18
2013
Will Wright Be Ready For Opening Day?
An article by 
David Wright is correct, his rib injury could have happened anytime. It could have happened carrying groceries from the car.
That isn’t the issue.
The issues are Wright was injured while at the World Baseball Classic – whatever he was doing at the time, it was away from the Mets – and did not report his injury in a timely fashion.
Also an issue is Wright has a strained left intercostal muscle and faces the strong possibility of being on the disabled list to start the season. What should be an issue if you’re the Mets is Wright gave no sign of regret about the WBC, and the perception of minimizing the injury.
“You can get hurt in spring training,’’ Wright told reporters prior to today’s 2-1 loss to Atlanta. “You can get hurt before spring training. Playing baseball, there’s some risk that comes along with that. … It has nothing to do with the tournament itself. It has everything to do with some bad luck.’’
Sure, it is bad luck, but that’s not Mets fans want to hear. They want to know if their All-Star third baseman, who was just signed to a $138 million package, will be able to play Opening Day. The WBC is a hard enough sell as it is in the United States, and Wright was injured participating in the international tournament. Mets fans don’t care about promoting baseball around the globe.
There is also the perception Wright placed his personal desire to represent his country – as admirable as that is – over his obligation to the Mets.
“Of course I owe it to the Mets to be honest with them, and I was,’’ Wright insists. “Ultimately when I started going in and getting treatment for it, the Mets saw that and they called me. I was honest with how I was feeling.
“Once it got to the point where I started not being able to sleep, or when it was painful to lounge around, that’s when obviously I started going to get treatment and talking to [trainer] Ray [Ramirez] and [general manager] Sandy [Alderson] and those guys.’’
Wright said those conversations took place Wednesday, which contradicts Alderson’s assertion the Mets didn’t become aware until shortly before game time Thursday. That doesn’t help the Mets’ image. The Mets have been known for their sloppy handling of injuries, ranging from Ryan Church’s concussion to Carlos Beltran’s knee to Johan Santana’s shoulder this spring.
That won’t go away, especially if Wright isn’t ready for the season, as appears the case. Wright can’t commit to Opening Day, saying he needs to be cautious and not risk further injury and be out even longer. So, where was the caution when Wright felt pain for a week before reporting it to WBC trainers?
“Once it got to the point where I thought it might obviously prohibit me from coming back and producing with the Mets, that’s when it was time to make that decision,’’ Wright said. “I feel like I have a pretty good sense of what’s tolerable and what’s not tolerable.’’
Well, how about when Wright played a month with pain in his lower back which was later diagnosed as a stress fracture? And, last spring he had the same injury and was out a month. Nobody ever questioned Wright not being a gamer, but that isn’t the issue.
Wright’s desire to represent his country and honor his commitment is admirable. However, it is his judgment here that is in question. His first obligation is to the Mets.
Thoughts from Joe D.
Another wrinkle to this story comes this morning. Terry Collins reported that David Wright will do whatever he can and whatever it takes to be ready to play by Opening Day.
I don’t like the sound of that. What does that mean exactly? Does it mean he will play through the pain again because he’s “a gamer?” New Yorkers love their gamers…
The fact that he required a cortisone shot in his left rib cage on Friday does show the seriousness of this intercostal injury. In mild cases you get a few days and up to a week of rest, and in moderate cases you get a shot and then hold vigil for a week while waiting for a miracle healing that almost never comes.
In Daniel Murphy‘s case the Mets have been holding vigil for a month now, and yesterday we learned of a setback that has shut him down indefinitely from all baseball activity.
“OK, ok, ok… It’s just a little pin-prick… There’ll be no more ahhhh-ahhh-ah… But you may feel a little sick. ~ Pink Floyd
We will know more by Thursday or Friday when Wright is expected to get re-examined, but the last thing we need is Wright using his poor judgement once again only to make things worse. He’s already turned a mole hill into a mountain by playing through soreness for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, lets not make the same mistake just so we can prop him in front of an Opening Day crowd so he can tip his little blue hat to the fans.
“I always play through whatever I can,” Wright said yesterday morning. “I could tolerate playing through it and I was fine with it, and once it got to the point I thought it might prohibit me from coming back and producing with the Mets, that’s when it was time to make that decision.”
That’s great David, but the last thing this team needs right now is you playing the role of super hero again. You are not impervious to pain… Unless of course you want to play the role of Wolverine of the X-Men, who had the remarkable power to heal himself.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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The problem is the Mets can’t afford to have him miss games especially since every team starts the season in the race and he is quite aware that the Mets postseason chances (however small they might be) rest on him. If Wright isn’t the lineup for the first week and a half, they could wind up starting 1-5 and that would be disastrous.
Even if he risks further discomfort and pain, they need him in the lineup from day 1.
Lol, laughable…
David Wright sticking it to his team: Poor Judgemen
Anybody not named David Wright: Bad Teammate, Selfish, Arrogant, Cancer to the team, Etc…….. Amazing…
David Wright hid an injury in order to play for Team USA. That’s a fact and he was wrong, but the majority of Mets fans sympathise with him because he was playing for United States National Baseball Team, a team in which well over 90% of Mets would be supporting.
If Jose Reyes were still on the team and he did the same thing, the reaction would certainly be different, but that’s the reality of the situation since most Mets fans could care less about the DR baseball team and only care about Team USA.
Yes there’s a double standard, but get over it. That’s life…
Other than cancer for the team, I think all those adjectives apply to Wright in this situation. He put his desire to play in the WBC ahead of his responsibility to the NY Mets.
I do not buy the idea that this could have happened during ST. While the injury might have taken place in a cage at ST, going a week without mentioning it would not have. It is that simple. Wright would have sat out all the games last week if he was in camp as opposed to playing. Would that make a difference in his recovery? Who knows. But the fact is he put his desire for the WBC ahead of the Mets.
You forgot Aloof ( Matt Cerrone’s nickname for Ike Davis )
Ike Davis sneaks out of his bunk bed to go to the movies and all hell broke loose in Gotham
I have no problem with how Wright handled this injury. It wasn’t major. It was a moderate strain at worst. Major is what is happening to Teixeira who may need surgery and may be out the ENTIRE season.
You have to let these players play in the WBC. Anyone can get hurt at anytime. Just like regular baseball. You either don’t have the WBC or you let your players participate (within reason, of course).
At most, Wright’s delay in reporting the injury may have cost him 1 extra week on the DL. If the team is good enough to make the playoffs, they can make up any absence early in the year. But many of you who are now criticizing Wright say the team stinks and will finish in 4th or 5th place. So what does it really matter if his stay on the DL is extended a few extra days or not? I just don’t get it.
And don’t question his commitment to the team. No one gives more of his time to the team on and off the field than Wright.
our win won’t be that different with or without him.
I disagree there. I have no problem with the actual injury. In fact, by all accounts he was injured while playing for the Mets, not Team USA. My issue is that he purposely hid the injury and probably made it worse in order to play for Team USA
It’s irresponsible, however if he is ready to go opening day and it does not cause him any problems during the season, then all will be forgotten.
I believe he specifically said he first felt it during the first few days of the WBC. So as far as anyone knows that is when it first happened.
He did not disclose the injury right away because he felt it was minor. How far does one go? Hangnail? Bruise? Blister? As long as he can play without pain, then I don’t think he has an obligation to report anything. And apparently he was playing without pain. The pain at night when sleeping also didn’t crop up until later.
Regardless, many feel the Mets are going to stink this year. So what does it really matter if Wright is out for a few extra days or not? I mean he likely could have gotten the same injury in ST. Maybe it’s a little less troublesome but he likely still be at risk for missing opening day. But since the Mets have no chance (according to some) what’s the big deal?
It’s irresponsible, however if he is ready to go opening day and it does not cause him any problems during the season, then all will be forgotten.”
Ok, fair enough… but again, the fact here is he has to be more smart and mature about this. hiding it could’ve made it worse for him and the team long term, i mean, this man just signed an 8 year deal that would keep him here for life, why risk it all the first year?
Please, Alex, do you honestly believe he jeopardized his entire contract? LOL. It’s not as if he went hang gliding or climbed Mount Everest. He wasn’t even jumping on a trampoline or doing something outside of normal expected activities — like a pitcher shagging fly balls in the OF. So don’t over-dramatize the risks he took. Intercostal strains are literally a dime a dozen in baseball.
Yup, in 2010, Jose Reyes played from May – August with a more severe injury,
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/071110_Klapisch_Jose_Reyes_pays_for_playing_hurt.html
and still hit well
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=reyesjo01&year=2010&t=b#month
geeee…i guess we should’ve appreciated those guys ( reyes/beltran/pagan ) that played through severe injuries and illnesses
LMAO — non-sequitur much, damaja? How does what you posted have have anything to do with my comment that Wright wouldn’t put his ENTIRE contract at risk, lol.
But let me reply to your typical non-sequitur off-topic rant …
So, you are saying Reyes put his entire career at risk and that Alex’s comment about irresponsible play applies more to Reyes and Beltran then?
Or are you agree with me that Wright did NOT put his entire career/contract at risk since previous players played hurt?
And even though 2010 was one of the poorer offensive years of his career, you say he hit pretty well?
Also, leave it up to you to purposely exaggerate the facts. That article says Reyes got the injury on June 30th and yet you say from “May to August’? LMAO. At this point I have to think you purposely stretch the truth because you’ve been so wrong on the facts so often of late. Please, can you at least use the truth and not exaggerate so much? Usually I wouldn’t nitpick so much but it is your SOP now to stretch the truth and it is annoying.
Yes you are right…Reyes aggravated the oblique in late June…not May…
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-top-marlins-but-oblique-injury-leaves-reyes-status-in-doubt-1.2068964
and not surprisingly…when Reyes fought to play in the game….the reporter makes HIM out to be the villian
“Reyes did NOT accept the decision PEACEFULLY and appeared to be angry with trainer Ray Ramirez when he left the field for the second and last time during batting practice.”
So, Did Reyes throw a haymaker at Ray? Nope…he did the same thing any athlete does…he tries to compete
“Reyes took a few practice tosses – while being watched closely by Ramirez – and abruptly headed for the clubhouse again, appearing agitated. Reyes yelled something as he was trailed closely by Ramirez and Manuel.”
Maybe he had to use the bathroom? maybe he had the runs ?
and Reyes missed most of Spring Training with the thyroid condition…missed the beginning of the 2010 season…
started out by hitting .238 in April… .278 in May… .314 in June… .308 in July ( playing injured )… Still INJURED, he hits .302 in August
Removed from a game on Aug. 26 after aggravating oblique injury. Does not return until Sept. 10.
So yeah, its safe to say, he had an injury filled 2010, hit 1st-2nd and 3rd…stopped switch-hitting at one point…and STILL
From May 19th – August 24th hit .330
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=reyesjo01&t=b&year=2010&share=0.80#828-900-sum:batting_gamelogs
and still reporters would write articles like this
http://voices.yahoo.com/jose-reyes-he-just-isnt-worth-it-8766549.html?cat=14
Wright is the type of player that will play through pain, sometimes to his detriment. Putting off getting an MRI for a sore back that went on for over a month – only to find out about the fracture comes to mind.
You can’t question his commitment or high tolerance for pain, apparently. He broke that finger, sat a day or two and got right back in the line-up.
If anyone will find a way to be ready by opening day, it’ll be Wright. Something tells me though he starts the season on the DL.
Just add him to the list of growing injuries.
Ugh…the line up was questionable with all the starters healthy. It’s starting to look a little ugly.
Who’s questioning his comminment?? Noone is, the guy plays through injury we know that, but there’s a fine line of stubborn one should not cross, i wonder, if he was 0-10 would he had gone to the MRI machine earlier in the WBC instead of waiting it out? I mean, the whole Captain America was catching on, so basically, he chose recognition over the mets, and his loyal fans like metro12, TRS and co….
Uh, plenty have questioned his commitment, the most notable being Harper.
Yes, there is a fine line between courage and danger here. But IMO, he did not cross that line.
Maybe he would have sought treatment sooner….we’ll never know.
And it was just an observation I was making about his commitment.
I’m hoping his strain is milder than Murph’s b/c it’s not looking too good for Murphy right about now.
Honstly, i understand it, to be honest, this team ain’t going nowhere, so he chose to play for WBC because that’s like his playoffs, made the whole Captain America sound catchy and funny, now, rib injury…. back to reality. which was the post that Kmaxx did and now, Team USA is out, no more WBC for the americans, back to reality, and the reality is that he’s injure as of now with the possibility of missing opening day.
Agree.
I’d really like to know what it is with all these intercostal type injuries the past few years.
Pagan, Hairston, Bay, Murph, Wright…all had at least one during their tenure on the Mets.
Mets need to look at their training program, IMO.
SRT, to be fair, that’s not the only thing the mets should take at look at, we have the owners, FO, Medical staff, players, coaches, pretty much the whole organization Lol
I read somewhere that the training staff has largely been the same for the past 9 years.
While they’ve turned over just about every other position from the FO on down, I have to wonder about that training staff.
I think they did bring in one new training specialist over the off season. Can’t remember right now if it was an overall trainer or one brought in to work specifically with the pitchers.
Yeah, these people will never learn, after that debacle of 2009 you’d think they’d get a whole new medical staff in here, instead, same people year after year with the same injuries ocurring, yet, they do not see a pattern here. you’d think the medical staff got some madoff cover up or something that the wilpons do not want to let them go.. It’s amazing to me how noone has mentioned them as a cause..
srt, while Ray Ramirez has remained in place, the Mets hired a new strength and conditioning coach last November:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121112&content_id=40254316&vkey=news_nym&c_id=nym
Well I think the fact that he was playing so well was further validation for him that he was “fine” and that the injury wasnt affecting his performance.
I don’t think its an issue of choosing recognition over the Mets. It’s an issue of him not thinking he needed to say anything to the Mets because he didn’t think the injury was an issue or even a real injury.
The Wilpons, Alderson, Collins and David Wright all deserve each other and the Met fans don’t deserve any of them.
Is there ANYTHING Metsian you like? Either currently or in the recent past?
Mr. Met? Everyone loves Mr. Met, right?
LOL, I hope so. He’s the best mascot in sports. The Phanatic is second.
David Wright will be the best mascot in baseball this year.
Book it !
Look I have been a Met fan since 1962 and went to the Polo Grounds to see them play and have great memories of Shea and have a lot of Met fan stuff . Now are you going to tell me I should love the Wilpons after what they have done to this team? Are you crazy? They were in a money grab with Bernie Madoff and to them the Mets were just a sideline. Build a stadium in honor of the Dodgers and Jackie Robinson.Play in the biggest baseball market in the world and put a team on the field with the lineup we are going to have in 2013. I am a BiG Time Met Fan but this is not a Met team not worthy of New York and their fans.
No, I do not expect you to like the Wilpons. But you covered a very wide base in stating your dislike for the current team. So I was seriously wondering specifically what or who on the Mets, either past or current, you liked?
It was poor judgement for him to try to play through this – he misjudged the injury. But I don’t think its a case of of putting himself and the WBC above the Mets. He just clearly felt he could deal with the injury. He didn’t go out there saying “screw it if I get hurt, I don’t care about the Mets”
As for when the Mets found out about it whether it be Wednesday or Thurs – I don’t think it really matters. There were no games on Wednesday. I don’t think Wright said his conversations with the Mets took place on Wednesday, just that that’s when he first went to seek treatment, so that’s when he would have appeared on the injury report for Mets trainers to see. And it might be that Sandy wasn’t alerted by the Mets trainers until the next day when Wright was on the report again for the second day and that’s when the Mets got involved and had him pulled from the lineup. Either way, the Mets stopped him from playing in the next game when they found out whether that be Wednesday or Thursday so I don’t think they are to blame in any way here.
In the past, I have always taken the high road with regard to David Wright!
I cannot give him a pass on this issue of the WBC and truthfully…I don’t care for his attitude at all about this injury. Look at his assessment of what happened. He stated that there was no real problem until he started having trouble sleeping or just lounging around! He must be crazy!
Sounds like this is a serious injury to me!
Unfortunately, now that this has happened…almost anything that the front office says is going to be a problem because they should be livid about this. If they speak negatively then they are bad mouthing David and if they pass over the problem then they are trying to snow the fans!
I am hoping that this will be the last time that we allow any of our players to participate in this tournament regardless of WBC contract insurance. For the fans who pay money to see the best players we have……we are getting cheated as well as the owners of which I have little regard for
this type of attitude is exactly what’s wrong with our country these days.
In professional soccer, star players leave in the middle of the regular season (many times travelling across the globe) to play in world cup qualifiers, domestic cup qualifiers and sometimes exhibition games.
Yes there is a risk of getting hurt, but playing for one’s country is honor and a privilege and it would be nice if Americans took pride in national competitions like the rest of the world does.
So he misses 5 out of the 162 games because he wanted to lead his country (and your country btw) to win the WBC. Is that really that big of a deal?
The issue isn’t that he played in the WBC it’s that he ignored an injury and tried to play through it BECAUSE of some percieved IMPORTANCE to a game that meant nothing and was no more important than all these games he is about to miss NOW due to the SAME INJURY!
He made an Injury that COULD be played through an Injury he CAN NOT PLAY THROUGH NOW (meaning he made it worse than it had to be!)
All because he thought those games were more important to play in than what is now going to be the START of our season…..
He may not have KNOWN he would make it bad enough to miss the start of the season but that is EXACTLY what happened!
And THATS the issue here…Not Where it happened….
Would he do the same thing if he stayed with us? Maybe…But I bet he reports the problem just a bit earlier than the time he CAN’T GO and with us the game might not seem as important to him to be in so he might have rested a bit more than he did there…
Other than that it doesn’t matter what happened the bottom line is Wright did the WRONG thing….
No matter where it was he should have stayed out of unimportant games to be sure he was ready to play in the games that DO count!
I don’t think its fair to assume that he thought the WBC was more important than the Mets or that he didn’t care enough about the season.
He just didn’t think it would effect his season.
Well he played through the injury there and is not playing through it now that he is back isn’t he?
So what would you conclude from that fact?
He wanted to continue to play when he reported the Injury it was the Mets that said NO MORE….
That tells you he wanted to play in those games more!
Cause now he isn’t playing…Maybe thats by force (of the FO maybe not)
In the end he played THROUGH an injury for a week instead of resting and now he seems headed to missing the first week of the regular season….
Whatever the motivation involved Wright screwed up….
All I insinuated was WHY he might have done what he did!
Well now that he knows what the injury is and knows that it won’t heal without some rest it makes sense to stop playing. And he did stop playing in the WBC as well. But previously he thought it was something that would get better and wouldn’t be hurt by playing. After visiting the docs he found out differently, hence the change of plans.
It’s not like he’s never played hurt for the Mets.
Let’s conclude Captain America has aminor injury that the METS are forcing him to get better.
excellent,
lets conclude that the spin doctors at SNY/Metsblog along with the FIRM have 2 standards for the same type of behavior.
theres the Wright standard…than the ones for the hired help
I personally prefer to hear David Wright is working to come back and be the best player he can be and play up to the high standards we have come to expect of him…..
When that is I could care less!
Whats done is done!
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the WBC or spring training or the regular season. I play through what I can tolerate playing through. And I could tolerate playing through it and I was fine with it.”
“Once it got to the point where I thought it might obviously prohibit me from coming back and producing with the Mets, that’s when it was time to make that decision. I feel like I have a pretty good sense of what’s tolerable and what’s not tolerable. Some of those things just kind of go away. If I needed to call somebody every time I felt something, I wouldn’t play too many games, I don’t think.” – David Wright
It’s like I had opined, that if Wright didn’t initially report it it was because he did not feel it was an issue. I do not believe he would purposely do something to jeopardize his season to participate in the WBC. These things just happen just as it did to him last Spring when there was no WBC and just as it has happened to other players during Spring Training.
Yep but in the end he waited to deal with it for a week and now he seems in jeopardy of missing the first week of the season….
So he THOUGHT he stopped in time to not have it affect the Mets but he was about a week too late and if he had reported it right away he might not have missed that week he is due to miss….
Captain America will be named CAPTAIN of the Mets in 2013.
OMG that is the most original name/comment combo ever!
He can have 10 C’s and still will be overpaid and UN CLUTCH
Lmao, Alwaysamazing, you’re always…. Amazing…
alex, mi pana- tu tambien. viva la CORE!
m(__)m (bowing emoticon)
….and he will watch someone from DR or PR be crowned Captain Capicu…
Will Wright be ready for Opening Day? It doesn’t really matter anymore because Wright’s main objective was being ready for the WBC and Opening Day was last on his list of priorities. So all of you Captain America fans, it must suck that Wright was Poison Ivy or Catwoman all along.