Surgery to Sideline Matsui

Houston Astros second baseman Kazuo Matsui, will start the 2008 campaign on the disabled list after having surgery on Monday to repair an anal fissure.

Since it is spring training, the Astros will wait until the season opener, March 31 against the San Diego Padres, to put Matsui on the disabled list. His recovery time has been quoted by doctors to be two-to-three weeks.

Mark Loretta and Geoff Blum will take over for Matsui until he comes back, but it's Loretta who will see the bulk of the playing time at second base. As of Monday, Loretta is batting .324 with nine RBI and 11 runs.

Matusi was signed in December of 2007 from the National League Champion Colorado Rockies to replace Astros icon, Craig Biggio. Matsui batted .288 last year with 84 runs scored and 32 stolen bases. Along with Michael Bourn, the two speedsters are expected to wreck havoc on opposing Natinal League catchers on the base paths.