DAVID WANTS TO START WRIGHT
Says he’ll adjust spring workouts just to be ready for Opening Day
PORT ST. LUCIE — David Wright is not going to put a number on how many games he will play this season. The Mets captain will not even estimate how much work he will do this spring as he balances resting his back and getting ready for the season.
But he does know one game he definitely plans on being in the lineup for this season: April 3 at Kauffman Stadium.
“I want to be in the lineup for Opening Day, of course” Wright said. “So everything now is kind of working back from there to get ready.”
On the first day position players had to report to camp, Wright met with Terry Collins, Sandy Alderson, head trainer Ray Ramirez and physical therapist John Zajac for nearly half an hour to figure out how to make that happen. Wright missed 115 games due to spinal stenosis last season and has to find the right balance between work and rest to get ready and stay healthy and productive for a full season.
“With the two trainers, we’re going to come up with a schedule for him and see how he is and see how he is toward the end of camp,” Collins said of the meeting behind a closed door in his office. “If there’s anything left that we need to do at the end of camp to make sure he gets enough at-bats or reps in the field and if we think he needs some more we’re going to have to use minor league camp, those type of options. Yet get him rest at the same time. (The meeting) was very, very productive and he’s so on board with doing what it takes to help the club.”
Wright, 33, has not played close to a full season since 2012. He hit .289 with 17 RBI and five homers in 38 regular-season games last season. In the playoffs, Wright hit just .185 with a home run and seven RBI in 14 games.
The Mets felt that some of his struggles in the playoffs stemmed from fatigue from trying to work his way back after the spinal stenosis diagnosis and then playing regularly in the postseason.
So they will start monitoring him in spring, and cut back on his drills. He will likely not play in many spring training road games, because riding the bus and going right on the field is not good for his back. In the batting cage he is limited to 15 to 20 swings a day while most players take 75 to 125.
Wright just began running and taking ground balls 10 days ago and admitted he is behind his normal spring training schedule because of the Mets’ run to the World Series and the doctor-recommended month he just rested after the season.
“With the back thing, I’d rather that feel decent than maybe be where I normally am this time of spring with baseball,” Wright said. “It might be it takes a little longer in spring to get to a point where I feel I am doing everything I need to do to go into games.
“It is going to be a learning experience for me, a learning experience for the coaching staff and the medical staff,” Wright continued. “We’re going to have to take it day by day, see how it feels.”
And that “see-how-it-feels,” approach will continue into the season. Both Wright and Collins know they will battle over his desire to play in as many games as he can while proactively resting the back.
“I have to be honest with him and he has to kind of tell me what he wants out of me,” Wright said.. “I think a better term for that is being a little more proactive rather than reactive.”
“We’ll see how the flow of spring goes, how the flow of the season goes,” Wright said. “Again if it’s a situation where I need to say something to him, or he needs to say something to me, that open line of communication is there.”