PORT ST. LUCIE — David Wright and Daniel Murphy are finally set for Grapefruit League baseball.
The two players spent the first week of the exhibition season removed from manager Terry Collins’ lineup in an effort to minimize early fatigue that can lead to abdominal injuries, but expect to play on Friday, when the Mets face the Cardinals at Tradition Field.
Wright and Murphy took at-bats in an intrasquad scrimmage on Thursday against Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell. Wright homered against Colon.
“I feel like I’m a lot more prepared now than I have been in recent spring trainings to actually enter games,” said Wright, who has missed substantial action the last two exhibition seasons with abdominal injuries. “I think I’ll get a little more out of them, too.”
Wright said he has been facing minor league pitchers on the back fields of the Mets’ spring training complex over the last week to get ready. He also has taken batting practice against Parnell.
“I’ve probably missed three-quarters of spring training the last two years and I’ve felt like I’ve been prepared to start the season,” Wright said. “So hopefully this year I can continue to monitor the at-bats and get what I need. I want to peak around the start of the season and not need to [squeeze in] 40 at-bats.”
Ruben Tejada went 2-for-5 in the scrimmage and expects a return to the lineup on Friday.
Tejada incurred tightness in his left hamstring during pregame drills on Sunday and was removed from the lineup.
Though Ike Davis participated in Thursday’s scrimmage, he did not run the bases, as he continues to deal with tightness in his left and right calf muscles.
“The good thing is it doesn’t hurt to swing, so I can get at-bats and stuff like that, but I just have to wait a little for running,” Davis said. “I would rather miss a little bit now than completely tear it or pull it so I miss a month or the beginning of the season. So this is the time to actually get healthy and I’m still getting the work in and still seeing pitching like I did today.”
Lucas Duda said it likely will be “a few more days” before he can return to action. Duda was removed from Monday’s game against the Braves with hamstring tightness and said he’s improving, but still not ready to resume running.
The Mets’ exhibition game against the Astros in Kissimmee, Fla., on Thursday was cancelled because of rain.
John Lannan, who was scheduled to start against the Astros, had his turn moved to Friday. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Rafael Montero are scheduled to follow Lannan.