We are just 29 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training in Port St. Lucie, which, for David Wright, will be a big test for his spinal stenosis-ridden back.
As he told The Record’s Matt Ehalt, he will be taking it slow this spring: “Spring training will be kind of a good period to where I can kind of slowly take my time transitioning into baseball stuff, where in years past, on Day One of spring training, you hit the ground running,” Wright said. “Spring training will be a good test period for what my body can take and what it can’t take.”
2016 will be the first season where Wright goes in knowing of his spinal stenosis condition. He has been working with doctors all winter to come up with a plan to keep it at bay.
“Mentally you prepare yourself to play as much as possible,’’ Wright said. “With my back, last year down the stretch it helped me getting the occasional off day, but you can’t really answer that question until I start back up and see how these workouts have gone, how my body feels. You can work out as much as you want during the off-season, [but] when you get your cleats on and get back on the field, that’s a different type of workout and grind on your body…I don’t like to not play, but if it’s going to help me and this team for the long run, it probably will be best to have the occasional day off.”
This tone from Wright is somewhat new. He has always been someone willing to push through injuries, even if it is glaring. However, perhaps an issue as big as spinal stenosis has changed his perspective.
“I have to be honest with Terry. In years past, Terry comes up to you and asks how you feel and it’s, ‘I feel great,” Wright said. “This [condition] is something that can really decline if you’re not honest with yourself and honest with Terry about how you feel that day.”
Wright is already down in Port St. Lucie and will stay there through spring training, working with physical therapists and the team training staff. He said he has been more focused on movement exercises rather than his traditional weightlifting routine this offseason.
While Wright missed most of the 2015 season, he was very good when on the field, slashing .289/.379/.434 in 38 games. He will hope to maintain production somewhere along those lines this upcoming season.
