"Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman continued his rehab from an abdominal strain this afternoon by briefly playing catch at Nationals Park with head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz. Zimmerman, who last played April 9, said he remains "just in the beginning stages" of his recovery and will stay on the 15-day disabled list for another week, perhaps longer.

"This next week coming up is kind of the important week," Zimmerman said. "That's what they say. I can't say anything really good or bad. It's just the protocol that they have me on."

Today, Zimmerman made about a dozen throws playing catch, which is "just the way it's supposed to go," Zimmerman said. Manager Jim Riggleman said "it's going to be a little of a slow process" to get Zimmerman back into the lineup.

Zimmerman rehabbed at Nationals Park all of last week as the Nationals played a road trip in St. Louis and Pittsburgh and began baseball activities earlier this week. Zimmerman has yet to swing, even though he said swinging never hurt his strained abdominal, only throwing and lunging.

"It's okay, getting better," Zimmerman said. "It's one of those things where, I've never had it, so I don't know how long it will take. It kind of goes back and forth. Some people come back quicker, some people come back slower. It's one of those where you have to wait and see.""