Zimmerman on MLB's exoneration and planned return from DL

ATLANTA - Ryan Zimmerman hoped to play in tonight's game against the Braves. Instead, the Nationals first baseman settled for discussing how he has been cleared of any alleged drug use by Major League Baseball and how he now hopes to return to the field Saturday night after his latest stint on the disabled list.

Zimmerman said he wasn't surprised by today's announcement that MLB found no evidence he or Phillies slugger Ryan Howard violated the league's drug policy in the wake of Al Jazeera America's controversial January report that accused both of receiving performance enhancing drugs. MLB officials kept him abreast of developments and a timeline for resolution throughout the season.

More than anything, the 31-year-old was relieved to put this ordeal behind him seven months after the initial allegation caught him completely by surprise.

"Obviously it's something that I expected," he said of today's announcement. "But just to have the whole situation done, I can move on to finishing the rest of the year, helping this team win for the next month and a half and hopefully win our division and play in some playoff games."

Zimmerman said he learned officially that he had been cleared in the last day or two from his agent, Brodie Van Wagenen. He insisted it didn't have a negative effect on anything he has done on the field this season, though it wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience for him, either.

"It's not something anyone wishes to have to go through," he said. "I wouldn't say it distracted me, but it's definitely nice that it's over with."

Zimmerman confirmed he and Howard intend to proceed with their defamation lawsuit against Al Jazeera, the segment's reporter and the British athlete who went undercover to catch pharmacist Charlie Sly making claims about athletes he supplied with PEDs.

"I'm one of the biggest advocates for drug testing and finding people who are cheating," he said. "MLB thoroughly went through and looked into everything me and (Howard) did and obviously cleared our name. But we're clear from the MLB side. Now the whole point of the lawsuit was to not allow people to basically smear your name without any evidence or any proof. So that will go on."

Zimmerman flew to Atlanta with teammate Jose Lobaton on Thursday after completing a rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse. Manager Dusty Baker said there was "a good chance" both would be activated off the DL in time for tonight's game, but the Nationals decided instead to give both players a chance to go through one more day of workouts before likely activating them Saturday.

"Health-wise, I feel great," Zimmerman said. "I think sort of the tentative plan is to be ready to go tomorrow, work out on the field today, get running around a little bit. I'm just happy to be back and everything to be feeling good."