Dansby Swanson likely won’t be back with the Cubs on Sunday, when he’s eligible to come off the 10-day IL, but he might not be too far away.

Swanson (left heel contusion) continues to progress in his recovery, but is still having some trouble with running, a crucial element of his game as an elite defender at a premium position.

“A little timid coming in on like the running part of slow rollers stuff like that,” manager David Ross said. “I think it still bothers him a little bit when he’s having to run. That’s gonna be an important part of his game.”

“We’ll see how he looks tomorrow. My guess is he won’t be active tomorrow … But getting better every single day.”

Nico Hoerner has been stellar defensively at short, so the Cubs aren’t seeing a massive drop in production there, but the Cubs are at their best when Hoerner is at second and Swanson is at short.

Swanson could return against the Nationals this week — he’s been in the batting cage and stood in on Drew Smyly’s bullpen to track pitches, so the Cubs can ease him into game action by DH’ing him and keeping him off his feet a little bit. But it’s all dependent on clearing the running-without-pain hurdle.

Speaking of running, infielder Nick Madrigal was running in the outfield pregame. He landed on the IL on July 4 with a moderate right hamstring strain that he suffered in Milwaukee chasing a pop-up. That’s significant progress for Madrigal given the nature of his injury and his history with his hamstring.

That could mean he’s back with the Cubs sooner than would have been expected when the injury was first revealed.

“Looks really good, feels good,” Ross said. “I think the hope is if things continue to progress we could actually get him on a rehab assignment before we go on the road.”

The Cubs host the Nationals and Cardinals next week and then “hit the road” to face the White Sox in the first Crosstown Series of the year on July 25.

“Hopefully with maybe not too much time off, just get a couple of reps and at-bats and see him soon,” Ross said. “That’s the hope. Now, there’s a lot that can go wrong in the middle of that and we’re gonna be cautious with [his] history. But he feels great, and the trainers are extremely positive from what they thought it might be.”