Span is activated (again), says it "feels good to be back"

Nationals center fielder Denard Span returned to the club Tuesday and was inserted in the starting lineup, leading off and playing center field against the Padres. Span has been on the disabled list with back tightness since July 7. Previously, he missed the first three weeks of the season as he recovered from right core muscle surgery. He has played only 59 games this season.

"Feels good to be back," Span said. "It's been a long road. I'm just ready to get after it. Ready to do all that I can do to help this team."

Span played only one full nine-inning game during his minor league rehab assignment. During most of his rehab work this summer, he has talked about the importance of getting a ton of at bats and back-to-back games. But time is running out in this season, and Span decided to accelerate the process.

"I don't have a crystal ball," Span said. "I did everything that I felt like I needed to do on this rehab assignment, given that we have less than 40 games left. I felt like there was nothing I needed to do on the rehab assignment. I'm not going to feel my best this time of year, everything I've had to go through. I felt confident enough to say let's go up here and try to come back and do what I can do."

With Span returning, the bench gets much more depth as outfielder Michael A. Taylor, who has hit .264 with seven homers and 23 RBIs over the last 31 games, will now work in a reserve role. Manager Matt Williams said he will monitor how Span looks and feels after games and won't hesitate to give him days off with Taylor available.

"Health," Williams said of what he is watching with Span back in fold. "Make sure he's healthy and ready to go. The good part about it is Mike's played a lot of games and his timings good. He's been playing well. So if in fact we need to give Denard a day we can do that. If we need to give Jayson (Werth) we can do that. If (Bryce) Harper needs a day we can also do that. It's nice to have those guys back and be at full strength offensively in that regard. Gives us a little bit of an option."

"Skip told me let him know how I'm feeling," Span said. "I think they're going to try to ease me into it and hopefully within a week or two I'll be in better shape."

With right-handed pitcher Tanner Roark optioned to high Single-A Potomac, the bench is back to five players. Left-handed hitter Clint Robinson, switch-hitters Jose Lobaton and Danny Espinosa, and right-handed hitters Trea Turner and Taylor are available to Williams.

The Nationals are 62-61 and are 5 1/2 games back of the Mets in the National League East. Span knows time is waning in what has been a difficult year with injuries and other troubling news for the organizational family, including the death of bench coach Randy Knorr's wife.

"It's been an unusual year," Span said. "We've had guys get hurt two and three times. Guys spend long periods of time on the DL. Not to bring this up negative, Randy's wife passed away. We've dealt with a lot this year. For us to still be within striking distance, I think it just says a lot about the character of this ball club, that we're going to continue to fight."

Span said he was tired of "moping around" and the look on his teammates' faces when he returned pumped him up to get something going on the field for a club that hasn't yet met lofty preseason expectations.

"Just going to go for it," Span said. "Time to go. Worked hard, definitely been a lot of guts and glory for me this year. I've had to dig deep the last month and a half. I want to give D.C. everything I got and this organization and the fan base everything I have. One thing they won't be able to say after this: 'Denard Span isn't tough.' I've been through a lot. I'm happy to be here today."