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Johnson aims for June return

February 17, 2007 12:51 am

BY TODD JACOBSON

VIERA, Fla.--Nick Johnson limped slightly as he walked out of the shadows and into the dugout at Space Coast Stadium and carefully navigated a small set of stairs leading to the field.

Still recovering from a gruesome broken right femur suffered last September, Johnson arrived two days before position players must report to Nationals spring training with some bad news: He probably won't return to the field until June at the earliest.

"I can't even jog right now," Johnson said yesterday. "Everything is so weak in my right leg. My hip, my quad, everything."

The Nationals have not set a timetable for Johnson's return. And although Johnson threw out "June" with little input from medical specialists, team officials were careful not to make any predictions yesterday.

The team plans to move cautiously with its cleanup hitter and first baseman. Dr. Ben Shaffer, the Nationals' team orthopedist, will view Johnson's x-rays Monday.

Only then might the team have a more clear idea when Johnson might be able to return. How Johnson progresses during the next few weeks and months of rehabilitation probably will be the best indicator.

"We are not going to jeopardize 2008 and years beyond 2008 just to get Nick Johnson over here two, three weeks earlier," manager Manny Acta said. "No, not at all. Nick is not going to be on the field until he's 100 percent ready to go, free of any type of risk of injuring himself out there."

As Johnson stood outside the Nationals' dugout yesterday, just a few yards off the first-base line, a return to the field seemed a long ways away.

After he collided with right fielder Austin Kearns chasing a pop-up Sept. 23 against the New York Mets, he needed two hours of surgery and a titanium rod to repair the severe break.

Initially, Shaffer said Johnson might be healthy enough to be ready for opening day. But Johnson's recovery did not go smoothly. He had two more surgeries--one to remove scar tissue in his leg and another to remove screws inserted in the bone to help it heal--and wasn't able to walk comfortably until mid-December.

He attended physical therapy three times a week near his home in Sacramento, but said his recovery "wasn't going anywhere."

"Those two surgeries really helped, got it going a lot," he said.

In the last few weeks, he's made significant strides. He's been able to walk, although he sometimes has to rest because the bone is weak. Especially affected has been his hip, which he uses awkwardly to limp. He likened the pain to a "constant Charlie Horse."

Here in Viera, he'll work out five times a week, trying to lose the 15 pounds he gained while immobilized and hoping to make significant strides toward recovery.

"It's going to be nice to get a sweat going somewhere, maybe in a pool," he said.

But for now, taking ground balls, throwing, swinging a bat--it's all out of the question.

"I've got to start pushing it because the bone, I think, is pretty much healed," Johnson said.

Although he admitted there have been low points, Johnson seemed to be dealing with the injury as well as could be expected--even better than some of his teammates. Kearns said he hasn't watched video of the collision, but Johnson said he's seen it several times, in part to "just watch the leg flop."

He also joked about how he'd approach a similar pop-up.

"I might have to peek the first time," he said.

That he was in good spirits was positive news to his teammates, especially Kearns, who kept in contact with Johnson over the winter through text messages and phone calls.

"He still has a lot left to do but he is a lot better than the last time we all saw him," Kearns said.

While Johnson is healing, Acta said Kearns will move into his cleanup spot in the lineup. And although the Nationals have lined up a group of candidates to hold his first-base spot--from rookie Larry Broadway to veterans Travis Lee and Dmitri Young--there's little doubt Johnson will be missed, no matter how long he's out.

No stranger to injuries during his career, Johnson set career-highs in homers (23), RBIs (77), batting average (.290), on-base percentage (.428) and perhaps most importantly, games played (147) before his injury.

"We are going to miss him whether it's for a month or for six months," Acta said. "Statistically speaking, Nick Johnson was the most productive hitter we had here last year and whether it's a month or six we are going to miss him no matter what. We are making the necessary moves to stop the gap that he's going to leave there."

After addressing reporters, Johnson wandered into the Nationals' clubhouse and found his locker. He pulled off his shirt and slipped on a gray and red long-sleeve T-shirt and changed into shorts.

He sat on a stool and rubbed the pink scar on the outside of his right knee as if to make sure it was still there (there's a matching one on his hip).

Then, he grabbed a black Louisville Slugger and began to flick it, taking small cuts.

He isn't ready to step into a batting cage, or hit live pitching. Not yet at least, but with a bat in his hand, he was comfortable.

"When the bone heals I should be ready to go," he said. "I just don't want to come out limping and do something where I affect my back or blow out a knee. Get everything strong. Once I go out there I can just go."

Todd Jacobson: 540/735-
Email: 1974tjacobson@freelancestar.com