Mets third baseman David Wright diagnosed with a shoulder impingement

After making a little bit of progress and feeling good about his first spring start, Mets third baseman David Wright‘s health has unfortunately taken a step back. Wright has been diagnosed with a right shoulder impingement, and will be unable to throw for at least a couple of weeks.

David Wright is still not back to Port St. Lucie, and according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman, it’s because the captain is looking for a second opinion on his shoulder issue.

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson spoke to the media on Tuesday morning and revealed the news. Wright is currently back in New York being examined further.

Alderson revealed that thankfully he doesn’t have any structural damage in his shoulder, so there’s no need for surgery of any kind at this moment. Obviously the Mets are looking to be as cautious and careful as possible with the captain, so these measures had to be taken.

Wright is expected to be back in Port St. Lucie for Spring Training games though, so this isn’t a complete shutdown yet. He’d serve as a designated hitter in whatever games he plays according to Alderson.

For now, Sandy has downgraded Wright’s availability for Opening Day to questionable. We’re a little over a month away from that mark – which takes place on April 3rd at Citi Field against the Braves – so being “questionable” is probably more on the optimistic side, to be honest.

According to MLB’s Anthony DiComo, this latest injury could be tied to last year’s surgery to repair a herniated disc in Wright’s neck.

Even before this latest setback, Wright’s status for Opening Day was uncertain. He still hasn’t fielded his position at third and after simply playing catch, his shoulder ends up suffering an injury – not a great combination.

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Next up on the depth chart is Jose Reyes for the third base job. He’ll be away on World Baseball Classic duties starting in early March, but unless Wright is able to recover in time for Opening Day, it’s likely we’ll see Jose leading off in the bottom of the 1st on April 3rd.