PORT ST. LUCIE — David Wright’s rib cage has officially become an issue in Mets camp.
A day after the Mets scratched Wright from their intrasquad scrimmage for precautionary reasons, manager Terry Collins yesterday said his third baseman will miss at least the team’s first two Grapefruit League games, tonight and tomorrow. Wright also was inactive for yesterday’s intrasquad scrimmage.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said Wright’s left rib cage, which he “tweaked” earlier in the week during drills, was still hurting.
IKE DAVIS IS TAKING VALLEY FEVER POSSIBILITY IN STRIDE
The Mets will take no chances, especially after watching Scott Hairston strain his left oblique while swinging at a pitch on Saturday. The same injury caused Hairston to miss the final month of last season.
Wright wasn’t given the option of playing tonight and tomorrow. Collins simply told him there was no way he would play.
“It’s kind of the perfect storm as far as what happened to Scotty [Saturday],” Wright said. “I think it’s the correct decision, no question, and I think sometimes I can be hard-headed and stubborn and the medical staff, they might take it slow and probably too slow for my liking, but at the end it’s usually pretty good for you.
“I’ve tried to battle them as much as I could these last couple of days, and what happened with Scotty, they made it very clear and Terry made it clear, they are going to be the ones running the show.”
Wright has a history of playing through pain — he played a month last season with a stress fracture in his back — but the Mets also realize rib cage and oblique injuries have a tendency to worsen if not addressed early.
Hairston is expected to receive a cortisone shot today and be sidelined indefinitely. Collins doesn’t want to go the same route with Wright, who missed two months last season while letting his back heal.
“After [Hairston’s injury] I said, ‘It’s not worth it,’ ” Collins said. “It’s not worth it to take a chance right now, this time of spring, so I said, ‘I’m not going to play you for a few days, and when you’re asymptomatic we’ll see you do some other stuff and then we’ll get you in there.’
“But I’m in no rush. I cannot possibly run him out there and get him hurt [tonight].”
Collins indicated the Mets’ injury woes over the last few seasons played into the conservative thinking.
“On our club right now, we’ve got to keep our starters in the lineup, so we’re concerned about it — no doubt,” Collins said. “We’ve got to be aware of what’s going on, and that’s why we didn’t force the issue here.”
Wright insisted he would be playing if this were the regular season.
“I’ve been going through all the workouts,” Wright said. “I’ve been going at full speed. If this were April 5, I would be playing 100 percent.”
Collins appreciates that competitive fire. But the manager also realizes Wright sometimes needs to be told when to say when.
“As badly as he wants to play — and I don’t know I’ve been around too many guys as big a gamer as he is — I just said, ‘We’re not being very smart if we run you out there and something happens,’ ” Collins said. “I said, ‘You’ll tell me when you’re ready to go, and that day I’m going to give you one more day.’ ”