David Wright is one step closer to rejoining the New York Mets' lineup as he continues his recovery from spinal stenosis while Zack Wheeler is beginning his rehab from Tommy John surgery.
Earlier today Ken Davidoff of the New York Post reported Wright "officially begun his baseball activities" about an hour before the Mets made the announcement.
"The Post witnessed the Mets captain take ground balls at third base Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field," Davidoff wrote. "He looked smooth and comfortable fielding the balls and throwing over to third base."
Manager Terry Collins said Wright caught grounders, hit and did some running today, according to the team's Twitter account. He also mentioned Wright was "throwing the ball as good as ever" and "had no discomfort." He then went as far to say he thinks the veteran "will be in our lineup by the end of the season for sure."
The Mets' third baseman has been out of action since April 14 due to a hamstring injury and then was later diagnosed with spinal stenosis. Wright said he started doing "baseball activity" a few weeks ago and was hitting off a tee, among other things, so perhaps he's closer to rejoining the team than previously thought.
If the Mets can get him back soon it would be a huge boost for the club as they sit two games behind the Washington Nationals for the NL East lead and four games behind the San Francisco Giants for the second wild-card spot.
Wheeler is another Met on the road to recovery. The 25-year-old threw off flat ground yesterday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery back in March, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The right-hander was found to have suffered a torn UCL following his first outing in spring training. At the time he said he had been pitching through elbow pain since last season.
Wheeler told DiComo in an email that "everything felt great ... strong and pain free" and that he hopes to be back by next June or July.
The youngster is 18-16 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 271 strikeouts in 49 starts (285 1/3 innings) in two seasons with the Mets. When he returns next season it looks like New York's rotation will consist of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Wheeler, which will arguably be the best cast of starters in the MLB.
We'll be keeping updates on these two players once more information is made available.
