Johnson is still limping around

VIERA, Fla. — Nick Johnson emerged slowly from the dugout tunnel and cautiously climbed the stairs one at a time before standing on the warning track and greeting a group of reporters.

In those few seconds, this much became clear: Johnson is nowhere close to being able to play first base for the Washington Nationals. And there’s no telling when he will.

“I can’t even jog right now,” he said.

That simple line perhaps best sums up the current state of Johnson’s right leg, which was broken in a violent collision with teammate Austin Kearns on Sept. 23. In the nearly five months since that Sunday afternoon at New York’s Shea Stadium, Johnson has undergone three surgical procedures, had a titanium rod and screws placed along his broken right femur, gone through an exhaustive rehabilitation program, gained 15 pounds because of the inactivity and begun the process of learning how to walk again.

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What he hasn’t done is anything related to baseball. He hasn’t swung a bat other than fiddling around a little to see how it feels. He hasn’t taken grounders, and he certainly hasn’t run the bases or attempted to slide.

“Everything’s so weak in my right leg,” he said. “My hip. My quad. Everything.”

Asked for the best-case scenario for his return to the major leagues, Johnson shrugged and suggested June.

“But I won’t know until I start hitting, running, getting on the field,” he said. “It’s hard to make a prediction now.”

The Nationals refuse to, at least until team doctor Ben Shaffer has a chance to look at Johnson’s latest X-rays Monday and probably not until he’s back on the field and free of pain.

“Right now, there’s not enough info or data to put a timetable on it,” general manager Jim Bowden said.

At the time of the injury, Shaffer was optimistic Johnson would be healed in time for the start of spring training. But the player was slow to recover and twice needed follow-up surgery, first to repair scar tissue and later to remove the screws. He got off crutches about two months ago and began walking again but concedes even now he can’t stay on his feet for long before he has to sit down because his leg is sore.

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