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New York Mets: David Wright’s Health is a Difficult Challenge

By Nick Ziegler

May 27, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) hits a solo home run to center during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
May 27, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) hits a solo home run to center during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the summer months approaching in the baseball season, the New York Mets have a very big problem on their hands with the health of David Wright.

After missing a majority of the 2015 season after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis, David Wright has been giving it his all to play as much as possible for the Mets this season. Sadly, Wright appears to be breaking down, as he has a herniated disc in his neck in addition to the chronic back issue.

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Neck and back issues are a very serious matter for athletes, as they are both important to doing even normal activities, let alone being a professional baseball player.

“Certainly I think it’s serious,” Mets manager Terry Collins said to Howie Kussoy of the New York Post. “I’ve never had one, but I’ve been around guys who have. Bobby Parnell had one, certainly didn’t come back from it very good. But David’s a tough guy, plays through a lot of pain and we’ll wait to see how he is in a couple days.

“Obviously, a herniated disk can be a serious thing, they can come back. … The doctors gave him some medication, they said this was the next step to alleviate the discomfort and told him it’d probably be a couple days before they really find out if the shot’s going to work. So instead of rushing into anything, we thought, [after Tuesday and Wednesday] and the off day on Thursday, we could give it some time to see if it’s going to take effect.”

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This season, Wright is batting just .226 with seven home runs and 14 RBIs. The power numbers are a bit surprising for Wright, as many thought he would be able to keep his average respectable while losing a bit of power because of the spinal stenosis. Regardless, this is nowhere near the player that he used to be, and that is a difficult thing to watch.

“We won’t know until we see how he comes out of the neck thing, but this guy’s been a special player in baseball,” Collins said to Kussoy. “Certainly being the captain and the face of this organization, a manager’s worst nightmare is to see a star start to fade. I think David’s got a lot of baseball left in him because of the way he prepares and the way he gets himself ready, but it’s hard to watch what he’s going through, to see as good as he was.

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“There [are] a lot of guys that would not do what he does every day just to get ready to play a baseball game. He’s still special, he’s still a great player and we just hope that this neck thing goes away in a few days and he’s back in our lineup.”

Once again, the Mets are in a difficult position with the unknown about Wright’s health. The team hasn’t ruled out a trip to the disabled list for Wright yet, but as of now he is day-to-day with the neck injury. This injury is just the latest sad part of the story of Wright’s diminished skills.

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