New York Mets third baseman David Wright used to be one of the most durable players in baseball. He played in 150-plus games in each of his first four seasons and six of his first eight. With his recent injuries, especially his spinal stenosis this past season, those days of playing at least 150 games may be long gone. Still, he has plans to play almost everyday in 2016.
“My mindset is I want to play as much as possible, as much as I’m continuing to help the team,” Wright said. “If I think I can benefit from having an off day with my back, then that’s something that will be discussed.”
“But my mindset moving forward is, the goal is to play as much as possible. For me, that’s being an everyday player and contributing on a daily basis — that’s for sure.” (Anthony DiComo, MLB.com)
Wright hasn’t done much activity since the offseason began, other than regular strengthening and stretching routine. His physical therapists suggested time off to help his entire body heal. Dr. Watkins will once again develop a strategy to help Wright’s conditioning next season.
Manager Terry Collins can also help out. “I have a plan in the back of my mind,” said Collins.
Wright came back from spinal stenosis in late August and hit .277 with four home runs and an .818 OPS for the rest of the regular season, but that dropped to a .185 average and .590 OPS in the postseason. His defense also took a hit, especially his range. The Mets even had some thoughts of perhaps switching Wright to first base which could help him last longer in the majors.
Neither Wright nor Collins knows what to really expect until Spring Training begins.
“I haven’t sat with David and talked about it,” Collins said. “So until we see how he is in Spring Training, then we’ll get together. Until we see how he shows up and how he handles Spring Training, and how the back’s handling the workload in Spring Training , we’ll decide then.”
Wright will work with Dr. Watkins, who he saw on Monday, to streamline his pregame routine.
“It’s just an adjustment of trying to balance the preparation for the game with trying to be as fresh as possible,” Wright said. “It was new to me, having to put so much time and work on my back on top of trying to prepare baseball-wise for a game. I think there are some things that I can do better this coming year.”
Barring any further changes to the roster, backing up Wright at third base will be Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada who each played the position 19 times in the majors, Neil Walker who had 15 games under his belt in 2010, and Asdrubal Cabrera who played third base once in 2007.
(Updated 12/16)
