Mike Napoli on track to be activated from disabled list Saturday

After missing the past month with a strained left quad muscle, Mike Napoli is on track to be activated from the disabled list Saturday.

Napoli is 1-for-6 with a homer in two rehab games this week with Double-A Frisco. Perhaps more importantly, he has caught 15 innings without incident. He is scheduled to get one final tuneup tomorrow as the the designated hitter before being activated. While he isn’t quite 100 percent, he told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com that he is satisfied with his progress.

“I feel good enough,” Napoli said. “I’ll go get some at-bats tomorrow and be ready to go. I don’t think I’m running at full speed, but I’m able to run around the bases at a decent pace and I feel good catching. I tried to do everything I could to test it and it felt good. The big thing was being behind the plate. Everything is good.”

Napoli, 30, is batting .223/.343/.429 with 17 home runs, 40 RBI and a .771 OPS in 92 games played this season. He’s due to become a free agent this offseason, so he should be plenty motivated to finish strong.

Geovany Soto has struggled as the regular catcher during Napoli’s absence, batting just .216/.277/.343 with three home runs, 17 RBI and a .620 OPS in 33 games since coming over from the Cubs in late July. Even though Napoli has been a disappointment this year, he should be a major upgrade if healthy.