Votto appears unlikely to return on Saturday

LOS ANGELES -- Reds first baseman Joey Votto is eligible to be activated from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, but there were no signs Tuesday that that would happen.

Votto, who did not travel with the team, is making progress with his distal strain on his left quadriceps muscle, according to manager Bryan Price.

"We're in a good positive stage with him," Price said on Tuesday. "The pain hasn't completely subsided with him, but it has diminished incrementally and the strength is getting better."

Votto hasn't played since May 15 and went on the DL last Wednesday. What's missing from his status is a timeline for a return.

"This particular injury doesn't have a due date on it," Price said. "Our target goal is to get him pain free and get his strength up to a level to expect his performance to be more like what we've seen in the past. I'm not sure we can get there all the way this year. But we want to get him to a place where he's confident he will not have regression.

"We really are on a day-to-day basis with this thing."