Reyes takes BP for first time since going on DL

BALTIMORE -- Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes took batting practice on Wednesday afternoon for the first time since going on the disabled list with a cracked rib, and he came out of the session feeling fine.

Reyes admitted that he was a little tentative in the batter's box and that he wasn't making a full extension with his arms during each swing. He was purposely taking a cautious approach, because it was his first time hitting in a couple of weeks.

The good news is that there wasn't any discomfort on the left side of his body, where he has a cracked rib. The plan is for Reyes to take a similar approach to batting practice on Thursday, and then if all goes well, he'll let it loose on Friday.

"I need to do BP for a couple of days and feel real comfortable about how I hit BP, because I don't want to go to the game with doubt in my swing," Reyes said. "I want to [know] 100 percent that I can swing full speed, because I don't want to play one or two games and then have a little setback. I want to make sure that I'm good to go."

Reyes didn't want to put a time frame on his return, but the earliest he could come back would be some time next week. He needs to hit for at least a couple of more days and will then require a brief rehab stint in the Minor Leagues. Monday's game against the Angels would be a possibility, but a more realistic scenario likely would be a couple of days after that.

The 31-year-old doesn't feel any discomfort while fielding ground balls or when hitting from the right side of the plate. The only issue was when Reyes hit from the left side, and everybody involved wants to make sure all of that pain has completely subsided before he takes the next step.

"To be honest with you, I don't want to go, but I feel like I need it because I haven't seen a right-handed pitcher for a little bit over a month," Reyes said when asked about going on a rehab assignment. "I need to know before I come to play a Major League game that I'm going to be able to swing the bat from the left side without any problems."

Video: TB@TOR: Reyes hits a soft RBI single to third

Reyes was hitting .250 with a .266 on-base percentage in 16 games prior to being placed on the disabled list. His numbers took a hit because he tried to play through the injury, and he even spent a brief time batting exclusively from the right side.

That plan didn't exactly work, and it also stopped the injury from healing as quickly as it might have otherwise.

"That wasn't too good," Reyes said with a laugh. "I came to this game, to the big league level, because I'm a switch-hitter and I have speed. I didn't come to this game because I only hit from one side. Hitting from both sides, that helped me a lot to get me to where I'm at right now."