ARLINGTON, Texas -- Josh Hamilton hasn't played in a major league game in 229 days. A few more days away doesn't matter all that much to him.
Whenever Hamilton does rejoin the Texas Rangers, he wants his swing in tune, which means feeling comfortable at the plate instead of chasing off-speed pitches out of the strike zone. And Hamilton wants his body right, which means getting used to wearing spikes every day so the nagging lower-back pain he feels after games dissipates.
There's no exact number of at-bats it will take for Hamilton to get comfortable at the plate, and no one can tell him exactly how long it will be before his body adjusts to playing every day.
The Rangers are 17-23 and already trail the Houston Astros by 9½ games in a season seemingly destined to go nowhere. So there's zero need to rush Hamilton to the big leagues. The Rangers can take their time, which is among the reasons the club is sending him back to its Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock for a four-game series.
The Rangers will then re-evaluate him, and if all goes well he'll join the club for a three-game series in Cleveland toward the end of a nine-game road trip. Hamilton would make his home debut in a four-game series against Boston.
"I get it now, being a little bit older and being more experienced," Hamilton said recently. "I need to do what I need to do. I don't need to get there and think everything is going to be OK.
"I need to get comfortable and play like I'm capable of playing and then go."
So if it takes more time than he originally thought to rejoin the Rangers, so be it.
"I used to fight the trainers and everybody, which is a good thing because you know the guy wants to be out there," Hamilton said. "But at the same time, this time I'm listening to them and taking what they say to heart because they want the best thing for me.
"They want me out there more than anybody, so they're going to get me on a timetable that's reasonable, but they're not going to hold me back at the same time."
No one knows whether the 34-year-old outfielder can be a good player again. He hit .255 with 31 homers and 123 RBIs over two seasons (240 total games) with the Los Angeles Angels after signing a five-year, $125 million contract.
The rest of this season will tell us whether Hamilton has a role with the Rangers next season, or whether he's about to begin the journeyman phase of his career.
Hamilton hit .211 in 19 at-bats in his first stint with Round Rock and had six strikeouts, but he's destroyed pitching at Double-A Frisco. He's hitting .563 in 16 at-bats with two doubles and one strikeout. He homered Wednesday for the first time.
"I can take it a little slower if I want to take it slower," Hamilton said. "I've grown up a little bit. I can't make up for lost time. I need to prepare right now so when I get back up there I don't have to worry about coming back."
It's not like the Rangers are going to send him back to the minors if he struggles; they'll just designate him for assignment, as they did with left fielder Carlos Peguero on Wednesday. Peguero hit .186 with 36 strikeouts in 70 at-bats for the Rangers. When Hamilton returns, he'll probably play left field and hit fifth.
More important, Hamilton just wants to be one of the guys.
"As a player and athlete and guy who wants to play the game and wants to win and do what he can to have fun, all you can do is try to bring that into a clubhouse," Hamilton said. "I told Adrian [Beltre] that when I talked to him.
"I'm not wanting to cause any kind of disruption in the clubhouse. I think that's the most important thing: To come in and spend time with the guys, try to help the young guys, and do your work. Then, prepare and give everything you got on the field every day."
The Rangers would be happy with that.