When the New York Mets infielders took their positions for an unofficial workout, David Wright received the first ground ball at third base. The pitchers’ workouts had ended, and several team officials and dozens of fans gathered around to watch. What they saw was this: Wright fielded the ball cleanly and made a smooth throw to first base, with his tongue out.
Just as Wright had done thousands of times before.
In a spring training generally devoid of intrigue for the Mets, Wright is the one significant question mark. Last season, it was discovered that he was suffering from spinal stenosis, a degenerative back condition, and he ended up missing more than three months of the season, although he was back in the lineup when the Mets put on a second-half surge that carried them to a division title and the World Series.
Now, as spring training begins, Wright is still determining the best way to soothe his back issues, and the Mets are still pondering how to handle him over the course of 162 games in 2016. No one, at this point, is quite sure how much, or how well, he will play.
“We’re just anxious to get him out on the field,” manager Terry Collins said.
The Mets have been somewhat anxious about Wright ever since he and they learned in May that he had a serious physical problem. When he finally returned in August after extensive rehabilitation, he would arrive at the ballpark about six hours before the first pitch so he could put himself through a series of stretches and exercises, doing every drill his doctor had recommended.
It seemed to work for a while, until the postseason, when Wright batted just .185 and appeared to regress defensively. In his final game, Game 5 of the World Series, he made a slow, looping throw to first base that, in part, allowed Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer to make a break from third base and score the tying run in the top of the ninth inning.
Last Friday, in Wright’s first session with reporters this spring, he said the games he played last season after he returned were largely an experiment.
“I had no idea what to expect when I came back,” he said. “I had no clue. Now I kind of know what I’m up against.”
So this spring will give Wright, 33, time to experiment more and develop a new pregame routine, one he hopes can be simpler than last year’s.
Following his doctor’s orders, Wright took about a month off after the 2015 postseason and did nothing. Then he spent the winter gathering more information, talking to doctors and therapists. General manager Sandy Alderson said this week that he envisioned Wright playing about 130 games this year. But neither Collins nor Wright wanted to predict a specific number.
“I want to be out there as much as I can,” Wright said. “I think it’s impossible to say X amount of games. It’s easier to sit here and guess. I’m not going to offer a guess, because I’d like to be out there as much as possible.”
How much Wright plays this year will depend, in part, on his communication with Collins. Wright said that when he returned last season, Collins was “very strict” with his schedule, outlining which days he would play and which days he would sit, basically giving Wright no say in the matter. Wright ended up sitting out about once every four games.
Overall, he played in 30 games after returning in late August. For the season, in 38 games, he hit .289, an encouraging number.
For now, for sure, the Mets will be cautious with him. He is not likely to participate in as many drills this spring as he normally would, nor get as many at-bats. Which seems fine with Wright.
“Having talked to the doctor,” Wright said, “when you have this type of condition, some days you wake up and it’s just not working. I’m going to have to be honest about that, because, he says, when you push it, when you feel those days and push it, instead of taking a day or two days, that’s when you’re out two weeks.”
What Wright did discover after he returned last season is that if he dived for a ground ball or took a big swing, the soreness did not intensify.
Knowing that should help his state of mind this season. He said he planned to reduce the number of swings and grounders he takes before games, and he will try to limit the amount of pregame stretching exercises he has to do.
And Collins said he planned to meet with Wright next week to discuss everything more thoroughly. There will be much to discuss, and Collins has thought of some ideas to run by Wright.
Wright is the team captain, the Mets’ career leader in hits, the first star in team history who may play his whole career in a Mets uniform. The Mets, and Wright, hope there is still plenty of time left in that career.
