Friday six-pack: Panda rehabs, Allen Craig cleans up

? Pablo Sandoval will begin a rehab assignment on Friday at Single-A San Jose, two days after a rather impressive performance in BP. The tentative Panda plan involves 20-30 minor league at-bats ? initially in San Jose, then Triple-A Fresno ? before he's reevaluated, hopefully returning to the Giants next week. Sandoval is recovering from a fractured hamate bone in his right hand, and we usually worry about power recovery in these situations. He was hitting .313/.374/.530 when injured.

? The news is slightly less encouraging for another broken third baseman: Pedro Alvarez (quadriceps) is hitting in extended spring action, but he needs a courtesy runner beyond first base. Of course he wasn't traveling more than 90 feet all that often prior to the injury (eight extra-base hits in 125 at-bats), so maybe this isn't a huge problem. In any case, it doesn't sound like Alvarez is particularly close to returning.

? Cameron Maybin's MRI revealed no structural damage in his ailing right knee, so there's reason to believe his DL stint won't last too long. I'm probably the last remaining fantasy manager who can't get enough Maybin updates, so let's just move on...

? Allen Craig has occupied nearly every spot in the batting order for St. Louis this season, and he was hitting clean-up on Thursday. He delivered yet another multi-hit game, his seventh since May 19, and reached base four times. Craig, of course, has been so thoroughly hyped by Evans already that no one else needs to cover the story. Just thought I'd point out that he's eligible at second base in Yahoo! leagues, he's only 17 percent owned, and his OPS is now .971.

In the minors, Craig was a steady 20-plus homer guy, and his career line was .308/.369/.517. So he can hit a little. He's had crazy luck on balls-in-play thus far (.395 BABIP) without hitting an unusual number of line drives (15.0 LD percentage), so the .347 average probably isn't sustainable. But his power is real, and you can't argue with the lineup position at the moment.

? Colorado outfield prospect Charlie Blackmon, 24, has a 20-game hitting streak at Triple-A, raising his season average to .346. Blackmon is reaching base at a .404 clip, he's stolen 12 bases, and he's homered 10 times. Not such a bad year. The Rox don't really have a shortage of toolsy outfielders right now, however, so Blackmon's path to the big leagues is cluttered.

? So this discussion thread on Brett Lawrie over at the Fantasy Cafe represents everything that's right about message boards in America. So good. Somewhere in that thread, they link to an excellent scouting report on Lawrie, written by John Sickels. Key quote:

Based on his track record, and what I saw Sunday afternoon, I am convinced that Brett Lawrie has everything needed to be a superstar. The only things that could get in the way are injuries or his own personality.

And then Sickels offers a pile of great supporting details. Good stuff.

? Bonus bullet: Give a listen to this fine interview with Roy Halladay, conducted by RotoWire's Chris Liss and Dalton Del Don. Apparently, Doc is an Uggla fan. We might just need to get him in the Friends & Family League, so I can unload my under-performing second baseman.

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Photos via US Presswire

Minka Kelly Carol Grow Erika Christensen Emilie de Ravin Tara Reed