Rendon heads to Double-A Harrisburg for rehab on Friday (Nats trade Cedeno)

Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon successfully completed five innings in his second extended spring game in Viera, Fla., today. He was 0-for-1 with two walks. Before yesterday, Rendon had not seen game action since spraining his left knee in a Grapefruit League contest on March 9.

Manager Matt Williams revealed the plan for Rendon this afternoon. The 24-year-old will fly to D.C. tomorrow morning and work out with the team at Nationals Park prior to the final game against the Cardinals. Then Rendon will head to Double-A Harrisburg to begin his minor league rehab assignment with five more innings of work on Friday. He's scheduled to play seven innings on Saturday and Monday with an off-day in between.

By Tuesday's game, Williams expects Rendon to play a full nine innings.

"If he gets all those games under his belt, then he's going to have upwards of 25 at-bats, 30 at-bats total," said Williams. "You would expect that to be halfway-ish through a spring training-type scenario where he would be feeling pretty good about his swing anyway."

Williams did not disclose a return date, but given the programs that left fielder Jayson Werth and center fielder Denard Span followed, one would estimate that Rendon could be back playing for the Nationals when they head to New York to play the Mets the first weekend in May.

Infielder Yunel Escobar has filled in for Rendon at third base through the first two weeks of the season. It's expected that he'll move to second base when Rendon comes back. However, Williams didn't rule out Rendon playing second base.

"I don't think that's definite at this point," Williams said. "Given guys' days off during the course of a season, I can't say that he won't play second base, depending on where we're at. But right now, we're gonna play him at third base for all of the obvious reasons."

The Nationals have traded left-handed reliever Xavier Cedeno to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations. Cendeno made the opening day roster and appeared in five games this season, allowing two runs, including a game-tying homer, in three innings. He was designated for assignment on April 14.