David Wright's status in doubt after pitch hits him behind troublesome left shoulder
David Wright of the Mets is hit with a pitch in the sixth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Perhaps it says something about the Mets' fortunes this year that in all the places Dan Straily's fastball could have hit David Wright, it had to be there.
"It just [stinks] that out of my whole back, it had to be that one area," said Wright, who was removed in the seventh inning of the Mets' 7-3 win over the Cubs Saturday night, one inning after getting hit in the upper back, behind his troublesome left shoulder.
The Mets called it "posterior shoulder soreness.''
Said Wright, "It shouldn't be anything. It's just bruised up and sore. It's just a little stiff. We'll see how it feels [Sunday] and try to get here early [Sunday] and move it around a little bit and see what the case may be."
Wright, who missed seven games with a sore left shoulder earlier this season and received a cortisone shot before the All-Star break a month ago, was drilled by an 88-mph pitch from Straily. Although he stayed on the ground for a few seconds, he remained in the game and eventually scored when Matt den Dekker walked with the bases loaded.
"I would say he'll get a day off or so," manager Terry Collins said. "He's pretty sore. Obviously, it hit him . . . in the exact same spot that's been bothering him."
Collins wasn't sure whether there is cause for future concern, but "[on Sunday] he may wake up and get treatment and feel better," he said. "We'll see . . . I'll have a better answer [Sunday].''
Wright had a steep drop in production after the break, leading some to speculate that he was playing hurt. He said otherwise earlier this month and reiterated that Saturday night, saying of the shoulder, "It's been fine. As I said a million times, if I'm in a lineup, physically, I'm good to go."
He said he had plans to ice the shoulder, adding that "it's troubling me now."
Wright, who went 0-for-2, has been in an offensive upturn, hitting safely in 13 of his previous 15 games. He said it wasn't his decision to come out of the game but that the trainer and the team felt it was prudent to play it safe.
Head trainer Ray Ramirez "checked me out and thought it would be best . . . to start trying to get ready for what I can get back," Wright said. "It just got me in a spot that's bothersome and, you know, they thought it was best to give it a little bit of a rest. So more than anything, just unlucky with the spot that they got me.
"It's part of the game and I just wish it would've been in a different spot. I just wish it would've gotten me in a different spot," he said, his frustration as palpable as the pain behind his shoulder.
