Santos engages in some light toss activities

BOSTON -- Right-hander Sergio Santos went through a light toss on Wednesday afternoon for the first time since sustaining a strained right forearm on May 9.

Santos, who is on the 15-day disabled list, did some light tossing into a net at Fenway Park. He's expected to start playing catch on Friday and a few days from there will progress to long toss.

There's still no set timeframe for Santos' return to the mound, but the hope is that everything goes well in the next several days and he will be able to start throwing side sessions at some point next week.

"It's been about 12 days without any kind of throwing and that's too long for me," said Santos, who has a 9.00 ERA in 14 games this season. "I want to get out there and start chucking just because it feels good."

Santos hasn't been able to test his arm over the past week and a half, but the soreness he was originally feeling has finally subsided. The first obstacle will be avoiding a lot of discomfort once he resumes throwing and then making slight progress from there.

That would seem to indicate that Santos is another couple of weeks away from making a return. He will need to throw a couple of side sessions and make a few rehab appearances in the Minor Leagues before he can be activated from the disabled list.

"There's no tenderness or soreness anymore," Santos said. "Everything feels good. When I get out of bed every morning, I feel almost as healthy as I was at the start of the season, so that's encouraging."