Caminiti key for Padres

Friday, March 28, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- From the time the San Diego Padres opened spring training last month, the defending National League West champions have been searching for answers.

Who would fill the role as the team's fifth starting pitcher? Who would win the starting job at second base? Would the team be able to unload outfielder Rickey Henderson?

But each of those questions paled in comparison to the big question: Would National League MVP Ken Caminiti recover from off-season shoulder surgery in time to start the season at third base?

The answer should come this weekend when the Padres play their final two spring games at Cashman Field. But if you go directly to the source, the answer is a resounding 'Yes.'

"I'm pretty sure I'm playing," Caminiti said prior to the Padres' final spring game Thursday at the Peoria Sports Complex. "I'm ready to play and I think Boch (Padres manager Bruce Bochy) is going to play me ... I think."

That Caminiti is even talking about opening the season in the Padres' lineup is somewhat of a minor miracle -- but then, so is what he accomplished last season while playing with a torn left rotator cuff.

Caminiti injured his shoulder diving for a ball last April in Houston, but went on to hit .326 and lead the Padres to the NL West title with a club-record 40 home runs and 130 RBIs -- and won his second Gold Glove in the process. Immediately after the Padres were eliminated from postseason play, Caminiti had his rotator cuff surgically repaired.

He was told by his doctors that rehabilitation would range from five to nine months, meaning he could have been out of action until the All-Star break. Even Caminiti is impressed with his rapid recovery.

"I'm real happy I'm this far along," he said. "You don't know what to expect. When they assessed (my recovery) between five and nine months, I said, 'No way, nine months; I'll be ready in five.' Then I started rehabbing and I said, 'Gosh, it might be nine months,' because it just seems like such a slow process.

"You can only do a certain amount of things so quick. I started thinking, 'Well, maybe it will take a long time,' and I started to get real frustrated and then all of a sudden it just started going along real good."

Although Caminiti has pronounced himself fit to start the season, the definitive word will come during a meeting of Caminiti's physicians and Padres front-office personnel this weekend. Caminiti said he can't understand the purpose of such a meeting.

"(They) just want to try to get a schedule and I just don't believe there is going to be any schedule," Caminiti said. "If I'm ready to play, I'll play; if I'm not, I can't. I've got to come in daily and say, 'Look, it's a little sore today, I might need a day off.' There's not going to be a schedule. They're just trying to get a game plan, I guess."

But knowing Caminiti's style, Bochy has said he wonders if Caminiti would tell him if he needed a day off. Caminiti's response was that his attitude has changed since the surgery.

"He knows I want to play but he knows I don't want to break my shoulder," Caminiti said of Bochy. "I'm not going to play just for this year, I'm trying to finish my career. I'm going to do everything I can to play every day. If I can't play every day, I'm just going to have to tell him."

While Caminiti has showed no ill-effects at the plate from his surgery -- he's hitting .325 with five home runs this spring -- the 33-year-old concedes he hasn't put his shoulder to the ultimate test by diving for a ball on defense. Caminiti said it is the final question he needs to answer.

"Yes, because now it's fixed and healing," he said. "Last year, it was broke and I didn't think I could hurt it any more. I didn't know what was wrong with me but I just figured it wasn't getting much worse.

"I've definitely taken it easy (this spring) -- definitely. But when the bell rings, I'm going to dive on it -- I mean I'm just going to try to be real careful. Put it this way, I'm not going to dive on it (but) I'm going to go after baseballs the way I have to."