SARASOTA, Fla. -- Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy has been dealing with low back spasms for three weeks, and the infielder is hopeful he can start baseball activities in early March.
Hardy -- who didn't participate in Friday's first full-squad workout -- expects to know more soon but has dealt with back issues before.
"I've done an MRI, I've done a CAT scan, I've got one more bone scan coming up here. And then when we get all those tests back, we will kind of know what's going on," the 34-year-old said. "But it feels similar to everything I've had in the past, it was just kind of those spasms, and they go away, and I'm normal 'til I take time off and start swinging again next spring. When we get these tests back we'll be able to evaluate."
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Hardy, who first felt something the day before he left for FanFest late last month, said at this point he's "not too concerned" about the injury, noting that Spring Training is longer this year with the World Baseball Classic. 
Hardy was plagued by the issue most notably in 2014, missing several games but managing to avoid the disabled list. 
"Compared to 2014, I think, it happened the first week of the season, it started spasming, and then I was able to stay off the DL, but I came back way too soon, and it lingered kind of the whole year," Hardy said. "So it's nice it happened now, and we can kind of get ahead of it before the season actually starts, so that's a good thing."
Hardy hasn't performed any baseball activities the past three weeks and isn't panicking right now, though the veteran did acknowledge he'll need to start getting in his reps. 
"There's a lot that goes into it to get ready for April 1, so I definitely want to be doing baseball activities by early March and then [still] be able to get into games," he said. "We haven't set a timetable because we have no idea what's going on, but that would be ideal for me."
Hardy wasn't expected to play much in Spring Training, particularly early on as Manny Machado wants to play some shortstop in advance of his time with the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Still, any significant injury for Hardy would be a serious blow to the Orioles infield.