Reliever John Grabow and several other Pirates who ended the 2007 season with injuries all appear to be mending in plenty of time to be ready for spring training.

And none of them, so far, has gone under the scalpel.

Grabow was the most likely to have surgery, having scheduled an appointment a week after the season to have his long-nagging left elbow examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Los Angeles Angels' team physician. But the elbow was cleared, and Grabow was told to simply rest and has improved to the point that he is scheduled to begin throwing Saturday.

"The elbow is fine," Grabow said.

First baseman Adam LaRoche and outfielders Jason Bay and Xavier Nady also report healing well.

LaRoche was slowed from May until season's end by swelling under his left kneecap, and he had considered minor cleanup surgery. But he has gone six weeks with no swelling and, for now, has passed on the procedure. Surgery has not been ruled out but, even if it happens, he is not expected to miss any of spring training.

Bay missed the final week of the season to tendinitis in his right knee, a condition that worsened as the season wore on. But rest and some early rehabilitation have the knee feeling "great," Bay said, and should be "no issue at all" by the spring.

Nady had all kinds of woes in 2007, from a digestive ailment to a concussion from being beaned to the most troublesome of all, the strained left hamstring that cost him three stretches of inactivity.

But none of the above seems to be troubling him now.

"No problems at all, if you can believe it," Nady said. "Everything is outstanding."

That includes the hamstring, which Nady said has recovered to the point he can move without difficulty. Still, he added, he plans to pay extra attention to improving the hamstring's strength and flexibility in offseason workouts.

The only member of the Pirates' main roster recovering from surgery, second baseman Freddy Sanchez, also reports doing well. Sanchez, who had an arthroscopic cleanup of the cuff in late September, is on schedule to be fully mended by early December. He is planning a rigorous offseason of workouts.

NOTES -- Expect the Pirates to announce their hitting coach in the coming week. The top candidates are believed to be Don Long, the Philadelphia Phillies' minor-league hitting coordinator, and Gregg Ritchie, who holds that post with the Pirates. The other vacancy, for first base coach, could take longer to fill. ... The spring exhibition schedule also should be released this week. ... Former Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh was nominated by a new 16-member Veterans Committee for enshrinement into the Hall of Fame. Every other year a list of 10 managers and umpires will be determined and voted on for entry into the Hall. A candidate must receive 75 percent of the vote to be elected.