Murphy calls first cuts on field "a really positive sign"

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Daniel Murphy passed another hurdle in his recovery from debridement and microfracture surgery on his right knee on Saturday morning, hitting on a field for the first time in spring training.

Batting in a foursome that included Adam Eaton, Bryce Harper and Matt Wieters, Murphy and his mates hit for about 25 minutes off bullpen catcher Nilson Robledo on Field 2 at the FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.

"It felt good.," Murphy said. "It's nice the see ball flight that you can't really see, a little confined in the cage. ... First and foremost, this is the first time I've seen overhand pitching, so you want to reinforce that I can take it, that there's not going to be any discomfort, which there isn't. So ... that was a really positive sign."

Murphy is running on a treadmill and doing stationary defensive work with coach Tim Bogar as he slowly comes back from offseason surgery performed in October.

"Backhands, forehands, right at me," Murphy said. "Not a ton of lateral movement right now, just kind of right at me, and hopefully we can progress to ground balls a little bit further away."

Murphy said he felt good about his batting practice session, but pointed out that he's far behind his teammates in terms of hitting. The big takeaway from today's endeavor was he was able to hit without any reservations.

"I would say I don't feel limited, but I'm probably treating it more like I would, like these guys treated batting practice three or four weeks ago," he said. "So you come in, you're probably a little bit reserved in your move, but if I needed to get my swing off, I could and I didn't have any reservations about hitting today."

Murphy's next steps are dependent on how he tolerates today's activity.

"Each day you do something new, you want to see how you respond to it," he said. "That's probably the next step right now."

The Nationals have put no timetable on Murphy's recovery, and hope he's ready for opening day on March 29.

* The Nationals took park in a pair of high-spirited drills before Saturday's game against the Astros: a relay throwing drill pitting groups of four teammates against one another, and a fun-inspired attempt at defining their walk-off home run trots.

Harper, Anthony Rendon, Robledo and Matt Reynolds won the relay event, which required both accuracy and speed on relay throws.

The walk-off competition was manager Davey Martinez's attempt at keeping spring workouts fun and light.

"I tell them that just like anything else, we work really hard but I also want to have fun and that's a part of it," Martinez said. "I tell them it's going to happen, one of you guys is going to hit a home run to walk off."

Harper flashed the sign-language hand signal for "I love you," as he often does after hitting a home run or during a curtain call. From the first base coaching box, Bogar dished out low and high fives - with 5-foot-9 backup catcher Jhonatan Solano having to leap high to slap palms with Bogar's hand extended high over his head.

Howie Kendrick's unbridled jubilation as he rounded first base was matched only by his excitement at crossing home plate into a group of cheering teammates. It was as if Kendrick had just won the World Series for the Nats, not hit an imaginary home run.

"Fun's always an important thing to have all the time," Kendrick said. "I'm a big believer in that. The more fun you're having, the more relaxed you are, the more success you have. When you're not having fun, ... you press a little more and you're a little more stressed. I'm not one of those guys who likes to be stressed. I like to have fun, I like to keep things light."

* Nationals vice chairman Mark Lerner was a visitor at Saturday's workout and game. Lerner had his left leg amputated below the knee in August after being treated for spindle cell sarcoma in the limb.

* Left-hander Gio Gonzalez was slated to start Saturday for the Nationals, but the assignment instead went to right-hander Erick Fedde.

Gonzalez pitched in a more controlled B game setting, while the Nats got a chance to see Fedde against an Astros lineup populated with regulars.

* Center fielder Michael A. Taylor returned to hitting and fielding drills on Saturday after missing several days with tightness in his right side.

"I feel 100 percent right now," Taylor said in the Nats clubhouse after his morning workout.

Taylor said the tightness was unrelated to the right oblique injury that forced him to the disabled list in July.

"It was completely different, so I wasn't worried," he said. "It was some tightness. They wanted to take it easy this early in the season."

* Infielder Adrian Sanchez was sent home Saturday because he is dealing with a stomach virus.

"We sent him home so nobody else gets it," Martinez said.