Latos continues to progress quickly from knee surgery

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds pitcher Mat Latos continues to make speedy progress from left knee surgery. On Sunday, Latos' fourth day of his long-tossing program had him throwing at distances of 100-120 feet.

"I set a goal of the end of next week to start throwing at 100 feet and I've surpassed that today," Latos said.

What really pleased Latos, though, was that he could participate in stretching, throwing and drills with his teammates for the first time this spring. He had a torn meniscus repaired in his knee on Feb. 14, the first day pitchers and catchers reported.

"All in all, today was the best day that I've had," Latos said. "I had been doing my exercises and strengthening stuff, but I wasn't able to actually get out and interact with the guys. This was a huge positive to be able to go out there and throw and run and the other stuff."

Latos backed up the bases during cutoff and relay drills and did some limited fielding drills that didn't require turning on his knee to throw. He also performed some agility drills on his own.

"Backpedaling bothered me a little bit, but that's to be expected," Latos said.

There is no target date known yet for when Latos will begin throwing from a mound. He is not considered to be too far behind the other pitchers, however. He began throwing again quickly after the surgery and had completed his rehab from October elbow surgery that removed four bone chips.

"We're boosting up the cardio where I'm putting in a huge amount of effort real quick, because I have to get my legs under me," Latos said. "The arm has been there. I've already rehabbed that. I haven't taken a huge step back. After four days, I'm already at 100-plus feet. The knee feels good. Dr. [Tim] Kremchek says he's not worried about me reinjuring it."