Williams provides good news on Werth, Rendon, Zimmerman and Span

The Nationals seem to be moving closer to getting some of their injured stars back. Jayson Werth became the first of five positon starters on the 15-day disabled list to see game action when he began his minor league rehab stint at Single-A Potomac last night.

Werth, who fractured his left wrist when he was hit by a pitch on May 16, went 1-for-2 with a single and a strikeout while playing three innings in left field yesterday. The 35-year-old is batting third as the designated hitter in Potomac's lineup tonight and he is expected to receive at least three at-bats.

"His legs feel good," said manager Matt Williams. "He's been doing a lot of running so that's not an issue. He felt good in his at-bats last night physically. The timing is off, of course, which is normal. But didn't have any issues coming out of it so that's a good sign. The deal with broken bones are when they're healed, they're healed. Right now it's about strengthening the area, because he was in a splint for a while, and getting at-bats. So all things considered, he came out of it really well."

Anthony Rendon (left quad strain) and Ryan Zimmerman (left foot plantar fasciitis) went through full workouts yesterday and today which included base running, taking ground balls and batting practice.

Williams indicated the soreness in Zimmerman's left foot continues to linger.

"It was better yesterday," Williams said. "I think he was a little ginger with it, he was not pushing it too hard. But the pain was not as great, which is a positive, for sure."

The Nationals have been without Zimmerman since June 10 and Rendon since June 25. Williams didn't commit to a date for both to begin their minor league rehab assignments, but it appears to be in the very near future.

"We'll see," Williams said. "It's part of the process, but the fact that they can do it and they're out there doing it is a positive sign for us. Without putting a timetable on it, we're just going to continue to progress them and keep ramping them up to the point where they don't have any issues with it and they can go play and react as they normally would."

Denard Span isn't far from returning to baseball activities. The 31-year-old was on the field at Nationals Park before tonight's game for the first time since back spasms took him out of action on July 6.

"He's strengthening," Williams said. "They put him on a serious program after he saw a specialist and he's doing that. He's really close to getting back out and hitting again, but what we don't want to do is to have a repeat. All the tests were good and he's okay. He's just continuing to strengthen his core and working on his flexibility. He'll be ready to go soon."