David Wright Diagnosed With Spinal Stenosis
NJ.com – Saturday, Mets assistant general manager John Ricco told reporters in Pittsburgh that David Wright had suffered another setback during his rehab on the disabled list. Again, it was his back that bothered him. Ricco said that Wright was suffering from lumbar spinal stenosis. He also said he does not believe the injury will have long term effects on Wright. “I don’t think so, because if they’re talking about rest and having it go away if it’s strengthened, that means it’s got to be able to get better,”Ricco said. In the past, former Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra and Giants running back David Wilson have seen their careers ended by spinal stenosis. However, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jarvis Jones has played on with it. It ended the career of Cooper Manning before college. A board certified physical therapist told Newsday that “the prognosis of this really depends on how bad it is.” The effect on Wright will be seen. He’ll rest for the next week before starting his rehab again.
Well, this is some real shitty news for Mets fans on a holiday weekend. David Wright’s strained hamstring all the sudden turns into a narrowing of his spinal column. Out indefinitely with possible outcomes ranging from he’ll be ok to his career is over. People are automatically talking about Len Dykstra, David Wilson and Cooper Manning and automatically assuming DW is done for good, but nothing being reported about his specific case seems to be that dire yet. Of course with Mets fans though, we’re always expecting and assuming the worst. Especially when it comes to injuries.
Whats certain though, is that relying on David for anything this season is absolutely out of the question. Pushing through spinal injuries just isnt an option. When you’re talking about a guy’s long term health and his spinal cord, there are more important things than baseball. So this season is completely out. If we’re being honest, much of the remainder of his career probably is too. I dont expect David to hold an official retirement press conference tomorrow, but realistically his days as a franchise cornerstone in the middle of the lineup could very well be over.
From a baseball point of view, this should force the Mets’ hand. They can no longer just rely on the “the cavalry is coming!” plan. Management has been preaching the return of Wright and TDA as whats going to fix this lineup. Well, thats out the window now. Unless they fully plan on wasting this season, and wasting the prime years of this stud rotation they’ve assembled, the time is now to make a move. Trade one or two of those arms to replace the production you’re losing indefinitely with Wright. Unfortunately this news kills a lot of this team’s leverage, but thats what you get for waiting until you’re painted into a corner.
Truth be told I never expected too much out of Wright. Even before this injury I always thought his best days were behind him. Of course he was an upgrade from Eric Campbell and yes, this lineup is better without him. But Mets fans dirty little not-so-secret is that DW never was able to replicate his big years from early in his career. When the Minaya era came to an end and it was time for David to be the star standout on this team, his production was too much of a roller coaster. He earned his big contract with a bit of a hometown “thank you” from ownership but I never really believed he had the ability to stand out the way this team needed to. He’s a fantastic guy and a career Met and for that, I think most Mets fans kind of looked the other way or always held out hope that he’d return to form with upwards of 30 bombs and a hundred driven in but deep down I dont know how many of us really ever thought that would happen. I know I didnt.
When its all said and done I think people look back on David Wright’s career as one of a series of unfortunate circumstances. I firmly believe if the Mets avoid their collapse in 2007, they make the playoffs, contend for a ring, and David Wright, not Jimmy Rollins, wins MVP, thereby changing everything for him and this team. But we all know thats not what happened, and things seemed generally downhill ever since. The new ballpark and deep fences always in the back of his mind, the nagging injuries, and absolutely zero protection for him always playing a role. It just feels like DW was eternally chasing those 2005-2008 years and he never found them again. Now with this new diagnosis, no matter how dire his specific case ends up being, it doesnt even seem like he’ll be able to try and chase them. Sad stuff.