Pinkie hasn't stopped Wright from pounding away

You know what you never hear about anymore? David Wright's right pinkie finger.

Oh, it still hurts. Just not as much as when he first fractured it while diving back into first base on a pickoff attempt April 9.

After missing three games, Wright came back April 14 and homered on the first pitch he saw.

The Mets' third baseman was batting .583 before the injury. He wasn't going to keep up that pace, but since returning, he is batting .358 with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 18 games while still receiving daily treatment on the injured digit and wearing extra padding in his batting glove.

"It's getting better," Wright said Wednesday in Houston, where the Mets were swept by the Astros before opening a three-game homestand against Arizona Friday night.

Wright described his treatment regimen as "basically 24-hour treatment. I get here, they do different treatments, exercises on it during the game. It's still going on."

At first, Wright couldn't grip a bat. It looked as though he would be going on the disabled list. But manager Terry Collins said his "gut" told him Wright was going to be able to avoid the DL, and he turned out to be correct.

"Just knowing him," Collins said. "Just knowing how he is, how he gets himself ready to play. He's one of those guys. Even two days ago, he didn't feel very good. Went out there and got two hits and played good. That's what he is and that's how he plays the game."

Wright has always played through pain. Last season he tried to play with a broken back before having to shut it down. So can a little pinkie really keep him out of the lineup?

Well, the problem was gripping the bat. You kind of need all 10 fingers to hit a 95-mph fastball. Once the swelling went down, he started the exercises.

"The first couple of days were just treatment stuff," Wright said. "After that, there was different exercises they were giving me, like gripping large PVC pipes, seeing if I could get my pinkie around that. Eventually, after I could grip that solidly, then you go to something a little less thick. Then gradually it's the bat. There was some putty that they gave me that you squeeze to try to get some blood flowing to the pinkie. You want to work it out and move it as much as you can. Then afterward you have to get the ice and the treatment so that it wouldn't swell up again."

Overall, Wright is hitting .392 with three home runs, 14 RBIs, 17 walks and a team-leading three stolen bases. He has a nine-game hitting streak during which he is hitting .419 and has reached base safely in 21 of his 22 games.

Wright saw a hand specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery last week and was told the pinkie will need a couple more weeks to heal.

Said Wright, "As long as I don't do the same thing all over again."