Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman landed on the disabled list during the second week of April with a strained abdominal muscle. He was only expected to miss about 15 days, but the strain didn’t heal as quickly as all had hoped and he wound up undergoing sports hernia surgery on April 30.
Zimmerman finally made some semblance of progress on Wednesday, according to MLB.com’s Steven Miller, playing three innings in an extended spring training game down in Viera, Florida.
He’ll probably play a five-inning game later this week then a seven-inning game this weekend, all building up toward an eventual minor league rehab assignment.
If Zimmerman is able to avoid more setbacks -- which is no guarantee given how much trouble this injury has caused him -- he could be back in the Nationals’ starting lineup within the next two weeks.
The 26-year-old was 10-for-28 with a homer, a triple and four RBI in eight games before suffering the ab strain.