Rangers' Hamilton: 'It'd be nice' to play 140 games this season

Hampered all winter by discomfort in his surgically repaired left knee, Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton swung the bat for the first time this offseason Friday after receiving a cortisone shot the day prior.

For the perpetually injured 35-year-old, just getting his shoe on without discomfort would've been enough.

"I've just been fighting back and forth with it, just pushing through the rehab," Hamilton told reporters at the Dr. Pepper Awards Dinner. "He put some cortisone in there, and I tell you what, man, to wake up this morning and put my shoe on without any pain was a wonderful thing. Everything else feels good."

Shipped back to Texas in April following a tumultuous tenure with the Los Angeles Angels, Hamilton appeared in a career-low 50 contests with the Rangers last season after logging just 89 games played the year before. Hamilton, a five-time All-Star, opened the campaign on the disabled list following offseason shoulder surgery, landed back there in June after only seven games, and required another recess in September after having his torn left meniscus repaired.

With an increasingly dubious medical history, Hamilton - who received the cortisone shot Friday after an MRI revealed an inflamed capsule - opted not to make a prediction as to how many games he'll play this summer, though the possibility of 140 was bandied about.

"It’d be nice," said Hamilton, the 2010 AL MVP. "My thing this year is go to the park every day and do the little things to get my body ready every night."

Hamilton, who's tentatively poised to be Texas' everyday left fielder in 2016, posted a career-worst .732 OPS (94 OPS+) with eight homers and a 28.6 percent strikeout rate in 182 plate appearances last season.