Mets news: David Wright likely to return in a bit over a week

UPDATE, 6:45 PM:

Terry Collins said prior to Tuesday night’s game that David Wright plans to run the bases on Thursday and Friday, and hopes to play a minor league rehab game by the weekend.

If Wright meets those goals, he should be able to return by May 15 – the date Adam Rubin reported as likely – or perhaps a day or two earlier.

David Wright could return as soon as the middle of next week against the Cubs, but might instead be activated on May 15 when the Mets return home to face the Brewers, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.

Wright, who has been on the disabled list since April 15 due to a strained right hamstring, took live batting practice last Wednesday for the first time since suffering the injury. Since then, he’s been on a deliberate pace, working on strengthening exercises before resuming baseball activity this past weekend.

After the injury, it was revealed that Wright had a mild strain, and the estimate was that he would be out for three weeks.

Wright took grounders and did some running in a straight line last Monday, but must first run the bases before being allowed to enter a rehab game.

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As soon as Wright runs the bases, he will have no further hurdles to clear, so his activation date hinges on how soon he runs the bases full bore and how his hamstring responds afterwards.

Thoughts:

Terry Collins said over the weekend that Wright’s return was close, but Sandy Alderson was quick to note that Wright returning a week from that time would be aggressive.

Wright appears to be on the schedule Alderson laid out, with his return seven days from now on the short end or 10 days from now on the long end.

While Wright hasn’t suffered any setbacks – and hasn’t even passed the three-week recovery time frame that was first laid out for him – there are some who are starting to panic and wonder what’s taking so long.

In actuality, it appears the Mets are simply being overly deliberate with Wright, since any re-aggravation of the injury could lead to a much longer absence.

When Wright returns, the Mets will likely send Dilson Herrera back to Triple-A Las Vegas, but that will be a tough move to make if Herrera is performing well at that point in time.