Photo by Ed Delany of MMO.
In an exclusive must-read interview for The Athletic, Marc Carig chronicles David Wright’s long journey back to the Mets – a journey fraught with sheer will in the face of constant pain and setbacks.
On August 12, Wright did something he hadn’t done since in almost a year, play in a baseball game. The Mets long-time great third baseman started his comeback trail with the St. Lucie Mets – yet again after playing three games for them last August – but this time with his year-old daughter Olivia in attendance to see her dad play baseball for the first time.
He’s played in eight games during his latest comeback attempt and is hoping to play in three consecutive games starting on Friday night if his body allows, “For me that’s been the biggest challenge, how I’m going to feel physically each day because I just never know with what’s going on. One day I could feel pretty decent, the next day my shoulder might hurt, which might lead to my neck bothering me. My back’s always an issue.”
Wright, 35, has understandably been rusty at the plate going 3-for-24 with two walks and six strikeouts. He’s starting to get his timing back going 3-for-10 in his last three games after a bad 0-for-14 with six strikeout start.
Photo by Ed Delany, MMO
The next step for Wright is to play a full game, to this point he has topped out at seven innings defensively at third base for St. Lucie.
Wright know’s that questions still remain about whether this comeback attempt will be successful, “I have a lot of questions as to more in the future rather than how I’m going to feel tomorrow. What can I give? What kind of productivity do I have? I have yet to go nine innings. Can I play nine innings? Can I go back-to-back nine innings? Can I hit the ball in the gap? There’s just so many questions that I have.”
We shall know soon enough if Wright and the Mets feel he is ready, he is allowed 20 days for a rehab assignment meaning the Mets would have to decide on by September 1 whether to activate him or not.
Whether or not Wright ever plays in another major league game, his fighting through multiple surgeries and setbacks is a true testament to why he was given the Captain title and one of the best players to ever don the Mets uniform.
