Already shut down for the remainder of 2014, David Wright spoke about his injured shoulder, his rehab, and how he hopes to avoid surgery.
Playing through the worst season of his 10-year career, the Mets and David Wrightdecided to end his season back on September 9 due to continued pain and inflammation in his left shoulder. Though he originally suffered the injury back in June, Wright labored through the summer, finishing his 2014 season batting .269/.324/.374 with a career-low .698 OPS and eight home runs to go along with 63 RBI in 134 games. Now the club's captain has opened up about what exactly is going on inside his troublesome shoulder.
Initially diagnosed as a bruised left rotator cuff, Wright's comments yesterday showed the injury was far more severe than he or the Mets let on.
"When I got hurt, the ligaments and the cuff and everything else that holds my shoulder in place were damaged and stretched out. And therefore my shoulder—the ligaments are not grabbing on the way they’re supposed to be. They’re stretched out and slightly damaged so my shoulder is kind of rolling around and not stable."
Never one to make excuses, Wright played through the pain, compensating and more-than-likely worsening the condition of his shoulder.
"I always say I’m going to learn my lesson. I, probably, moving forward, need to be a little more truthful to myself and the medical staff as to exactly what I’m feeling. But, again, this is on me. When I don’t go in there and don’t say anything and push through things, that’s kind of the way I’ve always been. I’m kind of hard-headed. It was either take the rest and miss the games then, or take the rest and miss the games now. To me that’s a pretty easy choice. If I feel I can play, I’m going to go out there and play."
Wright hopes to avoid surgery on the shoulder as he continues a six-week rehabilitation program scheduled to end around November 1, at which point he will be re-evaluated. Back on September 14, Bill Rom—a certified performance enhancement specialist—talked at length about Wright's injuryin an exclusive editorial for Amazin' Avenue, saying:
The source of the injury seems to be Wright's rotator cuff. The rotator cuff is a network of four muscles that help keep the upper arm in the socket; it is attached to the shoulder blade and helps to stabilize the arm through motion.
If rest and rehab don't work, surgery could cost Wright three-and-a-half months of recovery time, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNY.com.