WASHINGTON -- A welcome sight was in the batting cage for the Marlins on Monday afternoon at Nationals Park.
Justin Bour, on the disabled list since July 25 with a right oblique strain, got a few swings in during warmups. The next step is to get the power-hitting first baseman out on a rehab assignment before the Minor League season ends.
Double-A Jacksonville is done with its regular season next Monday, and the club appears headed to the Southern League playoffs. The Jumbo Shrimp could have Bour in their lineup, perhaps even for a few postseason games.
The ultimate hope is to get Bour back with the Marlins as quickly as possible. But since he has missed more than a month, he will need some tune-up games in the hopes of helping the big league club in September.
"I haven't heard any date," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Bour returning. "I'm glad we can get him some at-bats before the Minor League season ends. You worry about a guy being out six or seven weeks. You try to stick him back in the lineup, when he doesn't have any at-bats, not necessarily a great thing for a manager."
With 21 home runs and 63 RBIs, Bour would be a huge addition to the lineup down the stretch.
The Marlins are chasing the D-backs and Rockies and will face both of the current National League Wild Card leaders from Sept. 22-27.
The Marlins have been patching things up at first base, with Tomas Telis and Tyler Moore getting most of the action. Catcher J.T. Realmuto has also seen some time at first.
Bour was having a big year before he went on the DL, with a slash line of .289/.366/.548.

The Marlins have been riding the home run wave of Giancarlo Stanton, and teams are pitching the slugger more carefully. Adding Bour to the mix makes the lineup more imposing.
"You know what a guy can do," Mattingly said. "But if it takes him a month to get it going, or two or three weeks to get it going, we don't have that many games left.
"We're excited to be able to hopefully get him out, get some ABs under his belt, see how he looks. See if we try to give him more at-bats, in different ways, creatively."
Worth noting
• Wei-Yin Chen, recovering from a left elbow issue, was scheduled to throw two innings for Class A Advanced Jupiter on Monday night. Chen could join the team as early as mid-September.
• Two potential callup candidates in September are Double-A right-hander Trevor Richards, ranked as the organization's No. 18 prospect by MLBPipeline.com, and lefty Dillon Peters, the No. 4 prospect. Both are helping Jacksonville's postseason push, but if the Marlins need either before then, they could get the call.