ANAHEIM -- Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons has progressed to baseball activities, as he took grounders and made throws in the infield on Friday. He's scheduled to start swinging a bat on Saturday.

Simmons, who is on the injured list retroactive to Aug. 3 with a bone bruise in his left ankle, doesn’t have a timetable for his return, but Friday was a step in the right direction.

“He’s doing good,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. “Taking some grounders, slowly getting back into things, doing some throwing.”

It’s the second ankle injury suffered by Simmons, who missed 34 games with a grade 3 left ankle sprain sustained on May 20 that kept him out of action until June 27. Simmons played in 28 games after returning from the injury, hitting .230/.300/.320 with two homers, three doubles and seven RBIs.

He then tweaked his ankle again in Cleveland on Aug. 2, suffering a bone bruise on the other side of his ankle that caused him to be placed on the injured list for a second time.

Simmons, 29, has hit .274/.315/.382 with five homers, 16 doubles and 28 RBIs in 74 games this season. David Fletcher and Wilfredo Tovar have filled in at shortstop in his absence.

With his first ankle injury, Simmons returned to the lineup roughly two weeks after taking batting practice on the field, but he’s not yet to that point. It should come soon, however, especially with Simmons starting to swing the bat this weekend.

Smith progressing

Catcher Kevan Smith, on the injured list since Sunday with back spasms, has been feeling better, but Ausmus said that Smith’s still feeling the effects here and there.

“Yesterday, he was a little stiff walking around,” Ausmus said. “Today, he was moving better. It still flares up for him on certain movements. He said it usually feels good getting out of bed, but sometimes he’ll sit down and it’ll grab a little bit. But overall, he says he’s improved.”

With Smith out, Max Stassi and Anthony Bemboom have split catching duties. Smith isn’t likely to return until late next week, so the Angels will continue to rotate Stassi and Bemboom, especially with Tuesday’s doubleheader in Texas looming.

“We don’t want to overwork either one of them,” Ausmus said. “We’re going to Texas, where it’s going to be 100 degrees for four games in three days. So try to plan ahead a little bit, and try not to overwork either one and hopefully select the right one that day and we win the game.”

Bard reinstated, optioned

Reliever Luke Bard, who was on the 10-day injured list with a bruise above his right elbow, was reinstated and optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake on Friday. Bard suffered the injury after being hit by a line drive from Cleveland’s Carlos Santana on Aug. 4.

Bard, 28, has posted a 5.68 ERA with 25 strikeouts, 10 walks and six homers allowed in 31 2/3 innings this year.