Milwaukee ? A groin strain has put Hideo Nomo’s comeback bid with the Kansas City Royals on hold.

The right-hander is headed back to Arizona for physical therapy on the right groin muscle he injured earlier this week. But the 39-year-old doesn’t think the injury will end his attempt to return after spending the past two seasons out of the major leagues. He would be willing to pitch in the minors to prove he’s ready.

“Yes, I think so,” Nomo said Saturday through a translator. “But first, I have to go back to Arizona and do rehab and get myself healthy.”

Royals manager Trey Hillman said Nomo showed he still has major league ability.

“Yes, he did,” Hillman said. “We don’t know yet about back-to-back days, we don’t know about the new role, but yes.”

Nomo, a non-roster spring training invitee for Kansas City, was 1-0 with a 4.80 earned-run average in 15 innings this spring. His comeback bid drew considerable attention in his home country, as a crowd of Japanese reporters followed the Royals in spring training.

Nomo said he appreciated the opportunity.

“I really appreciate that they invited me for spring training, and they gave me a lot of chances to throw and I really enjoyed it on the mound,” Nomo said. “I really appreciated that.”

Hillman said if Nomo’s rehab goes well, the Royals would likely give him another chance.

“I’m not going to make predictions for him because we don’t know how the body’s going to react,” Hillman said.

“He knows that we don’t want him to pitch until he’s healthy. If that falls where he can get some action down there in Arizona, then obviously we’ll do that. If it doesn’t, then we’ll have to look at other options.”

For his career, Nomo is 123-109 with a 4.21 ERA.