Can’t count on Captain
Wright : Jose deserves second chance despite ' awful, terrible' conduct
Any thoughts of a miraculous return this season by David Wright were all but squashed Friday afternoon.
The Mets captain, looking haggard, skinnier than usual and with little mobility in his surgically-repaired neck, talked about his health first and baseball second. However, when asked repeatedly if his career could be over, he never even hinted that was a possibility. Wright, who underwent a cervical discectomy and fusion to repair a herniated disk in his neck on June 16 and is still battling spinal stenosis, revealed he only recently began to do normal things like tying his shoes and walking on his own.
The 33-year-old third baseman still wears a neck brace and is taking pain killers to ease the pain. He has a checkup in six weeks and the next three months is about letting the bones in his neck fuse together. Actual rehab is a ways off.
“You can do the math,” Wright, sporting a white bandage over the front of his neck and a scruffy neck beard, said in his first public comments since the surgery, when asked about a possible return this year. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.
“I love the game of baseball, I can’t wait to get back out there, but the most important thing for me now with my health and trying to get my neck healed because if I go and do something I’m not supposed to we’re not talking about baseball. We’re talking about something that is going to affect me later in life. ... I think that’s the most important thing and that’s my number one goal, [which] is doing everything in my power so that in the future I’m as close to 100 percent as possible.”
Wright painted an ominous picture for a speedy return to the diamond, which the spinal stenosis will only delay. He’ll lose five percent of the mobility in his neck. But he also didn’t mention retirement in his 20-minute briefing with reporters. He intends to play baseball again, though the timetable is uncertain.
“I enjoy what I do and I plan on continuing to enjoy what I do,” Wright said.
Wright said he would have no problem if the Mets went out and got a full-time third baseman, whether it’s free agent Cuban third baseman Yulieski Gourriel or someone this offseason. He credited the organization for their patience and support, and specifically singled out general manager Sandy Alderson. Wright wants to see the Mets win and reach the postseason, but right now he can’t be part of that process.
“They’ve got to do what it takes to get this team better and back to the playoffs. I’m no good on the field right now,” he said. “If they feel like there’s a better option, then obviously they owe it to the fans, they owe it to themselves, they owe it to the organization, to pursue it certainly, especially since I’m going to be out for an extended period of time.”
Wright attended Thursday’s come-from-behind, 4-3 win over the Cubs, and plans to be around the team as much as he can at Citi Field. He plans to take in games from the bullpen. With his condition, he can’t move fast enough to dodge a possible foul ball in the dugout and wants to avoid any celebrations that could harm his healing neck. But being around the team put a smile on his face, and it may helped his teammates, too.
“I’m 1-0 since being here,” Wright said jokingly. “So [if] we keep winning, maybe I’ll keep getting invited back.”
David Wright is thrilled Jose Reyes is back with the Mets — but only if the infielder he played with for eight seasons means it when he says he learned a lesson from the domestic-abuse incident that led to his 52-game suspension.
“I feel like what he did was awful, terrible. I mean, there’s just no other way around it,” Wright said in his first public comments since the Mets signed Reyes to a minorleague contract June 25. “With that being said, he’s shown, in my eyes, he’s done what he can do to earn a second chance. If he’s going to be given a second chance, I think this is a good [spot] for him.”
Wright, whose season is almost certainly over after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck on June 16, said he believes Reyes can help the struggling Mets, who trail the Nationals by six games in the NL East, from a baseball standpoint.
Reyes has yet to hit much, going 1for-17 in his first five minor-league rehabilitation games with Single-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton while playing third base. He has talked to Wright about converting to the new position after spending the vast majority of his career as a shortstop.
“I think he’s going to bring us a ton of energy, and I think that’s some- thing that we could really use, is his dynamic [ability] on the field, his speed, his charisma,” Wright said. “I think his ability, what he brings to the baseball field, is something that could really be a kind of pick-me-up for this team and the fans.
“The fans get into it, it kind of rubs off on the team. All of a sudden, hopefully we can go on a nice little run, and a big part of that is what he brings to the table on the field.”