By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Junior Griffey waits his turn at batting practice. (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

Barry Larkin talks with his son DeShane, 10. | ZOOM |

Luke Hudson waits his turn to throw. | ZOOM |

Jose Rijo takes a smoke break while he ices his arm Saturday. | ZOOM |

Dane Sardinha takes a break between pitches. | ZOOM |

SARASOTA, Fla. - Jerome Gamble and Blake Williams proved in the first week of spring training that they are healthy. They have the next five weeks to show they are ready for the big leagues.

Both Gamble, 22, and Williams, 24, are coming off ligament-replacement surgery in 2001. Last year was basically a rehab year. Neither the Red Sox (in Gamble's case) nor the Cardinals (in Williams' case) protected them from the Rule 5 draft.

The Reds took a flyer on both, paying $50,000 to claim them. The catch is they must remain on the big-league roster all year, or the Reds have to offer them back to their clubs for $25,000.

It's a big jump for both; neither has played above Single-A. But the fact they are healthy is a plus.

"Physically, they both look good," Reds pitching coach Don Gullett said. "They're throwing with great velocity. We have to see what they can do on the mound."

Both have impressive minor-league numbers. Gamble is 9-8 with a 2.86 ERA in five years. He has given up 165 hits and struck out 206 in 2041/3 innings.

Williams is 7-12 with a 2.23 ERA in three seasons. He has given up 104 hits and struck out 125 in 141 innings.

"They both have good arms," Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. "We'll be able to better evaluate them in mid-March."

The Reds' third Rule 5 pick, Luke Prokopec, will start the year on the disabled list after shoulder surgery.

BOOKER UPDATE: Chris Booker, a hard-throwing right-hander, is behind the other pitchers. He had shoulder surgery March 4.

"I'm three weeks away," he said. "It's hard to gauge right now, but I'm about 50 to 75 percent."

Booker stands out in one way from the other players: his ride. He drives a 1978 Monte Carlo.

"It's not one of those $50,000, $60,000 cars," he said. "I bought it in Cincinnati. I'm going to fix it up."

RELAXED RIJO: Jose Rijo's post-workout scheme Saturday included ice for his shoulder, a little sun and a big cigar.

"This is what you get when you throw 15 minutes of good batting practice," he said.

ROTATION: The Reds will use 15 pitchers in Wednesday's intrasquad game. Jose Acevedo, Williams, Gamble, Rijo, Luke Hudson, Brian Reith, Seth Etherton, Mark Watson, Josias Manzanillo, Felix Heredia, Kent Mercker, John Riedling, Chris Reitsma, Paul Wilson and Josh Hall will throw an inning apiece in a 7½ -inning game.

Ryan Dempster will start the exhibition opener against the New York Yankees in Tampa on Thursday.

Danny Graves will start Friday against Boston in Fort Myers. Wilson will start the home opener Saturday. Jimmy Haynes will start next Sunday against Pittsburgh.

Haynes was pushed back because of a little tenderness in his pitching elbow.

Because the Minor League Accelerated Program will play two games a day, the Reds have work for all the pitchers.

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com