MIAMI -- Every Major League manager who's dealt with a pitcher coming off an injury knows that how a pitcher feels the day after he throws is just as important as how he feels when he's pitching in a game.

It's a telltale sign whether the pitcher is healed enough to get back into the endurance test that a Major League season represents.

With that in mind, Nationals manager Manny Acta had a smile on his face on Sunday morning. He talked early with right-hander Shawn Hill, who had made his 2008 debut the night before, and he was told everything felt fine.

"That's good news," Acta said.

Hill was feeling pretty good about it, too.

"Just have some normal soreness," Hill said on his way out for a workout. "I feel fine."

Hill, who was 4-5 with a 3.42 ERA last season before he suffered right elbow and shoulder injuries, was not particularly thrilled about the way he pitched against the Marlins. He had allowed just a run entering the sixth inning, but he was bumped around for three runs in the frame.

This made his final line look less than sterling: five-plus innings, eight hits and four runs, even if he didn't walk a batter and struck out six.

"I'm not discouraged by it, other than the fact I didn't make the pitches I need to," Hill said. "I feel like I should be able to go out and pitch [with] no problem. It's just a matter of making the pitches."

Hill said his breaking ball -- a hard sinker is his best pitch -- was working against the Marlins for the most part. But he noted that some of his pitches were too high for his liking, and others drifted too close to the heart of the plate.

It is apparent that Hill is rapidly becoming a perfectionist on the mound, intolerant with anything less than total success. That makes Acta smile. In the situation in which he finds himself, the Nationals manager will take all that he can get with that type of attitude.

Hill is expected to pitch again on Thursday at home against the Mets.