Wright can't grip bat or ball

PHILADELPHIA -- David Wright sounded closer to the disabled list than the starting lineup Friday as he talked about his fractured right pinkie. He was held out of the series opener against the Phillies and Terry Collins said they will wait until Saturday to decide about the DL, which now appears much more likely.

"It's not about trying to suck it up and play through pain," Wright said, "because I just can't technically grip the bat or grip the baseball right now."

Wright didn't bother picking up a bat Friday afternoon, and when he did try to field a few ground balls during BP, he looked uncomfortable doing so.

When Wright first injured the pinkie on Monday while diving back into first base, the Mets figured he would miss a game or two.

Wright said his finger has improved, but as of Friday, it was nowhere near ready.

"It's going to take time to heal," Wright said. "But once I can functionally do the things to play the game -- throw a ball, grip a ball, grip a bat, swing a bat -- then it's just a matter of taking the pain. Right now, it's tough to make a fist, so I can't really get that finger moving the way I need it to."

Wright was off to a strong start, batting .583 (7-for-12) with a home run, three RBIs and an NL-best .647 on-base percentage.

"I told David there's too many intangibles right now going on," Collins said. "I understand we had a nice thing going before he got hurt and he was swinging great. But to put him back in just to put him back in the lineup and not to have [him] ready to produce, that's not the right thing to do."

If Wright is placed on the DL, Collins intends to switch Daniel Murphy from second base to third. The manager then would prefer to use either Justin Turner or Ronny Cedeño at second.

"I just think that's what gives us the best option," Collins said. "We know [Murphy] can play third base and he can play it well. No disrespect to Dan, but we've got some guys who are a little more experienced at second."