Lennon: Wright steps up to protect injured teammate Reyes

David Wright isn't a doctor, but the third baseman can tell when someone is hurting too much to play.

All Wright had to do was watch Jose Reyes grimace in pain when he unleashed a long throw from shallow leftfield to get the Braves' Troy Glaus leading off the seventh inning yesterday.

There was no need to consult X-ray or MRI results. Reyes' difficulty with the simple act of throwing the baseball said it all. Wright quickly asked for timeout, called Reyes over to the back of the mound and, after a short discussion, summoned Mets manager Jerry Manuel from the dugout with a wave of his hand.

"He was in some pain," Wright said after the Mets' 4-0 loss to the Braves. "I told him to get where we need to get, we're going to need him healthy in the second half."

It was about time someone did. Immediately after the game, Reyes announced that he will sit out Sunday's series finale against the Braves and won't play in Tuesday's All-Star Game in Anaheim.

The decision should have been made days earlier. Reyes has been bothered by a strained right oblique muscle since he was scratched from the June 30 game against the Marlins in Puerto Rico, but the injury - a potentially serious condition - seemed to be mishandled from the start.

Sound familiar? Last year, the Mets tried to push Reyes through a relatively minor tear of his hamstring tendon until it finally ripped apart completely, wiped out his season and ultimately required surgery.

If this had been another leg issue and not an oblique strain, chances are the Mets would have proceeded more cautiously. Instead, they chose not to put Reyes on the disabled list; he wound up missing six straight games anyway because the discomfort remained.

Even when Reyes did return Tuesday against the Reds, the switch hitter did so with the limitations of having to bat only righthanded, even against righthanders, and having to slide feet-first.

Short of sitting him down, however, it was impossible to protect Reyes, whose unrestrained style of play is his biggest asset. Even Reyes admitted Saturday that there was no safe place for him once he left the dugout.

"It's been bothering me with everything I do on the field," said Reyes, who then pumped his arms to show that he could feel discomfort from running. "I just tried to play through it."

But Reyes began to get nervous Wednesday night, and after a doctor's visit was postponed, he went in for an MRI before Friday's series opener against the Braves. Manuel had Reyes in the lineup before the results of that MRI were released - batting second, another concession to the injury - and the Mets put the best spin possible on the findings.

A team spokesman said Reyes' MRI was "completely normal" and he could continue to play "as tolerated." Of course, Reyes still was in pain, and it was only Saturday that he revealed those tests can be misleading.

"The doctor said that sometimes the MRI doesn't show the injury," Reyes said. "It's a tricky injury."

Reyes figured he was on the rebound because he was able to take batting practice from the left side for the first time since suffering the muscle strain. But the progress was not significant enough to allow him to do that against Braves righthander Tim Hudson, and Reyes looked awkward in striking out twice in three at-bats.

The second time, in the sixth inning, he was so overmatched that he flung the bat at the ball on the third strike, sending it flying back toward Hudson. Reyes walked back to the dugout slowly, his head down, and Wright staged his intervention the very next inning.

"David is one of the guys who knows me better than anyone else here," Reyes said. "He could tell by my face that I wasn't feeling too good. He said we don't need it to get any worse."

Reyes was dying to play in the All-Star Game, but he sounded almost relieved that the uncertainty is over. He'll still attend the event, bringing his family with him to Anaheim, but now he won't go with a sticker marked "handle with care" across his forehead.

The hope is that Reyes did not damage himself any further by playing this week. And that when the second half begins Thursday in San Francisco, the pain is gone - as well as the second-guessing.

"I don't know if anything can heal while you're playing," Manuel said, "but I don't think we have any major setbacks because he did play. He's been down these roads before, but he's OK. He'll be fine."