Updated on 3/23 by Joe D.
This afternoon at the Mets complex at Port. St. Lucie, David Wright took another big step forward in his recovery from a strained left intercostal muscle that has shut him down for two weeks.
The newly appointed captain of the Mets took some swings off a tee in the cage this morning for the first time since being sidelined. This comes a day after Wright did some running, fielding and tossing.
Wright said that he felt no pain during or after his batting session and still hopes to be ready for Opening Day.
However, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told Newsday’s Marc Carig that he remains cautiously optimistic about Wright’s progress.
“I’m glad it’s a goal,” Alderson aid. “Is it realistic? Yeah, I think it’s realistic. I don’t think there’s any certainty, but it’s realistic.”
Stop being such a Debbie Downer, Sandy…
Original Post 3/22
It’s starting to look more and more like Daniel Murphy will begin the 2013 season on the disabled list. Terry Collins had recently stated that if Murphy didn’t play in a major league level tune-up by this coming weekend, that he didn’t think he would be ready for the Opening Day. There is virtually no chance of Murphy playing in Saturday’s preseason game, which is making it really start to sink in that the Mets will be without their starting second baseman when the season kicks off.
The good news is, his disabled list stint can be retroactive, and he may only miss the first five games of the season. The better news is that Jordany Valdespin has more than filled the void while Murphy has been battling his injury, and should be able to hold down the second base duties for as long as Murphy may be on the disabled list.
Some more good news was that David Wright, the newly named Mets captain, was throwing, running, and fielding grounders today. Adam Rubin of ESPN reported that Terry Collins said “all good signs so far” regarding Wright’s recovery from intercostals injury.
Starting the 2013 campaign with half of the infield on the disabled list was not what the Mets or the fan base had in mind. The infield was supposed to be the foundation of the offense, and if both Wright and Murphy land on the disabled list, it will put even more pressure on the unproven Mets outfield to perform. As stated earlier, the great news is that Valdespin has been playing absolutely fantastic baseball this spring, so that can help bridge any time frame where Murphy may be out of the lineup. But if the Mets lose both Wright and Murphy, this Mets team will have to dig deep and get some offense from the other positions.
