DENVER — David Wright is in pain, but he won’t use that as an excuse.
The Mets third baseman admitted yesterday that for the last three weeks, he has played with and been treated for back and neck soreness, the result of a collision with the Astros’ Carlos Lee in a tag play at third base last month at Citi Field. The injury was first reported by The Post’s Joel Sherman yesterday on nypost.com.
“It’s just something you play through,” Wright said before going 1-for-4 with a strikeout in the Mets’ 2-1 loss to the Rockies. “It’s one of those things where obviously you’ve got to know your body and what you can play through and what you can’t play through.”
Wright said there is no correlation between the soreness and the fact he has struggled lately — he was in an 8-for-36 (.222) rut and hadn’t homered since April 24 entering last night — but manager Terry Collins isn’t buying it.
“I do believe it has something to do with it, but David Wright will never make it as an excuse,” Collins said. “It’s not an issue with him, but I happen to think there’s got to be something, because this guy is just too good a hitter to run through the streak he’s going through.
“He’s been playing with it. He’s just fighting through it. When this thing starts to go away, and I think it will as the weather warms up a little bit, you’ll see the swing of old.”
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Jenrry Mejia
, after receiving a second opinion from noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews
, will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair a complete tear to the medial collateral ligament in his right elbow.
The tear was diagnosed during an MRI exam last week. The Mets do not have a date for the surgery.
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Collins flipped Jason Bay
and Ike Davis
in the lineup — Davis was moved to fifth, where he went 2-for-4, and Bay to sixth, where he went 0-for-3 with an RBI groundout — because he thought the Mets were getting too left-handed later in the order.
Collins had lefties Jason Pridie
and Josh Thole
batting seventh and eighth. The manager also figured having Bay bat sixth might make the opposing manager think twice before summoning a lefty reliever to face Davis.
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Bobby Parnell
pitched an inning for Single-A St. Lucie as he rehabs from a circulatory problem in his middle finger. Collins has received reports that Parnell’s velocity is 94-97 mph.
The Mets would like to have Parnell pitch for Double-A Binghamton or Triple-A Buffalo to see how he responds to taking the mound in colder weather.
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R.A. Dickey
is scheduled to pitch Saturday at Houston, but Collins planned on having the knuckleballer on call if the Mets need extra bullpen help during this three-game series at Coors Field.
If Dickey were to pitch in relief, the Mets would have the option of making his next start Sunday because of Thursday’s off day.
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Commissioner Bud Selig
said he’s satisfied with the steps Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon
is taking as he attempts to solve the franchise’s financial woes. Wilpon is close to selling a minority interest in the team.
“They’re approaching it the way I would’ve approached it,” Selig told ESPN New York (1050 AM). “They’re looking to add equity, and I don’t doubt that’s going to work out. The [Bernie
] Madoff
situation? That’s well in the future. But in this case, to solve the immediate problem, they’re doing it.”