David Wright insists his back is a non-issue. Yes, the spinal stenosis condition forces him to do extra work to get ready to play, and he will be taking more days off this year than he did before the injury, but it has nothing to do with his spotty play in the field so far.
“I wish the weather would warm up, but [I feel] pretty good,” he said after the Mets’ 7-2 win over the Phillies in the home opener in front of a sold-out crowd at Citi Field on Friday.
The Mets captain’s day got off to a solid start. He doubled to right-center field in his first at-bat and made a nifty bare-handed play of an Odubel Herrera bunt in the fourth inning. But he committed a throwing error in the eighth on a routine play and then whiffed on a popup, which fortunately turned into a double play because of the infield-fly rule and Cesar Hernandez taking off when the ball eluded Wright’s glove.
“That was crazy. The wind all day was blowing left to right,” the third baseman said. “I’d like to say that’s how I drew it up and we worked on it in spring training, but that’s not quite the truth.”
“I was trying to play the wind that way. All of a sudden it started taking off behind me. [I] caught a break when they called the infield fly and I got the runner off first.”
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When he was in the minor leagues, Wright said he attempted to drop an infield popup to double off a runner. But it never worked.
“I guess the key is to try to catch it and not catch it,” he joked. “It makes it a little more realistic.”
Wright, who is expected to be given a day off either Saturday or Sunday, said he’s feeling fine, preferring to talk more about the Mets’ strong home opener than his health. He seemed to indicate his defense was more a result of early-season jitters than his spinal stenosis.
“Everything is just reacting,” said Wright, who appeared in just 38 regular-season games a year ago because of the back condition. “You take what’s given to you, and there’s no sense whining about it now. It is what it is. Just try to make the best of it.
“It’s nice to be able to just talk about baseball. That’s the ultimate goal, to just go out there and react, and I feel like I’m able to do that. The more games I get under my belt, more comfortable I feel.”
