Glaus says he has no shoulder limitations

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- While the right side of the infield might still feel like foreign territory, first baseman Troy Glaus has spent his first week in Braves camp providing himself even more reason to believe that he's regained the strength that he possessed before having his right shoulder surgically repaired last year.

"I'm back to normal," Glaus said before Sunday afternoon's workout. "I worked out this winter without any limitations. I came into Spring Training with no limitations and I fully expect to continue with no limitations."

Once the Grapefruit League season starts with Tuesday afternoon's game against the Mets in Port St. Lucie -- airing on MLB.TV -- Glaus will have a chance to better acquaint himself with the responsibilities he will have at first base.

But as the exhibition season progresses, the Braves will be more interested in gaining the confidence that he does once again have the power that he possessed before undergoing surgery on his right shoulder last year. The procedure sidelined him until September and limited him to just 29 at-bats with the Cardinals last year.

"There's no doubt that it feels better than it did in September," Glaus said. "I was able to have a full winter of working out and getting in shape. During the last offseason and throughout the last season, all I could do is concentrate on rehabbing the shoulder . I couldn't work out. I couldn't lift weights. So my strength was down."

While facing bench coach Chino Cadahia during batting practice on Sunday afternon, Glaus provided some indication of his regained strength with a few long drives that landed on top of the berm behind the left-field wall.

His session caught the attention of Braves general manager Frank Wren, who constructed his roster with the confidence that Glaus will be healthy enough to serve as a right-handed power threat who will sit in the cleanup spot, between the switch-hitting Chipper Jones and left-handed slugger Brian McCann.

"One thing you can tell about strength and bat speed is the way the ball jumps," Wren said. "Whether it's in BP or live, it doesn't matter. He's got life in the bat."

The Braves provided Glaus a one-year $2 million contract to provide the kind of power that has been present throughout his career. The four-time All-Star has totaled at least 27 homers and 97 RBIs during each of his past seven seasons that he has played at least 120 games.

But they are also interested to see how quickly he makes the transition to the right side of the infield. The 33-year-old veteran has spent the early-morning hours of this past week taking countless grounders. When the games begin, he'll gain a better feel for his footwork, cutoff responsibilities and other intricacies of the first base position.

"You need to get in games," Glaus said. "That's when you really establish a comfort level. It doesn't matter if you can catch grounders at nine o'clock in the morning. You've got to be able to catch them at 2 o'clock in the afternoon."