Colon, Contreras progressing nicely

GLENDALE, Ariz. - After breezing through their first round of live batting practice Monday, Bartolo Colon and Jose Contreras will be back at it this morning.

Both of the White Sox' veteran starting pitchers are scheduled to throw to hitters again, and Colon and Contreras could make their Cactus League debuts Sunday.

Colon had bone chips removed from his elbow in October, and Contreras ruptured his left Achilles' tendon in August.

General manager Kenny Williams expects both pitchers to break camp with the Sox and fill the final two rotation spots.

"I always felt confident Bartolo would be ready for Opening Day, and I thought Contreras would be 4-6 weeks behind that," Williams said. "I'd be surprised if both of them aren't on the opening day roster."

Business as usual: After missing a week to return home to Missouri for the birth of his second child, Mark Buehrle looked to be in midseason form Wednesday while pitching 3 scoreless innings against Milwaukee.

Buehrle said he almost felt too good in his mound return.

"Obviously, the results were there," Buehrle said after running his spring scoreless streak to 5 innings. "But some of the pitches, I left a lot of cutters high, my fastball was up in the zone. I think you're just feeling so good out there, you try to overpower everything. Get these innings in and getting my arm built up is what I'm focusing on now."

Buehrle had 4 strikeouts against the Brewers, which was somewhat of a concern for the contact pitcher.

"That's why I'm trying to throw too hard, because I feel too good," Buehrle said. "Too much energy and adrenaline getting out there on the mound. I just need to settle down and focus on movement instead of trying to throw harder."

Roster cuts: The Sox made four roster moves Wednesday, leaving 53 players in training camp.

Pitcher Lucas Harrell was optioned to Class AA Birmingham. Infielders Brian Myrow and Sergio Santos and pitcher Brad Salmon were reassigned to minor-league camp.