Kevin Kernan of the NY Post caught up with David Wright who is swinging a bat again pain free and insists he is right where he needs to be for 2015, a season in which he expects to be playing in October.
“I fully expect us to be in the playoffs,” the 32-year-old Wright said. “It’s not coming out here and boasting, but I think where we stand right now, we’re a much better team than we were last year and in years past. You win with young, dominant pitching and we have quite a bit of that, and offensively, we are going to be better than we have been.”
Wright is swinging a bat and is 100 percent ready to go as he gets his body and his mind in shape at the Mets training facility in Port St.Lucie. “In my eyes, I’m not too far behind from where I am normally at this time of year.”
Wright and many other Mets have embarked on this new offseason training program with Mike Barwis of the Discovery Channel show “American Muscle.”
“I’ve always worked out in the offseason, but I wish I would have had something like this earlier in my career,” Wright said. “It’s not just about getting yourself the strongest and the fastest. Everything we do in here is engineered, and it will translate to the baseball field. We’re all paying to do this. To see the dedication of all the guys throughout the organization is pretty impressive.”
Joining Wright at PSL are teammates Lucas Duda, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, Travis d’Arnaud, Jeurys Familia, Rafael Montero, and Ruben Tejada.
Getting back to Wright, the Mets captain is a man on a mission and he vows to bounce back in a huge way and lead the Mets to the postseason in 2015.
“The thing that solves all problems is winning. The burden is on us as players and as an organization to go out there and win baseball games. If we start winning baseball games in April, the fans will come out, but we have to prove we have a good product on the field.”
“That is where the bar is set. The bar is not set to be just better than last year or to be a .500 team. The bar is set to be a playoff team.”
I really love hearing him talk like this. Wright needs to set the tone and really bust out of the gate next season as an offensive force and leader. All the young players respect him and look up to him. This is his team.
I’m very optimistic that Wright is going to have a great comeback season in 2015 and that his presence in the middle of the Mets lineup is going to make players like Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, Travis d’Arnaud and Juan Lagares better. I can’t wait to get this season started. LGM
(Photo credit: Dennis A. Clark)
