McLouth closing in on full strength

VIERA, Fla. - Nate McLouth's first season in Washington never got on track. He was bothered by shoulder inflammation throughout much of the year, which eventually led to surgery in August to repair a torn right labrum.

Before shutting it down, the veteran outfielder managed just a .173 batting average with one home run and seven RBIs in 79 games. Those numbers were the worst of McLouth's 10-year career. He earned a two-year, $10.75 million contract from the Nationals after a productive 2013 campaign that saw him hit .258 with 12 home runs and 25 RBIs in 146 games for the Orioles.

McLouth, who throws right but bats left, doesn't blame the injury for his poor production last season.

"It was there, but if you play then you don't use an injury as a reason for not playing well," he said.

Having the surgery in August allowed McLouth the opportunity to get a jump on the rehab process. The Nats have McLouth on a throwing program. Every day, he gradually tests the arm from further distances while increasing the number of throws.

"As far as the way it feels, it's 100 percent," McLouth said. "It's just a matter of building up the strength and kind of airing it out a little bit. As far as healthwise, it doesn't hurt and nothing I've done has made it hurt at all. It's fine and now it's just a matter of getting more distance and building it up."

Coincidentally, Nats starting left fielder Jayson Werth is also recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Werth's availability for the start of the season is in doubt as the 35-year-old has not yet reached the point in his rehab process where he can begin hitting or throwing. McLouth may be manager Matt Williams' top option to start opening day in left field if Werth isn't able to go.

"He's important," Williams said. "It's important for us to be mindful at this point that he's still in the rehab process. So of course, yeah, of course he's important. Of course we love him out there playing. But we have to be mindful of that, certainly. So we'll get him as many at-bats as we can possibly get him. If he's good to go, I would imagine this spring, given Jayson's delay a little bit, that he'll get lots of at-bats. He did last spring, too.

"But he'll get, I would imagine if he's ready to go, he'll get a lot of starts and play a lot of innings to make sure that - any time you have surgery and you lose part of a season, it's not like riding a bike. You have to get back at it. And it takes a little while. So that's part of the process, too."

McLouth said he's spending time working on correcting his mechanics after getting into some bad habits to guard from further injury when the shoulder was bothering him last season. He thinks he most likely won't be ready for the first exhibition game on Thursday because of the potential to make long throws from the outfield, but said his return to live action won't be long after.

Shoulder surgery robbed the 33-year-old McLouth of an opportunity to play in the third postseason series of his career last season.

"That was probably the hardest part was not being able to be there," McLouth said. "That's why you go through all this is to have a chance to play in the postseason. I've been lucky enough to do it a few times before and it was hard missing it."

For a team that expects to play baseball in October, McLouth could provide an experienced, capable bat in the playoffs. In two postseason series with Atlanta and Baltimore, Mc:outh batted .318 with one home run and three RBIs in 23 plate appearances. He also provides one of the few left-handed bats on the Nationals.

"We have a good team," McLouth said. "Pretty soon, it's going to be time to go and show it on the field, which is the only thing that really matters. I think people in here are really happy with everyone that's in this locker room and looking forward to getting after it."