NEW YORK -- New York Mets captain David Wright fulfilled a months-old commitment to visit a Long Island day camp on Monday, despite being less than eight weeks removed from surgery to repair a ruptured disk in his neck.
He high-fived hundreds of elementary-school-age children and even demonstrated proper swinging technique, albeit cautiously. When an onlooker recently expressed concern about whether Wright was ready for such activity, he cheerfully countered: "I'm not made of glass."
Since undergoing a discectomy and fusion on June 16 in Los Angeles, Wright has kept a low public profile. He avoids the clubhouse during the periods when media are allowed inside and has been minimally quoted since the surgery. Yet Wright remains an integral part of the team.
As the Mets were working to complete a trade for Jay Bruce last week, Wright called to welcome the outfielder to New York. He similarly reached out to the organization's top picks -- Justin Dunn and Anthony Kay -- to offer a personal welcome after the draft.
Wright remains the person who presents the team's wrestling-style belt to the player of the game each day, at least for games in New York. He awarded the prize to Bruce for the first time last week at Yankee Stadium.
Wright, the only official captain in baseball with the retirements of Derek Jeter and Paul Konerko after the 2014 season, bought bottles of wine as gifts for first-time All-Stars Jeurys Familia and Noah Syndergaard.
And in the hour before the trade deadline -- when Brandon Nimmo, not Dilson Herrera, appeared headed to Cincinnati -- Wright played big brother and counseled Nimmo about how to handle the rumors.
"He told me, if it does work out, he was excited to have me over here," Bruce recalled about their pre-trade conversation. "It's something, obviously, I really appreciated because I've looked up to David for a long time as a player. He goes about his business. He means a great, great deal to this organization. I'm happy to finally be able to play with him."
Needing to avoid the dugout because his mobility is not yet sufficient to avoid a line-drive foul ball, Wright spends the third inning onward of each home game seated with the relievers in the safer bullpen environment at Citi Field. He prefers to remain part of the team, even though he is not required to attend games.
"Those guys are my brothers during the summer," Wright said. "I spend more time with those guys than I do my family. Especially when I'm hurt, I want to try to bring something to the team. Now that I can't go out there and perform on the field, I feel like being in the clubhouse, being a presence, answering any questions, welcoming the new guys -- especially when the team is not playing as well as we can -- I think it's important to be there and provide some positivity and just be there as an ear or a sounding board."
Said reliever Jerry Blevins: "I think he wanted to stay out of the public eye while he was healing. The bullpen is the perfect place for that. We kind of stay low key. He's a good presence. He's a positive influence on everybody when he's around. Just having him in the clubhouse is good."
Last month, when Wright recounted the details of his neck surgery and outlined a recovery timetable that left him unable to return this season, he had lost significant weight and had to physically rotate his entire body to face whoever addressed him, since he was unable to turn his neck. He is looking healthier now, but his baseball future remains unclear. His physical activity remains limited to long walks. He hopes in mid-September to be cleared to upgrade his workouts.
"I feel much better. It seems like each week there's more and more mobility," Wright said. "Now it's just a matter of getting back as close to 100 percent as possible. I'd say now I'm probably 60, 70 percent as far as mobility goes. But the doctor assures me that's normal, and that's why it takes that three months.
"It's not going to happen overnight. It's like any other bone in your body. You break your arm, you break your leg, it takes a certain amount of time for that bone to heal."
Wright played in only 37 games this season, hitting .226 with seven homers and 14 RBIs in 137 at-bats. He actually homered in his final three games before the neck issue became too severe to play through. He was shut down after an appearance on May 27. After investigating options, he underwent surgery on his neck three weeks later.
Wright, who already had been dealing with chronic spinal stenosis in his lower back, is resolved to return to the majors next season. Yet Don Mattingly, who had the same back issue, ended up retiring because of that condition at age 34. That's the age Wright turns in December. And Mattingly also did not have to deal with a neck issue that Wright acknowledged -- even under the best of circumstances -- will reduce his range of motion by roughly 5 percent.
This week, New Yorkers were reminded of the mortality of their players when 41-year-old Alex Rodriguez agreed to be released after one last game on Friday at Yankee Stadium. Wright isn't there yet, at least not in his mind. He is signed through 2020, and no reasonable person believes his career will last that long. Can Wright really rediscover the level of play he enjoyed before the back and neck issues arose?
"I'm not sure physically where I'll be at, but confidence-wise and production-wise, I don't think there's any question that I can perform at a high level," Wright said. "For me, it's just being healthy and maintaining it. Unfortunately I got hurt this year right when I was starting to feel a little bit better at the plate, started to produce a little bit more.
"Hopefully that rolls over into the next time I can be on the baseball field and I can play at a level I'm comfortable with and a level I'm accustomed to."
It's not all doom and gloom for Wright. His wife, Molly, gave birth to the couple's first child, daughter Olivia Shea, on July 23. Molly picked the baby's first name. Wright picked the middle name, which pays homage to the Mets' former home, Shea Stadium, where Wright spent the first five seasons of his major league career. Chipper Jones previously had named a son after the same ballpark, where he had tormented the Mets.
Why not a road ballpark for Wright?
"Well, I had a little bit of success at Shea, also," Wright said. "There are so many great memories at that ballpark. ... I grew up there, so I think it was only fitting."
For the record, Wright said, he gets to select the first name of the couple's next child.
"There's nothing like it," he added about fatherhood. "You go through it with teammates having kids during the season. I was always asking questions and curious as to the whole process. To go through it now and to be a father, it's an incredible feeling.
"Somebody said it best: You'll never have another stress-free day the rest of your life. So far that's the case."
As for his playing on Opening Day 2017, Wright said: "I'm planning on it. I don't think there's any reason, unless something crazy happens, that it won't happen."
