The Phillies have become unofficial medical advisors to the Mets.
While Roy Halladay advised Matt Harvey on his experiences with elbow woes, Philadelphia third baseman Michael Young sought out his Mets counterpart, David Wright, to give caution and words of experience in dealing with hamstring injuries.
“The cardinal rule I told him, and this was told to me by other guys, ‘The second you think you’re ready to play, wait three more days.’ That way you know you’re ready,” Young said.
Young told Wright how in September 2009, he suffered a hamstring strain and was told he would miss three weeks.
“I came back in 11 days,” Young said. “I was running full speed on the bases the day before. I felt I was ready. My first at bat, a breaking ball and I landed really hard on my front side. Boom.
“Didn’t even get through one at bat.”
So Young missed two more weeks. Young told Wright during rehab, everything is balanced and perfectly aligned, unlike the real baseball world.
“Michael Young was great. Roy talked to Matt the other day and Michael came and found me,” Wright said. “He tried to rush it back. He said, ‘In all your rehab, you’re balanced. Once you get into a game everything becomes unbalanced.’ The first pitch he took, he didn’t even swing [and] his hamstring went.
“It was kind of a cautionary tale that he wanted to come find me and tell me.”
Young explained his admiration for Wright and so he shared his experience. So much for the Phillies hating the Mets and vice versa.
“I always liked David and always had a ton of respect for the way he played the game so I’d love to see him back on the field,” Young said.
Wright flew to Florida yesterday to begin his rehab for the Grade 2 hamstring strain that landed him on the disabled list Aug. 3. He said all has gone well so far and while there is no timetable for his return, he expects to play again this season.
But he stressed he will heed Young’s advice. He does not want this to be a chronic sort of ailment.
“Everything is going well so far. The doctors reiterate to me, ‘Hey this is a six-week injury, it’s not worth it to go out there and risk getting hurt trying to come back in four, four-and-a-half weeks,’ ” Wright said. “You don’t want to go into the offseason with the uncertainty of an injury. Most importantly I don’t want this to affect me next year and in the years to come. I want to rehab this properly.”
And quickly.
“I want to play and it’s against pretty much everything I believe in to just shut the season down,” Wright said. “You’ve got 25 guys in that room that are battling. Obviously we’re in an uphill battle with some of the injuries and trades, so I want to get back and join my teammates and try to help them finish strong.
“Personally I don’t want the next time to take the field to be spring training, with the uncertainty of not being able to finish the season strong and healthy.”
