Anthony Fenech

Detroit Free Press

OAKLAND – J.D. Martinez appears ready to take the field.

In the biggest step of his lengthy recovery from a Lisfranc sprain in his right foot, Martinez began a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment with Class A Lakeland tonight.

Martinez started at designated hitter and went 2-for-4 with a double.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said if Martinez felt good following the game, he could play rightfield for the first time on Saturday.

“He’s day to day,” Ausmus said. “It’s just going to be how he feels everyday, whether he DHs or plays the field, if he needs a day off.”

Martinez has been hitting in extended spring training games for the better part of a week. He fouled a pitch off his left foot Monday afternoon but X-ray tests were negative.

Now comes the more complicated part of the recovery process: Playing rightfield on a daily basis. The activities in the outfield will surely test his right foot unlike hitting or running the bases or in a straight line have.

The team’s initial time frame on Martinez's return was three-to-five weeks from March 25, when the injury was announced. He was hurt making a sliding catch in a Grapefruit League game on March 18. The six-week mark is today. Martinez has not suffered any setbacks, but the running phase of his rehab proved to be the most difficult hurdle, which apparently he has passed.

Ausmus said there has been no determination for the remaining steps of his rehab assignment, but that a likely course of progression would be for him to play five or seven innings in the field Saturday.

Ausmus didn’t have a time frame for Martinez’s return, though it seems plausible that, barring a setback, he could return to action sometime in the next week. Perhaps he could build up to nine innings with Lakeland and play a couple of games with Triple-A Toledo before activation.

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“I can’t give you a time frame,” Ausmus said. “I really don’t know. It’s all on J.D. and how he feels. He’s going to let us know when he thinks he can play.”

Still, the rehab assignment represents the biggest advancement in what has been a lengthy recovery process.

“He’s playing at a higher level of baseball than what he was and it’s an actual game atmosphere,” Ausmus said. “If he gets on, he has to run the bases. He can’t lead off every inning. So most importantly, he’s going to have to play the outfield. If he comes up here, he’s going to have to play the outfield.”

Waiting game: The Tigers wanted to get JaCoby Jones some more at-bats at Toledo.

The problem is, with rain in Indianapolis’ forecast, those at-bats have been hard to come by. The Mud Hens were rained out on Thursday. Jones did start in centerfield in tonight's game against Louisville in Toledo.

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“He swung the bat well the other day, just want him to get more at-bats to see if he can get in a groove,” Ausmus said. “We want him to be right.”

Jones went 2-for-3 with a double on Wednesday. He is hitting .150 this season with the Tigers.

Ausmus said the big outfields where they begin their nine-game road trip – at the Oakland Coliseum and Arizona’s Chase Field – didn’t factor much into the decision. Jones is by far the team’s best defensive centerfielder.

Also, the hot hitting of Jim Adduci played into keeping Jones in the minors.

“He’s swung the bat very well and I hope he continues to make it more complicated and more difficult,” Ausmus said.

He said there was a chance Jones could be activated from the DL and optioned to Toledo, though that would seem to be an outside possibility, given Jones’ ability in centerfield.

“Everything is on the table,” he said.

Contact Anthony Fenech: afenech@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Follow him on Twitter @anthonyfenech. Subscribe to the Talkin' Tigers podcast via iTunes or Google Play.