Ian Stewart is eligible to come off of the disabled list on Friday but the Chicago Cubs third baseman appears nowhere near ready to return to the 25-man roster.
Stewart went on the DL with left wrist soreness on June 13 and received a cortisone shot to relieve the local pain in hand and wrist.
“I’ve hit off the tee and taken some soft toss,” Stewart said on Tuesday. “It is still a little sore so we are taking it slow.”
Stewart had been struggling at the plate all season before going on the DL, hitting .201 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 55 games. His OPS of .627 was neither an ideal number nor what was expected of him when the Cubs sent for Tyler Colvin and DJ LeMahieu to the Colorado Rockies for him on Dec. 8, 2011.
Currently there is no return time set for Stewart.
“No, I am not ready yet for [rehab],” Stewart said. “We have to get through soft toss and hit on the field first, then we can go from there. But this has weighed on me mentally because I really haven’t got any relief from the injections I have had.”