Jayson Werth still holding out hope for opening day

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who is recovering from right shoulder surgery, finally was able to take his first at-bats against live pitching when he participated in a minor league game yesterday. He doubled, walked and drove in a run on a grounder to short in his three plate appearances.

"I felt like it was the first game of spring training," said Werth. "So if I had a month left, I'd be right where I needed to be. But I got six days, five now. We're gonna do all the work we can and we're going to do everything we can to get there. I just don't know if it'll be enough. Again, that's not my decision anyway.

"I just don't know. I just know it's not my decision. It's hard to say where I'll be in five to six days from now. But I'm progressing. So yesterday I played and the two days before that I took regular BP. But before that, I guess four days ago, we were still wondering if I was going to have the strength to swing my bat. So it's coming quick, I just don't know how quick."

Werth indicated that he's still feeling discomfort in his surgically repaired right shoulder with the bat in his hands.

"It seems like if I take a good swing, I'm OK," said Werth. "But if I take a bad swing or I get fooled or if I foul a pitch off or if I swing through it, it's not totally normal just yet, but it continues to progress. The days that I have that are bad days, I wake up the next morning fine. So it's just part of the progression."

Since the January procedure, Werth has set a goal to be back by opening day or a week later when the Nats travel to Fenway Park for the Red Sox's home opener. He's still holding out for that.

"I hope so," said Werth. "I just can't say. I just don't know how it's going to progress from here. We're on the field, which is half the battle really. I just don't know. Some years you need 50-60 at-bats to figure it out. Other years you need five. I don't know how it's gonna go. I'm coming off surgery. I'm still building strength in the shoulder. I gotta get my timing. Will I be ready by opening day? I have no idea. Will I be ready by Boston? I hope so."