Eric Chavez remains optimistic that he can play by opening day despite a setback in his shoulder rehabilitation.
The Athletics third baseman stopped baseball activities on Monday, a day after feeling right shoulder pain while swinging a bat a day.
"The big thing is getting pain free and then kind of starting over slow," Chavez said Tuesday. "Take five swings. How does that feel? Take 10 throws. How does that feel? We have to start from scratch a little bit."
Chavez may try to hit or throw Thursday or Friday. He doesn't expect to play in a game for awhile, not even as a designated hitter.
"I'm going to refrain from setting dates, but I'm going to try to recover as fast as I can and get back on the field as soon as I can, but meanwhile trying to get the shoulder healthy," he said.
Chavez, who had surgery in August, is 1-for-11 (.091) at the plate in spring training, all as a designated hitter.
"I'm kind of glad I had a stretch of at-bats first, so when I come back it's not like everybody has three weeks on me," he said. "I've been seeing some pitches. I've taken some ground balls and thrown. When I take the field it will be new, because I haven't done that in a while, but if I have a couple days where things are calmed down, I can get right back."
