LEXINGTON ? While the current Kentucky baseball team has jumped out to a perfect 3-0 start, four former Wildcats are just about to begin their 2006 season as Major League Spring Training gets underway this week in Florida and Arizona.

Three of the players, pitchers Joe Blanton, Brandon Webb and Scott Downs, reported over the weekend while second baseman Andy Green officially gets to work on Tuesday.

The 2005 season was a banner year for UK alums on the diamond. Blanton earned a starting spot in the Oakland A?s rotation and excelled, winning 12 games while posting a 3.53 earned-run average. He broke Oakland rookie records for starts with 33 and innings pitched with 201 1/3. He ranked among the American League leaders in earned-run average, batting average against (.236) and WHIP (1.22).

Meanwhile, Webb parlayed a 14-win season into a huge new contract extension worth $19.5 million over four years from the Arizona Diamondbacks. A workhorse, Webb ranked sixth in the National League with 229 innings pitched while recording a 3.54 ERA.

Downs, who first cracked into the majors at age 24, set a career high with 26 appearances, 13 of which were starts, for the Toronto Blue Jays. He also set a career high in strikeouts and posted the lowest ERA of his career.

Green spent most of his time with the Tuscon Sidewinders (AAA) in the Diamondbacks organization, where he was the Pacific Coast Leauge Most Valuable Player. He led the league in hits, doubles, triples, extra-base hits and runs scored. Green?s .343 average with 19 home runs and 80 RBIs earned him a call up to the big leagues late in the season.