LOS ANGELES — As much as the Washington Nationals would like to have Denard Span back in their lineup for the stretch run, they are being forced to take a very cautious approach.
Span has been out since early July with back problems, going through a rehab program designed to strengthen his back muscles.
That progressed far enough for Span to start taking batting practice and do some fielding and throwing drills on the field last week. That resulted in a setback that had Span shut down to rest the soreness that developed.
He has resumed some baseball activities this week and is back on the field throwing, running and doing some light swinging. He ran sprints and started playing catch on the field over the weekend.
But things will proceed cautiously from here, according to Nationals manager Matt Williams.
“A couple of steps back but some steps forward,” Williams described as Span’s status.
“It’s a good sign. We’ll proceed with caution and progress him as quickly as we can and understand we can’t push too quickly or too fast. We’ll go from there.”
Span needs to progress to the point where he can take full batting practice again before the Nationals send him on a minor-league injury-rehabilitation assignment.
Before going to the DL, Span was hitting .304 in 59 games. Michael Taylor has replaced him in center field and is batting .244 for the season.