Mets third baseman David Wright came clean on Wednesday, telling Adam Rubin of ESPN New York that his persistence in playing with an injured shoulder may caused much more damage than what has been reported.
“When I got hurt, the ligaments and the cuff and everything else that holds my shoulder in place were damaged and stretched out,” he said. “And therefore my shoulder – the ligaments are not grabbing on the way they’re supposed to be. They’re stretched out and slightly damaged so my shoulder is kind of rolling around and not stable.”
For over two months, Wright continued to play through the shoulder injury until doctors finally convinced him to shut it down. The Mets initially reported it as a bruised left rotator cuff, but obviously this is something much more serious.
“I always say that I’m going to learn my lesson,” said Wright. “And I probably, moving forward, need to be a little more truthful to myself and the medical staff as to exactly what I’m feeling.”
Additionally, there’s the question of why did the Mets wait until AFTER Wright was shutdown to send him for a dye-contrast MRI exam, which is how they learned how extensive the damage to the ligaments and socket actually was. Read more on that in Newsday.
So now what?
The Mets captain said he is currently one week into a six-week rehab process and that by ending his season early, he’s had a two-week head start which allows him to be re-evaluated in early November rather than mid-November. Then comes the moment of truth, Wright will learn whether or not he will need to undergo shoulder surgery.
Wright, who turns 32 in December, is trying not to think about the possibility of surgery, choosing instead to remain optimistic.
“I’m planning to be able to rehab this thing in six weeks, get pretty good news and then resume baseball stuff and have a regular offseason.”
If he does need surgery, he could miss about 3-4 months. He deflected any blame from the Mets simply saying, “this is on me.”
Wright wrapped up the least productive season of his career, batting .269 with eight homers, 63 RBI and a .698 OPS.
