JOSE: IT’S JUST NOT WRIGHT!
Reyes feels for David
CINCINNATI — Jose Reyes doesn’t even want to think about it. As a veteran player, the 34-year-old knows that the day will come when he will have to weigh his future in this game. Tuesday, however, Reyes said he wasn’t ready to even wonder what it will be like.
So he feels for his long-time friend and teammate.
David Wright has had to face his future in baseball for the last year and a half. With the news that he has been shut down yet again from his rehab attempts to come back from June 2016 neck surgery, Reyes empathized with the thoughts that must be going through Wright’s mind as he heads back up to New York to consult with doctors.
“When I signed here, I was very excited about that ... at least we (could) start at least one game together, you know him at third base and me at shortstop, at this point it’s been kind of hard for that to happen,” said Reyes, who shared the left side of the Mets infield with Wright until he left as a free agent in 2012. “I wish all the best for him. Whatever decision he needs to make, I am going to be behind him 100%. If he wants to continue playing I am going to be here supporting him, whatever he decides to do.
“At the same time he needs to think about his future and do you want to continue to try and try,” Reyes continued. We are behind him, because he is still young, but “you have to be very strong in your mind to continue to have a lot of setbacks and you are still hungry to come back and play baseball.”
People who had watched Wright’s rehab and who have talked with him say he has expressed concern about his ability to stay at third base moving forward. Throwing has been the issue for the 34 year old for a while.
He had changed his mechanics of throwing after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2015. The back condition had taken some of the zip out of his throws, but the herniated disc in his neck has clearly made it much more difficult for him to throw.
He expressed frustration to Terry Collins that he could not get his shoulder to bounce back after playing three rehab games, one as a designated hitter and two in the field.
“It’s tough for him,” the Mets manager said before Tuesday night’s series-opener against the Reds at Great American Ball Park. “Everybody in this room knows him and knows he put every bit of an effort into it to make it work. I haven’t talked to him, I talked to him before yesterday. He decided he couldn’t play yesterday. You just salute the fact that he gave it his best shot. Now, we’ll see what the doctor has to say now and I am sure David will make the decision that is in his best interest along with the ball club.”
Wright has played in just 75 regular-season games since 2015. He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis that requires him to do hours of stretching and exercises just to be able to get on the field, but he came back late in that season and made the run to the World Series with the Mets that year. In 2016, he was shut down after a May 27 game, had surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck and has not played since.
Reyes has watched Wright try to get back and it’s something that no baseball player wants to face.
“This is what I love to do, this is the game I love to play, I know at some point I have to think about that. For right now, I don’t want to even think about that,” Reyes said. “It’s going to come at some point. I know it’s going to be difficult. I have been playing this game since I was a little kid. Just to think about retiring is going to be painful.”
While no one in the Mets clubhouse or organization was ready to talk about Wright’s future, they were clearly, quietly thinking how much longer he can keep up the battle against time and his health to come back.