(Neil Miller/Sportsday Wire)
PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – The Mets would like to announce a quick addendum to you preseason vacation.
If you are coming down to Port St. Lucie to see Captain David Wright, plan your trip later this month, he’s not going to play for a while.
He’s being held out at least 10 to 12 games to ease the strain on his back.
“I’m a little late getting into games, but I am able to get some work in that I’m not normally going to get in,” Wright said. “I’m able to take the number of ground balls and the number of swings I am not normally able to take the last couple of weeks.”
Look, the Mets are being smart here with their captain. We all know these games don’t count and Wright has a limited number of games in him this year. This is the new normal with No. 5. Remember, he’s signed through 2020 and barring a heart to heart with Michael Cuddyer, the Mets want the maximum return from their investment.
And here’s the most frustrating part of his injury. No one – not the doctors nor David – knows when it’s going to flare up again. Even though he’s in the warmth of the Florida sun right now, Wright’s back can go out at any time.
“I think that the playoffs, because of the days off, they were OK,” he said. “The weather was tough, because I like to sweat and like to be warm and I think that helps out my back. I’ll take that adrenaline everyday than the warmth. It’s about how I feel. It has nothing to do with the weather but when I wake up, I can tell what kind of day it’s going to be. If it’s one of those bad days then you have no shot of doing anything productive. It’s usually between the two and the hour and an hour and a half routine that I do every day helps turn the dial to a good day.”
That said, you know No. 5 will suffer through those cold October days any day of the week.
Again it’s getting there and that’s why you aren’t going to see him until after St. Patrick’s Day at the earliest. However, he will be ready – barring any kind of setback – for Opening Day in Kansas City.
“I know I was going to be delayed and going to be eased into it,” he said. “At bats I always could hop on the minor league side and get four or five at bats in five minutes. As far as the speed of the game is something I’m going concentrate on the second half of the spring. The last four or five days, the work I did with (Tim Teufel) helped me tremendously with the fundamentals of the game.”
Maybe this will be for the best. Wright gets extra work on some weaknesses, while keeping his back in tact until the games count.
So how many games does he think he will play? 100? 125? 155?
“I’ll take that,” he said of the last number.
And so will the rest of Mets Nation.
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