For the first time in more than a year, New York Mets captain David Wright will play baseball Tuesday night.
That’s not a typo. The Mets announced Tuesday afternoon that David Wright will be in the starting lineup when the Port St. Lucie Mets take on the Charlotte Stone Crabs, Tampa Bay’s High-A affiliate.
The last time Wright suited up for the Mets was on May 21, 2016, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He went 1-for-4 with a solo home run off of Dodgers reliever Chris Hatcher. The Mets would go on to win that game 6-5.
Mets fans have missed seeing that sweet swing at Citi Field for quite some time. A multitude of injuries has limited Wright to only 75 games since the start of the 2015 season.
It was only three weeks ago that Wright reported to St. Lucie to begin what assistant general manager John Ricco termed “low-level baseball activities.” Clearly, Wright has progressed without any major setbacks as this start represents a major step on his road back to the big leagues.
You can be sure that the Mets will proceed with extreme caution when it comes to the 34-year-old. Even if he feels fine after Tuesday night’s game, don’t expect to see him manning third base immediately. They’ll slowly ease him back to the hot corner.
That said, Wright will be hitting third tonight—and yes, he’s in the same lineup as Tim Tebow, who will play left field and bat sixth.
While it’s far too early to think that Wright will definitively make it back to the majors this season, this news indicates that it’s perhaps more of a possibility than many believed. In a lost season for the Mets, that’s about as much as we can ask for.