Keidel: Baseball Gods Are Throwing Wright Some Serious Chin Music
By Jason Keidel
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While the Mets, the media, and Gotham agonize over the state of Matt Harvey, his early season struggles may have masked an issue of equal heft.
The status of David Wright.
The baseball gods haven't been kind to the Mets captain, who has been beguiled by a mystery neck malady, which has led him to a doctor, a shot, and possibly a spot on the disabled list. This goes in tandem with his spinal stenosis, for which there is no cure.
"Pain in the neck" doubles as a metaphor or microcosm for Wright since he signed his epic deal three years ago. If you hear the ominous tone of the reports, there's a resounding sense that Wright will spend more than a few days off the field. And when you consider his dubious, recent history of health, this is hardly a cheerful moment for the Mets, their fans, and the best third baseman in franchise history.
So are the Mets ever going to see another full season from their beloved leader or are they doomed to cash insurance checks for the rest of his career? Wright isn't even halfway through the $138 million contract he signed in 2013, which runs through 2020.
It's assumed the Mets are a mess with a diminished Harvey, aka "The Dark Knight," but the team has enough starting pitching to stay in the hunt even if the right-hander never truly finds his old form. But you could argue the Mets more acutely need Wright to play to some facsimile of his baseball card.
MORE: Keidel: Wright Is The Mattingly Of The Mets, But Has Time To Be More
A few months ago I wrote a piece comparing the Mets captain with a former Yankees captain. Wright and Don Mattingly have bizarrely similar stats at similar points of their careers. And, like "Donnie Baseball," Wright is also being felled by back problems.
Remember, there was a time when the Mets felt they had to choose between Wright and his equally talented wingman, Jose Reyes. For his part, Reyes has also been sidelined, but for defects off the diamond. Wright's issues are strictly related to his health. And while he has the bruises of an old man, he's only 33.
It's easy to say Wright is the most overpaid or underwhelming player in Major League Baseball right now. But at the time he had to be signed for club credibility, proof positive that the Wilpons weren't tanking or eternally taken by Bernie Madoff.
No one could have seen this confluence of injuries. And no Met has ever carried himself with more class and character than Wright. As the months flip off the calendar, the Mets surely could use their captain. There are a conveyer belt of arms to help with Harvey's issues, but no one who can truly replace Wright's lumber and leadership.
After Harvey's sublime performance on Monday, a somber Wright answered questions into a bouquet of microphones and iPhones, playing pop psychologist and physician, clearly frustrated, if not crestfallen, by his surreal spate of maladies.
And it's not fair to assert that Wright is done, buried in the back-nine of his career, no matter his health. Indeed, he had homered in three straight games before the baffling, bulging disc in his neck.
But you do get the sense that Father Time is throwing Wright some serious chin music. Mets fans surely pray he can shake his aches long enough to make an impact on a pennant run.
That is, if the baseball gods are listening.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
