David Wright’s disappointing season continues to be a source of frustration. If it’s not his swing, it’s his health.
The Mets captain, hit by a pitch on the back of the left shoulder Saturday night, sat out the team’s 2-1 loss to the Cubs on Sunday, and manager Terry Collins made it seem as if Wright could miss even more time.
He was removed in the seventh inning of Saturday’s loss after Cubs starter Dan Straily plunked him in the exact area that has previously caused him problems. It was diagnosed as posterior shoulder soreness.
Wright, suffering through one of his worst seasons of his 11-year career, was unavailable for comment after Sunday’s game. He received treatment on the shoulder, but had declined a pregame request to meet with reporters. Collins said it could “possibly” linger for a few days.
A Mets spokesman said the team will see how Wright feels when he arrives at Citi Field Monday morning to determine the next step, but further tests, such as an MRI exam, aren’t required at the moment.
“It just sucks that out of my whole back, it had to be that one area,” Wright said on Saturday.
The 31-year-old third baseman has attempted to avoid the topic of his shoulder since receiving a cortisone shot prior to the All-Star break, saying his struggles have nothing to do with his health. He missed seven games in June and July with a bruised left rotator cuff he injured with a headfirst slide in early June.
“He said he’s been fine. He just hasn’t been swinging good,” Collins said. “[Saturday] night, obviously, re-aggravating the whole thing. So we’ll see how he goes forward.”
Wright has struggled mightily since the break, failing to hit a home run, producing only eight RBIs and two extra-base hits. He is batting .226 in 29 games. He’s on pace to post career low numbers in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS, and produce one of his weaker outputs in terms of run production and batting average. His eight home runs are fifth on the team, far from a power-hitting club to begin with, and he’s hitting a mediocre-for-him .273 with a home run drought that has stretched to 31 games.
“I do believe anytime you compensate for an injury you’re going to change something, so that pain isn’t there, and the minute you change something you can fall into a habit, not necessarily a good habit,” Collins said. “I know David, when we talked about it, tried to do some things to keep it from bothering him.
“Did he create some bat habits? Possibly.”
Collins did feel Wright was swinging the bat better of late — he recently had a 13-game hitting streak snapped — before he was hit by the pitch.
“He hasn’t had the typical David Wright year. Unfortunately he set a standard pretty high. When you don’t reach that bar each and every year, everybody says, ‘Jeez, he’s going downhill,’ ” Collins said. “I don’t think that’s true at all. I do believe David Wright will bounce back, whether it’s next week or next year.”