

Travis Wood and off-season signing Aroldis Chapman are among the candidates to start if Arroyo cannot go.

Bronson Arroyo was impressive against St. Louis in the series finale. The right-hander from Key West went 8 innings, scattering 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 6. His only blemish was a solo home run allowed to All-Star Matt Holliday.

Arroyo flew under the radar last season. Normally a 15-13 record over 220 innings with an ERA solidly under 4 (3.84) would bring some recognition, but most are overlooking the veteran.

He proved his worth in the first start against a potent, albeit weakened, Cardinals lineup; Albert Pujols and Colby Rasmus were both held silent.

Arroyo is a big key to any hope for the Reds. A darkhorse favorite for a post-season run, Cincy will need more than Johnny Cueto and Aaron Harang (and maybe Aroldis Chapman).

If Bronson Arroyo keeps pitching anywhere close to his first game, the Reds will be a team that will at the least be a thorn in the side of many contenders.

The former “uber-prospect” from the Rangers minor league system was a major force to be reckoned with in his first full-season as a part of the Cincinnati Reds rotation. After getting moved from Texas to the Reds in the blockbuster deal in which he was traded for Josh Hamilton, Volquez tore up the NL central to the tune of a 3.21 ERA and just over 200 strikeouts.

Yet after amassing only 49 innings in 2009, his season was abruptly ended with Tommy John surgery. His road to recovery has been arduous, but if he’s healthy, the rewards could be astronomical.

Through all the bullpen sessions Volquez will be throwing until his eventual return, the Reds organization needs to not rush the 26-year-old.

According to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com, Volquez is on pace to return to the Reds in August. The Reds are, as usual, a dark-horse team to pull off the Wild Card in the National League. If Edinson is able to regain his dominating form for his team down the stretch, he could be the spark to push them into the post season.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Last year’s NL West champs have a bunch of guys fighting for a spot in the rotation. Eric Stults, Charlie Haeger and Carlos Monasterios all pitched in the spring opener, with James McDonald set to go later in the week. Monasterios is a Rule V pick, so if he doesn’t make the Dodgers big league club, he’ll be returned to Philadelphia which seems extremely likely. James McDonald is the odds on favorite to win the spot like he did last year. He promptly lost that spot last season, but with another year under his belt he may have turned a corner. Other things to keep in mind, here, are that both Stults and Haeger are out of options and would have to clear waivers to be assigned to the minors.

New York Yankees

Joba or Hughes. If you turn on ESPN and happen to catch some kind of baseball coverage, this is probably going to be brought up at least once. This battle is interesting for fantasy teams, because in most leagues, one will have good value and the other won’t have much. Keep an eye on this one.

Chicago Cubs

This battle is for both the fourth and fifth starting spots to start the year, due to Ted Lilly’s shoulder/knee/flu/fever problems early this spring. The candidates are Carlos Silva, Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, and with a very outside chance, Andrew Cashner. The pitcher that should win this is Gorzelanny. The Cubs will likely need a few starts to fill in for Lilly and Marshall or Silva could probably fill in there. Tom Gorzelanny has the ability to be a good starting pitcher in the major leagues. As long as his velocity and location is sharp, he could even be a fantasy sleeper.

St. Louis Cardinals

Ryan McClellan, Jaime Garcia, and Rich Hill are the major candidates. Hill comes with former success in the bigs with the Cubs. If he can find his control again, he’s an absolutely nasty pitcher who has the potential to be a #3 starter. McClellan will try to make the conversion from relieving to starting this season. There is no clear favorite here since all have major question marks. Jaime Garcia has battled injuries, but was a highly touted minor leaguer. He could surprise some people this year.

Cincinnati Reds

The candidates are Mike Lincoln, Micah Owings, Matt Maloney, Justin Lehr and Travis Wood, as well as Aroldis Chapman who has an uphill battle to break camp with the Reds. You’d have to think Owings has the edge here, due to his past success. His ability to swing the bat doesn’t hurt, either. If Chapman does end up winning the battle, look for him to be a good source of strikeouts for your fantasy team.

Oakland Athletics

All of the candidates here have had major league experience despite all being under 24 years old. Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro are the candidates. The edge as of now looks to be with Cahill, although in his Cactus League opener, he struggled. As is the A’s M.O., whoever breaks camp with the team likely won’t pitch all season long in an effort to monitor their innings pitched closely. All three of these pitchers will probably see time in the major leagues next season.

There are plenty of other fifth starter battles in the big leagues, but these seem to be the most interesting and have fantasy value in deep leagues. Keep an eye on these six teams as March moves forward.

Orlando Hudson is the newly-signed Twin; A second baseman with a very inflated defensive reputation.

Orlando Cabrera is the 35-year-old shortstop who has also been recently signed by a new team: The Cincinnati Reds. He is also the proud owner of a top-of-the-line defensive reputation.

I’m here to break (or at least put a very large dent) in the myth that ties these two players together. These infielders are no longer quality defensive players.

Back when Hudson was playing up in Toronto in 2004 and 2005, he was a fantastic defensive player. Since those days, Hudson has lost a large amount of range while steadily and consistently becoming a sub-par defender at second base.

According to UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating), this Orlando was 3.3 runs below average in 2009; He was 5.1 runs below average in 2008 to top things off. Whether this drop-off was due to his increasing age or increasing injuries, it remains a fact that Hudson is a far-cry from his former self in the field. His reputation as a sterling defender is long overdue for a change.

Hudson is a slightly above average offensive second basemen, and this remains true, but Twin fans better not be expecting a stud in the field as well.

On to the other Orlando. This one is the former World Series champion who is joining the 6th team in his career with the Reds. Cabrera has been a consistently sub-par offensive player the past 2 seasons, posting an identical .705 OPS in 2008 and 2009. His abysmal .316 On-base percentage leaves much to be desired, but as far as shortstops go, you can accept his middling offensive game.

Up until 2009, Orlando had remained a talented defensive shortstop (albeit an inconsistent one). In 2009 however, Cabrera made a drastic switch, and became arguably the worst defender at the position in all of Major League Baseball.

“O.C.” was 15.3 runs below average this past season, which is absolutely disgusting.

Red fans had better hope his massive defensive shortcomings in 2009 were an aberration instead of what the future holds. Because while Orlando Hudson brings better than average offense, Cabrera brings relatively nothing at the plate (outside of an 8-hole offensive player). If Cabrera’s defense doesn’t make a huge recovery in 2010, he will be massively hurting his new-found team.

Cabrera doesn’t produce enough at the plate to make up for anything less than sterling defense. Thank God that Dusty Baker doesn’t believe in patience or players drawing walks, because he’ll now fall madly in love with this Orlando.

Key losses- Rich Harden, Milton Bradley, Kevin Gregg, Aaron Miles, Aaron Heilman. Jake Fox

Key additions- Carlos Silva, Marlon Byrd, John Grabow (re-signed)

Off-season grade- C

Justification- Considering the circumstances I think the Cubs have come out okay this off-season. Getting Silva for Bradley hurts, but getting $9 million from Seattle and getting Marlon Byrd to a reasonable contract helps soften the blow. The pitching staff took a hit with the loss of Rich Harden. The Cubs didn’t need a complete overhaul considering the core from the 2008 team is still in place. Marlon Byrd allows Fukudome to go back to right field where he becomes an above average right fielder. This grade could improve if/when they sign a platoon partner for Kosuke and another pitcher.

St Louis Cardinals

Key losses- Joel Piniero, Mark DeRosa, Troy Glaus, Khalil Greene

Key additions- Matt Holliday (Re-signed), Brad Penny

Off-season grade- B

Justification- Anytime you can get a player of Holliday’s caliber below market value you have had a good off-season.  There is a slight drop-off from Piniero to Penny. The loss of DeRosa creates a hole at third base. That being said the Cardinals look to be the favorites in the NL Central this season.

Cincinnati Reds

Key losses- Jonny Gomes

Key additions- Scott Rolen (Re-signed) and Aroldis Chapman

Off-season grade- C

Justification- The Scott Rolen deal is a nice pickup for them. He is still a solid defensive third baseman, which should help out their young pitching staff. The Aroldis Chapman signing is a good move for the future, but will probably not provide much for the 2010 season.

Milwaukee Brewers

Key losses- Mike Cameron, JJ Hardy

Key additions- Carlos Gomez, Randy Wolf, LaTroy Hawkins

Off-season grade- C

Justification- Randy Wolf is a solid addition to the Brewers staff. However, the loss of Cameron negates the signing of Wolf. LaTroy Hawkins provides a decent arm for the bullpen even if they did overpay.

Houston Astros

Key losses- Miguel Tejada, LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Valverde

Key additions- Brandon Lyon, Matt Lindstrom, Pedro Feliz

Off-season grade- D

Justification- The acquisition of Lindstrom is a nice low risk/high reward trade. The problem is that they overpaid for Brandon Lyon. An average of $5 million a year for a middle reliever is never a good idea. I also question the logic of spending money on Feliz in a year they are not expected to contend.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Key losses- Matt Capps

Key additions- Bobby Crosby, D.J. Carrasco, Brendan Donnelly, Ryan Church, Akinori Iwamura, Octavio Dotel

Off-season grade- C

Justification- They didn’t make any splashy moves, but I consider these low risk moves. I don’t expect them to contend for a division title in 2010, but this team looks better than it did at the end of 2009. They did a good job of improving the bullpen this off-season. This team should improve enough that more people should start paying attention to the team and I think that should count for something.

Everyone knows about the hype and the arm. Let’s see how he does this year.

2) Yonder Alonzo-1b

Big hitting first basemen. I don’t know what they’re gonna do with him with Joey Votto around. So your guess is as good as mine at this point. I don’t think he has the athleticism to play the outfield.

3) Mike Leake-SP

Real tough right hander and I thought it was an outstanding pick last year. He’s tough as nails and has better than average stuff. Could be a middle of the rotation guy in 2011.

4) Todd Frazier-Everywhere

He’s basically Mark DeRosa right now. Good bat, and can play a variety of positions although he doesn’t play really any of them at a gold glove level.

5) Brad Boxberger-SP/RP

I like him as more of a reliever. He’s got the arm, but lacks the command.

6) Juan Francisco-3B

He can absolutely mash. Reminds me alot of Alfonso Soriano without the speed. He swings at to many pitches out of the zone to remain a consistent weapon.

7) Chris Heisey-OF

Does a ton of things right. I don’t think he’s going to be an all star, but should be a serviceable major leaguer.

8) Billy Hamilton-SS

Needs a ton of time to develop offensively. I like his glove a ton.

9) Matt Maloney-SP

More of a back end starter as he lacks the overall stuff. I think he could develop his secondary stuff a little more to be effective.

10) Donnie Joseph-CP

I think this is the closer of the future.  Big arm and lots of K’s. Smells like closer potential.

Chapman, a Cuban defector, can reportedly hit triple digits on the gun with his fastball. The 22 year old lefty will likely start in the minors, but could taste his first Major League action later this season.