David Wright insisted he is “all in” for the Mets and their future.
But for one scary moment in the present Thursday night, Wright looked down and out.
Wright took a pitch — fortunately a changeup — to the head in the third inning of the Mets’ 4-2 loss to the Brewers at Citi Field and dropped to the ground, jamming his right thumb in the process. By the time he rose to his feet, the decision to yank him from the game had been made.
Wright passed his preliminary concussion test after being hit by Milwaukee’s Johnny Hellweg, but the Mets want to see how the third baseman feels Friday morning. Wright insisted he was OK and said this was nothing like the concussion he suffered in 2009 after being conked by the Giants Matt Cain.
“Feeling fine. More precautionary that they didn’t want me to stay in the game. Passed all the concussion tests,” Wright said. “It’s scary. Been through that before and this one seems different. From the last one, I definitely have something to base it off. It’s a lot more clear, a lot less painful.
“I felt like my head was all right,” said Wright, who ran through a personal checklist. “I knew the essential things. My ears weren’t ringing. I felt like I got hit in the head with a ball but I knew the score and situation. Didn’t have any memory loss.”
So he is eager to go — almost as eager as his desire for the Mets to make offseason improvements. The All-Star third baseman stressed he will do whatever it takes to help the process. If team brass, including general manager Sandy Alderson, needs his opinion or wants him wearing team colors to help recruit free agents, Wright is ready.
“If they need me to be,” Wright said of a possible free agent recruiter’s role. “Sandy knows it. I’ve reiterated it as often as I can that any way I can help, whether it’s an opinion, a phone call, whatever. That’s what I’m here for.
“I’m all in for this organization and I believe they’re the same. They’ll be all in… with the money coming off the books and with the job our minor league development has done. We have some valuable pieces and some money to spend so I’m here to help in whatever way I can.”
The Mets, who fizzled Thursday night and could not take advantage of the Brewers playing without suspended outfielder Carlos Gomez, will have upwards of $70 million coming off the books.
But it is one thing to have the money, another to spend it. Wright firmly believes the Mets will shell out the bucks needed for the journey to respectability. Wright was told by team brass they would spend before he re-upped for eight years, $138 million last winter. He believes they will keep their promise.
“I do. I believe 100 percent,” Wright said. “With the money coming off the books, with some of the younger minor league pieces that we have, I’m obviously expecting this team to be a lot better next year.”
There are only so many external moves that can be made, however. Wright stressed improvement from within. He used the Mets’ highly regarded group of young pitchers as an example.
“The burden falls on us to be better as well. You can’t go out and expect to sign every free agent, expect to make every big trade,” Wright said. “My personal opinion: the reason for sustained success is building from within and I think we’ve done a nice job doing that as far as pitching wise.”
Wright said despite the 73-86 record, the positive of the season has been giving the Mets brass a chance to evaluate young players and “the best thing that came out of this year was the emergence of some of these young pitchers [and] younger prospects in the minor leagues and guys learning on the fly.”