Werth making progress, hits off the tee for first time

VIERA, Fla. - Jayson Werth took another step, albeit a small one, in his rehab from surgery to repair the AC joint in his right shoulder on Jan. 9.

"I took some dry swings and I took like five swings off the tee or something like that," Werth said. "I don't think I'm supposed to take swings off the tee, but it's a little too late now, isn't it? I've just got to be smart though. I can't do something to put myself at risk, but I didn't feel like that was a big risk. It's real light. It's going to take time."

After surgery, Werth's recovery and rehab timetable was projected to be anywhere from two to three months.

"I was supposed to wait up to eight weeks, but what's today, Wednesday? We're almost there. Close enough," Werth said.

"We'll see how I react to it. I've been doing a lot. You push it as far as you can without setting yourself, really setting yourself back. It's just a tedious process, but stuff we've got to go through. What'd I take? Maybe 20 swings? It's a start."

Nationals manager Matt Williams reiterated that it's still early for Werth as he attempts to make it back for opening day in 33 days.

"Just to get the bat in his hand and feel the swing light and make sure that the shoulder doesn't hurt doing that," Williams said. "So we'll see how he reports tomorrow and progress from there. But it was really small, really light today."

More importantly, Werth will need to go through a throwing program to strengthen his arm before he is cleared as well.

"I didn't think swinging the bat was going to be as big a deal as throwing, so we're probably still a few days away from throwing," Werth said. "We've talked about maybe next week. I'm pushing for the eight-week mark on Friday, but I still have some negotiating to do to get that done."

The 35-year-old Werth has said before that he's aiming to be ready for the start of the season or, at worst, for the start of the third series when the Nationals travel to Fenway Park to play the Red Sox on April 13.

"I was itching to swing a bat a little bit, but as far as give it a real go like play in a game or something like that, I know I'm a way's away from that," Werth said. "Obviously I'm going to have to play in spring training games if I want to make opening day, so we'll see how many I get in."