Jones ready to restart exercise program

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Nate Jones plans to return to an exercise and strengthening program Wednesday after being shut down completely at the start of camp because of a moderate strain of his left glute.

The hard-throwing right-handed reliever and closer candidate played down the injury from the start and reiterated Tuesday that the injury caused him little to no worry.

"Oh, absolutely," Jones said. "Everything is feeling good. We let it calm down, so the next step is a couple of days of exercising and strengthening it back up and then start tossing and see how it feels and go from there."

Manager Robin Ventura and Jones said there was no definite timetable for Jones to return to the mound.

"There's still plenty of time down here for Nate to get ready," Ventura said. "I would rather him not reinjure anything or do anything worse at this point.