Wilson Ramos sees a big difference after LASIK surgery (Nats top Marlins)

NATIONALS GAME WRAP

Score: Nationals 7, Marlins 4

Recap: Clint Robinson homered, stole a base and drove in three runs, his mammoth shot to right part of a three-run third inning of ex-National Edwin Jackson, who yielded all five runs. Catcher Pedro Severino had two hits, pushing his spring average to .571. Starting pitcher Joe Ross went 2 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on four hits, and wasn't helped by an error by second baseman Daniel Murphy. Ross, who fanned four, left when he'd thrown 51 pitches. Righty Tanner Roark tossed three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and a walk. Jonathan Papelbon made his first spring appearance, working a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

Need to know: For the second straight day, a Nationals starter broke out a new pitch. This time it was Ross' use of a split-fingered fastball that he threw about five times. The pitch was suggested to him by Papelbon, who's been working with him on perfecting it.

On deck: Tuesday vs. Astros in Kissimmee, 1:05 p.m.
_____________________________________________

VIERA, Fla. - Catcher Wilson Ramos expects to take his first swings today since undergoing LASIK surgery on Thursday and hopes to return to the Nationals lineup by the middle of the week.

"I will hit on the field today," Ramos said this morning in the team's Space Coast Stadium clubhouse. "I will do a couple bullpens and see how it feels. It feels great. I think Wednesday I probably will start playing."

The Nationals usually take an extremely cautious approach for players coming back from any injury, but how they will handle a guy recuperating from corrective eye surgery is uncharted territory. Yesterday, Dusty Baker said the team would closely monitor Ramos' post-op recovery to make sure there were no complications.

"The doctors say I need sunglasses a lot during my routine and to try to not get infected," Ramos said. "Right now, I'm healing a lot more quickly. We'll see what happens the next few days."

Ramos admitted he was a little surprised when a team eye doctor suggested LASIK after his physical last month. He said he has worn contact lenses for a while and had no problems until the past year or so, when he had difficulty reading the numbers on faraway scoreboards at night. Ramos said his close vision was fine. However, he had some irritation in his eyes from inserting and removing his contact lenses.

"This year, the doctor talked to me and said to get the LASIK surgery and that it heals pretty quickly, you're not going to lose too many days," Ramos said. "He said to make a decision and see what I feel right now. But to me, that was the best decision in my life. I see the difference and it feels great."

Despite the need for surgery, Ramos said he wasn't having any issues seeing balls thrown from the outfield, nor did he think the eye issues were to blame for last season's poor offensive numbers. Ramos hit a career-low .229 last season.

"Everything that happened last year is in the past," he said.