Rodriguez, who wore No. 7 for most of his career with the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers, will wear No. 12 for the Astros in the regular season. He realizes in Houston, No. 7 is associated with Astros icon Craig Biggio, who was honored last season when his number was retired.

"Of course I love No. 7, but I respect that No. 7 here is untouchable," he said. "Craig Biggio used this number for years, and I respect that. But No. 12, I like that number. But it doesn't matter to me the number. Right now I just look forward to play and use whatever number on the back and do my best in the field."

Rodriguez wore No. 12 last year after he was traded to the New York Yankees. He'll wear No. 14 at the start of camp until hitting coach Sean Berry gives up No. 12.

--Berry has focused on the quality of the Astros' at-bats more than the awful batting averages that have been highlighted by manager Cecil Cooper.

"What difficulty do we have in hitting?" Berry said. At first, Berry pretended he didn't even bother looking at the club's batting averages.

"I'm kind of going more by at-bats that I'm seeing," he said. "We've been hitting a lot of balls hard. But, yeah, you're concerned when you're not getting hits all the time, sure. But this is a long spring. It's time to get going now. I tell you one thing that I haven't seen in a long time is how many balls we've hit hard and gotten nothing show for it."

--Cooper, a career .298 hitter and five-time American League All-Star, didn't need much instruction from hitting coaches while collecting 2,192 hits and 1,125 RBIs in his career.

"I'm seeing a lot of the same types of at-bats we're having," he said. "When you have at-bats and maybe you're not getting hits, you have to kind of fight a little bit in the at-bats. I don't see that level of intensity when you're in there and you're battling.

"Maybe people feel like they are, but from my point of view, it doesn't look that way. So it gets a little frustrating. It's got to be equally frustrating because I have to admit I didn't have too much frustration as a hitter, so it's equally frustrating for me to see it and watch it."

--Asking the court to consider that SS Miguel Tejada had "no prior contact with the criminal justice system," U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor recommended Federal Magistrate Judge Alan Kay give the All-Star probation in a memo filed March 19, a week before Tejada was scheduled to be sentenced.

--3B Geoff Blum, who originally had been scheduled to travel with the Astros to play the New York Mets on March 10, was kept behind at Osceola County Stadium because of back soreness. He returned to the lineup March 20 but played only five innings. He is not expected to play consecutive games for a while.

--1B Lance Berkman was never on Team USA's provisional roster for the World Baseball Classic, so he's not eligible to help the injury-ravaged club.

Nationals OF Adam Dunn committed a costly error when he had to play first for Team USA on March 18. Berkman would have considered joining teammates Roy Oswalt and LaTroy Hawkins for the semifinal round if he were eligible.

"It's a long flight for two or three ballgames," he said, "but I would have been sorely tempted, I can tell you that."

--Once SS Tommy Manzella and OF Brian Bogusevic were optioned back to Class AAA Round Rock on Friday, the Astros' race for the utility infielder's job became a two-man competition.

Barring injury or a trade, the utility infielder's job will go to Jason Smith or Edwin Maysonet. David Newhan and Matt Kata remain in camp, but they are longshots.

"In my mind right now it's a two-man race at this point," manager Cecil Cooper said. "I think the two guys have kind of separated themselves a little bit and primarily because they're both shortstops. Maysonet and Smitty, they're both shortstops. (Matt) Kata plays short, but I don't think he's where those two guys are."

--RHP Russ Ortiz, the front-runner for the fifth spot in the rotation, bounced back well from a poor outing with six scoreless innings against the Cincinnati Reds on March 20.

Six days after giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings, Ortiz held the Reds to one hit with two strikeouts over six innings at Osceola County Stadium.

"In this game you have to make adjustments," Ortiz said. "From last start to this start, the whole time in between I was just trying to make adjustments on the things that I needed to. I think most of it was just mental. Last game I was trying to fix things while trying to get major league hitters out. That's too hard to do. I was just working on the things I needed to and just going out there and just focusing on just attacking the zone."

--OF Jason Michaels, limited to pinch-hit and DH duties since March 17 because of discomfort in his left hamstring, expected to be cleared to play the field March 21.

"It's better," Michaels said. "I'll try to play a few innings and then progress from there."

--OF Hunter Pence, who hasn't played since suffering a strained left calf on March 17, was getting closer to a return to action.

"I feel strong, good, healthy and happy," he said March 20. "It feels like your body does on a normal everyday basis when you play every day. Just got to loosen up. That's all. Then you're fine. I'm ready to play. They're just being cautious."

--Franchise icon Craig Biggio is in camp as a special instructor.

BY THE NUMBERS: 19 -- Games between Grapefruit League victories by the Astros, who won their opener against the Nationals and then went 0-16-3 before beating the Reds on March 20.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I got a call from (former Astros manager Phil) Garner. He said, 'Hang in there.' It's always good to hear from him." -- Manager Cecil Cooper, on receiving encouragement during the team's slump.