JUPITER, Fla. -- In the early hours of Sunday morning, Troy Glaus carried an unfamiliar instrument across the Cardinals' Spring Training complex: a bat.

Before his teammates took to the field for their morning stretching and pregame preparations, Glaus took his first swings since undergoing surgery on his right shoulder in January. It was a light workout -- about only 20 swings off a tee -- but it was a step forward. Glaus has also begun playing catch, and he's feeling optimistic about his recovery.

"Every day it feels better," Glaus said. "In the morning, we ramp it up a little bit and see how it feels the day after that. That's really all there is. As long as it feels good the next day, we take a step forward. If it doesn't, then we don't necessarily take a step back, but we don't take another one forward."

The official position on Glaus' return to active duty remains wide open. His early work is very encouraging, but until the intensity increases, no one is willing to venture a guess as to when he might appear in a game. And given how far he is behind his teammates, Glaus won't be able to go right from his first competitions into Major League regular-season games.

"I'm very optimistic," said general manager John Mozeliak, "but I still think there are hurdles that he needs to cross. ... But I do think the way he's going about it, and the way he feels about things, are all good."

In addition to hitting, Glaus has thrown a baseball at a distance of about 90 feet. He's taking ground balls in infield practice, but he's yet to increase the intensity of his fielding drills. All throwing is under control and under supervision.

Even so, every step is progress. And Glaus is gunning to appear in game action before the Cardinals leave Florida. St. Louis' last Grapefruit League game is April 2 against Florida, which is 26 days away.

"I'm hoping [to play then]," Glaus said. "I want to. Is that a realistic goal? I don't know. But I would like to, and that's what I'm going to try to shoot for. The sooner I get in games, the sooner I'm back in St. Louis. Whether the games are here or wherever they might be, the sooner they start, the sooner we get to the end. That's a goal of mine. How realistic is it? I don't know. And I don't know if it's unrealistic."

The initial estimate following Glaus' surgery was that he would miss approximately 12 weeks, putting him out until about mid-April. He hasn't experienced any setbacks that might extend that timetable. However, it was approximate then, and any forecasting remains an uncertain science until Glaus' throwing and hitting drills become more advanced.

"I'd like to play as soon as I can," Glaus said. "That's my goal. And that will all be determined [by] when I'm ready to do that. And I can't tell you if that's two weeks, three weeks, five weeks. I don't know. It'll just be a day where it is. I'd like to play as soon as I possibly can. There's four weeks till Opening Day. There's a shot."

Glaus does know, though, that he's not going to wait until all the discomfort is gone from the joint.

"What's the difference" Glaus asked, "between throwing with a little bit of pain now, or waiting three weeks and throwing with none? This is my 12th year. There's never going to be none. There's always going to be something."