Things are not looking good for David Wright.  He came into this season battling spinal stenosis.  Now, he has to deal with a herniated disc in his neck.  It’s gotten so bad for Wright that there are days he doesn’t want to get out of bed.  Now, Wright is going on the Disabled List, and no one can definitively tell you when he will return to the Mets.  It’s a sad day for the Mets and Mets fans.  The only thing we have left is hope.  Hope that David Wright can return.  Hope that David Wright can continue to play well when he returns.

Hope is a funny thing.  As Red said, “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”

It certainly can.  The hope of David Wright being able to play everyday without needing a stint on the Disabled List has led to the Mets being woefully unprepared for his extended Disabled List stint.  Right now, Wilmer Flores is the best choice there is play third base everyday.  This is the same Flores who is hitting .167/.242/.267 this year and .247/.284/.378 for his career.  It’s led to the Mets going to Eric Campbell, Matt Reynolds, and Ty Kelly for stretches.  Seeing these four players is enough to drive someone insane, especially after a month where the Mets averaged only three runs per game.

But watching Wright this season, you understood the hope.  This is still the same David Wright that homered in his first at bat off the Disabled List last year.  This is the same David Wright who hit the first ever World Series home run in Citi Field last year.  This is the same David Wright who battled through spinal stenosis to become an effective major league player this year.  This is the same David Wright that had homered in three straight games before needing to make this most recent trip to the Disabled List.  It’s a reminder of what Andy Dufresne said, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

There’s still reason for hope because this is David Wright.  He’s been counted out so many times before.  He was counted out when he got hit in the helmet.  He was counted out when the Mets had the ridiculous dimensions at Citi Field.  He was counted out when he had the broken bone in his back.  Time and again, David Wright has overcome all odds.  We were watching him do it again with spinal stenosis.  David Wright has “crawled through a river of shit and come out clean on the other side.”  He’s done it numerous times.  When you place your hopes in David Wright, he is not going to let you down.  At the end of the day, all we have is hope, but that hope is justified.

However, until such time as David Wright comes back, I’m just going to have to agree with Red when he said, “I guess I just miss my friend.”