Mets third baseman David Wright is set to play with Triple-A Las Vegas Tuesday night in a big step toward finally returning to the majors.
Wright, 35, hasn't appeared in a major-league game since May 27, 2016. He's been saddled with spinal stenosis and has had to undergo three surgeries just in the time since he last appeared in a game.
Widely known as one of baseball's truly good guys, seeing Wright play again through his chronic back injury would be pretty damn cool. It's close to happening, too.
Wright was on rehab assignment in Class A through much of this past month. He struggled early, going 0 for 14 with six strikeouts through his first five games. In his last five, however, Wright went 6 for 18 with a double. In his most recent game, he was 2 for 4 with that double, his first extra-base hit during the stint.
Wright's rehab assignment officially expires Friday and rosters can expand on Sept. 1, which is Saturday. With his permission, the Mets could extend his rehab assignment, but the minor-league season is coming to an end after Sept. 3. Mets brass doesn't seem ready to promote Wright at this point.
When asked if David Wright's arm strength is the greatest issue preventing a return to the big leagues this season, John Ricco responded that it's "pretty much everything."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) August 28, 2018
"We just haven't seen that level of consistency of playing on a quantity or quality basis at this point."
Ricco: Wright will play a couple games in Vegas, "and we'll see how that looks."
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) August 28, 2018
"It's unrealistic to think he'd be activated any time soon based on what we've seen to this point."
Still, at 58-73, the Mets are in the midst of finishing out a lost season and rosters expand in September. Surely the Mets can promote him just for the story. It won't hurt anything at all, but seeing Wright back in the lineup or even just pinch hitting would be one of the feel-good moments of the season.
