Mets' David Wright to play simulated game Saturday

Mets captain David Wright watches Friday night's game from the dugout at Citi Field on Sept. 7, 2018. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
David Wright will be playing baseball again Saturday at Citi Field. It will be only a simulated game, but it’s a chance for the Mets to try to gauge where he stands.
Mickey Callaway said Friday that the 35-year-old third baseman probably will get six at-bats and that balls will be hit his way to test his fielding and throwing.
“We’re going to put him through the grinder a little bit,” the manager said.
Wright batted .171 in his 12-game minor-league rehab assignment. Now there are only these simulated games for him to prove he’s ready in his comeback from neck, shoulder and back surgery.
John Ricco, who is helping to run the Mets’ baseball operations, basically said Wright has to be able to do more than just pinch hit. So what would make the Mets comfortable enough to activate him?
“I think it’s a combination,’’ Ricco said, “mostly just straight from the medical side to make sure they’re comfortable with him being able to go through the grind of a major-league game, and on the baseball side, being up to the skill level that comes with being up in the big leagues.
“Where he got to at the end of the 20 days was not where we thought he needed to be . . . Honestly, it does get more difficult to foresee a situation where he could come back to that level.”
The Mets are collecting insurance money on Wright’s contract. Asked how that financial component plays in, Ricco said it’s about whether “he’s able to physically take the field and perform.”
Extra bases
Anthony Swarzak (shoulder) will pitch in the simulated game. Callaway said the reliever will be activated if all goes well . . . Devin Mesoraco received an epidural injection for a bulging disc in his back. Ricco said he might return in a week.




