Roberts may begin rehab assignment after road trip

BALTIMORE -- Second baseman Brian Roberts, who is on the 60-day disabled list with a right hamstring injury, will join the Orioles on their road trip to Detroit and Toronto next week and then might begin a rehab assignment.

"Brian's going to go with us to Detroit, probably Toronto, and hopefully after that road trip we'll be talking about going out [on a rehab assignment]," manager Buck Showalter said. "We'll see. We'll see how that goes."

Although it's a small step in his recovery, he's taken batting practice on the field this week at Camden Yards. He traveled north with the team from Sarasota, Fla., for this homestand when the Orioles returned from a series with the Rays.

"They just wanted to make sure that I was going to be doing baseball activities. I didn't need to be stuck here doing rehab and stuff like that," Roberts said.

Roberts said even small steps like on-field batting practice constitutes a step forward, but he's still not ready to play baseball just yet.

"No, I can't go play yet," Roberts said. "I still have some progressions to go through, especially running. I haven't gotten to the point where I'm doing real explosive running, so we still have a little bit of time."

Showalter said he trusts Roberts and special assistant Terry Crowley to determine when Roberts is healthy enough to play baseball and can start a rehab stint.

Roberts said he's not ready to put a timetable on his full recovery, but Showalter said that he hopes Roberts is ready to go when outfielder Nolan Reimold returns from his rehab assignment, which begins Tuesday at Double-A Bowie.