Saturday morning the Rays' gifted center fielder took batting practice alongside his peers for the first time in the batting cage at Charlotte Sports Park.

"First time hitting within the group, just trying to turn up the intensity a little bit," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "[Head athletic trainer] Ronnie [Porterfield] felt by having him involved with the group on the field, he might just pick it up a little more as opposed to hitting on the back field by himself."

Upton underwent successful surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder on Nov. 11. And clearly, he felt no pain Saturday, as he sprayed line drives to all fields and sent several pitches over the fence.

"Yeah, it was surprising," said Upton about the power display. "I didn't think I had it. Obviously, the strength's not all the way there yet. It was nice to see a couple of balls jump out. That was good."

Upton would not go so far as to say he was ready to go all out, though.

"It's coming along," Upton said. "Still not the way I want to feel, but obviously, there will come a point where it's probably not going to get any better. ... So I just have to figure out when that is."

Carlos Pena hung around the batting cage specifically to watch Upton hit.

"It's good to see him back there in the groove, seeing that ball jump off his bat pretty good," Pena said. "It looked like he was freely swinging. I was very pleased to see that. It's a good thing for all of us, we're happy to see him out there."

Carl Crawford said he was relieved that Upton seems to be progressing well.

"He looked like he was swinging the bat well," Crawford said. "He hit a few balls out, driving it to all parts of the field, looked good.

"It was nice to see him doing that, because we all want him back as soon as possible. I don't know when he's going to be back, but we hope we can get him out there as soon as possible."

While Crawford was relieved, he enjoyed a little chuckle when asked if Upton's power display surprised him.

"We know he can hit home runs," Crawford said. "He wouldn't get in there if he knew he couldn't hit it out. So I wasn't really surprised to see that."

Maddon likes what he's seen from Upton thus far.

"There's been no setbacks," Maddon said. "He's doing well. When you talk to him, there's a smile. He's feeling good. So we don't know specifically when he'll be back, but he's on task. He should be right on target. I don't know if that will be the beginning of the season or slightly into the season, but everything is going well."

There has been speculation that Upton will not be ready to play until the Rays' first homestand of the season -- after the team opens the season on the road against the Red Sox and Orioles. Upton, however, hasn't dismissed the idea of being ready for Opening Day.

"Definitely still optimistic," Upton said of that prospect. "I don't know. It's going to depend on how I feel and what they want me to do. The cold weather is going to be a factor, so we'll just see the next couple of weeks where I'm at. It's still a possibility that I could start the season [on time]."

Once he's cleared to go full out, Upton said he will need about two weeks worth of at-bats to get ready.

"Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, I can be in a game," Upton said. "Just a matter of me getting my endurance up and getting the kinks out."