MIAMI — Ben Revere ran in the Marlins Park outfield Wednesday afternoon, working around ground balls hit by Marlins’ pitchers during batting practice. Revere, who strained his right oblique on his first swing of the season, was barely able to jog out for introductions at the Nationals home opener a few days later. Running, therefore, represents substantial progress.
Nationals Manager Dusty Baker reported Revere also swung a bat Wednesday, but did so right-handed. Revere, a lefty, felt no trouble as he did so.
“I guess that’s the test, they start you on the opposite side first,” Baker said. “Maybe in a couple days he might start swinging something or more baseball activities. We’re trying to work him into it, so it comes second nature and you don’t think about it. The thing about an injury, anybody who’s had an injury, is to get past thinking about it.”
Baker said it’s too soon to tell whether or not Revere might require a minor league rehab assignment before being activated.
“It just depends,” Baker said. “I’ve seen guys that need to go down to rehab, and I’ve seen guys who don’t need rehab. Back in our day, we didn’t have any rehab at all. I’ve seen guys who really need it.”
Baker speculated that Revere may not need a rehab assignment because his stature — compact, as opposed to “long-levered” — may lend itself to a quicker return. The bigger a player, the more moving parts to sync up. All of that was total speculation, however.
Revere said last weekend he has targeted the second week of May for a return, but said nothing was definitive, everything dependent on how things go from here.
>>> Baker spoke to Ichiro Suzuki on the field before Tuesday night’s game and was asked about it Wednesday. Baker said he first met the Marlins outfielder in 1997, when he was managing an American all-star team in Japan.
“They asked me to do a little scouting to see if I saw some players that I liked … And Barry Bonds loved Ichiro. They exchanged jerseys,” Baker said. “I liked Ichiro, Big Matsui and Little Matsui. And we [the Giants] didn’t sign any of them.”
“Big Matsui” refers to Hideki Matsui, the eventual Yankees outfielder. “Little Matsui” is Kaz Matsui, who played for the Mets. Baker said he asked Ichiro and Dee Gordon to sign a bat for his son, Darren. They sent one over. Baker told Ichiro “good luck,” and admitted he wouldn’t mind the 42-year-old geting a hit with two outs and no one on, since he is inching toward 3,000.
“But no stolen bases,” Baker said. Ichiro currently has 499 of those in his career.
