Just Mets

Tuesday evening was supposed to be all about the heroic return of Matt Harvey to the Citi Field mound for the first time in almost 600 days.

It certainly started out that way. The crowd was electric, Harvey was missing bats like he always seems to and blowing the ball by yet another team he has historically dominated in his young career.

But the night turned into almost anything but about Harvey.

The game included four hit batters, one replay review of a replay review attempt, one ejected manager, the Mets backup catcher playing third base for the first time in his life, two bruised hands, and a pulled hamstring. Oh, and Matt Harvey who didn’t have his best Harvey Day.

The pulled hamstring, however, is perhaps the most significant, because that hamstring belongs to David Wright.

The injury to Wright put a damper on what was otherwise a very entertaining and electric – albeit bizarre – night at Citi Field. What went from an evening all about hope and promise for the future transitioned into an evening shrouded by uncertainty for their third baseman, and how the team might have to survive for an indefinite duration without their captain.

“We may not have David for a little bit, but we got to compete and play hard. We’ve got to pick up the slack. We still got a good team,” Terry Collins said after the game.

Other players in the clubhouse shared a similar sentiment to their manager, although an uneasy vibe was concurrent in their voices.

“As a team you don’t have time to feel sorry for yourself,” Michael Cuddyer said. “You have to continue to play and pick him up as he’s picked us up so many times.”

“Any time you have David down it’s tough, Lucas Duda said. “He’s a key piece to this lineup and a key piece to this clubhouse. Hopefully he has a speedy recovery, but we’ve got guys that can come in and fill that void. It’s a big void, so the team is going to have to band together. We’ll get through it.”

The Mets have called utility player Eric Campbell for the taxi squad – he was pulled from the Las Vegas 51s lineup against Sacramento in northern California last night and left for New York. The Mets will determine whether or not they need to activate Campbell once they learn whether or not Wright needs to go on the disabled list.

However, based on what Collins and Wright said on Tuesday, an indefinite stint on the disabled list seems all but certain.

“Whatever happens with me, we’re still going to be a good team and I still expect us to go out and win games,”Wright said. “We got too many good vibes and good things going for us to let a minor injury derail that.”

What the Mets do at third in Wright’s is still a mystery.

Presumably, the Mets will use Campbell, Daniel Murphy, and Ruben Tejada at third base in Wright’s absence. Perhaps they’d consider using Wilmer Flores and slotting Tejada in at shortstop, although that would takeaway from the work he needs to do at shortstop.

They could consider using Cuddyer at third, but he expressed some uneasiness about the idea on Monday, considering he got injured playing third base last year with the Rockies.

For now, recalling Campbell was the obvious move to make, but it remains to be seen if the Mets also bring up another player from Las Vegas. But it might behoove the Mets to consider bringing up Matt Reynolds to be a full time infielder if Wright will be out for an extended period, or consider Daniel Muno for a bench spot if the injury is considered more short-term. Neither are on the 40-man roster, but they currently have one spot open, so a corresponding move would not be necessary.

For the time being, the Mets seem to only be calling up one player in Campbell, meaning they could continue to play with an effective three-man bench. But, as was the case last night with Anthony Recker being forced to enter the game at third base, that can eventually harm and expose the club late in games or in an emergency situation.

Collins said after the game if Wright is out only a few days, they could go with an effective two-man bench. But, that would seem highly unlikely, which further suggests Wright will be placed on the disabled list.

No matter what, the injury to Wright is leaving the Mets scrambling for a stop gap, scrambling for roster stability, and scrambling for hope in the eyes of even more uncertainty and adversity.