Wright Heads Back to NY with Shoulder Soreness

The rehabilitation process for Mets third baseman David Wright took a turn for the worse on Tuesday.  According to Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson, Wright was diagnosed with a shoulder impingement and has been flown back to New York to be evaluated. Anderson added that Wright's status for Opening Day is in question.

Wright has been taking things very slowly this spring. He was throwing the ball only 60-70 feet, and with little zip. All of his workouts happened in private around Mets training personal, and the only time he played before public eyes was as a DH in a couple preseason games.

Alderson added that Wright will be shut down for a couple of weeks to make sure that his shoulders stabilizes after he takes a PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection in his shoulder to ease the pain. There is no structural damage.

Obviously this news raises red flags about Wright's health. He is coming off of two major surgeries the last two years. Last season he missed most of the season after having neck surgery to take care of a herniated disc. The year before he dealt with Spinal stenosis that cost him 115 games in 2015.

Overall Wright has played in only 75 games over the past two years combined.

Wright hasn't played a full season since, 2014, when he played in 134 games with 535 at bats. He hasn't hit double-digits in homers since 2013, and has not had a 90-RBI season since 2012.

The hope was that in 2017, Wright would actually be healthy enough to give the Mets 115 - 120 games this year.

With this latest setback, who knows how long Wright will be out. He most certainly will miss Opening Day, April 3. He most likely will be out of major league action till at least the end of April, if all goes well.

But, let's be honest with ourselves, Wright's career is likely over. The injuries aside, he hasn't been the same ball player for quite some time. Even if Wright were to come back from this set-back, there was always the lingering question of how effective he would be in the field, and at the plate. At 34, there a lot of great things Wright can do with his life, and the time may come to realize that.

His future on the field is likely over. If he wants to stay in baseball, and pursue coaching or a front office position, I am sure someone will open the doors wide open for him.

The Mets have to be prepared to move on, seriously this time. They had Jose Reyes as a potential back-up to third base if a setback such as this were to befall Wright, and it has. Reyes will be the Mets starting third baseman this season. There is no question now.

The only question the Mets have to answer is this, what does the future lay in store for the Mets at the position. Clearly Reyes is a stop gap at the position. The team will have to thing long and hard about finding a permeant replacement for Wright.