NEW YORK -- Multiple setbacks have derailed David Wright's progress in his return from a shoulder injury over the first half of April, but Wright intends to begin a full slate of baseball activities this week at Citi Field.
Discomfort in his lower back, as well as a case of the flu, forced Wright to shelve much of his progress in his rehab from a right shoulder impingement. The Mets now believe those issues are behind Wright, who intends to field ground balls, take batting practice and throw this week. The team does not, however, have any updated timetable for his return.
"It's open-ended," general manager Sandy Alderson said.
One of the issues is Wright's spinal stenosis condition, which had faded to the background of what Alderson called "a myriad of concerns" regarding the third baseman. Even if Wright can recover from his shoulder injury, which the Mets believe stemmed from last year's neck surgery, there are no guarantees his back will be healthy enough to support a full Major League workload.
Still, the Mets remain hopeful that Wright will help them at some point this summer. The team captain, Wright has played in just 75 games combined the past two seasons. He is under contract until 2020, with a combined $40 million due to him this year and next.
"I'm realistically expecting to see him sometime this year, but I don't have any real way of projecting a timetable," Alderson said. "I think we're going to be patient about that. But I certainly haven't given up hope of seeing him here in 2017 by any means."
• Mets pitchers Steven Matz (strained flexor tendon) and Seth Lugo (partial UCL tear) are both due to begin throwing Wednesday at the Mets' Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The pair are both essentially beginning a throwing program from scratch, as if it were the start of Spring Training, meaning they will need four to six weeks to build up their arm strength. Regarding Matz, whose independent diagnosis the Mets never confirmed, Alderson said: "We move forward in the absence of symptoms."
• Closer Jeurys Familia, who threw a perfect inning with one strikeout Monday for Double-A Binghamton, will not pitch again before returning to the Mets on Thursday. Familia, who is serving a 15-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy; threw two Minor League innings in total, in addition to work in extended spring training.