New York Mets

How Don Mattingly helped David Wright return to the diamond

Published Aug. 25, 2015 6:33 p.m. ET

foxsports

On Monday, in his first major-league at-bat in over four months, David Wright crushed a home run. But getting to the point of returning to the batter's box this season, nonetheless in the heat of the Mets' playoff push, required the help of a man who had no affiliation with the Mets organization.

Wright, who was diagnosed with spinal stenosis while rehabbing a hamstring injury in April, was forced to undergo extensive rehab and repeated check-ups with a back specialist in Los Angeles as he tried to return to the Mets, who had one of the most anemic offenses in MLB through July.

The 32-year-old franchise third baseman admitted to occasionally being "frustrated" and "angry" during his rehab as his progression came about slowly.

However, Wright's irritation was eased in a defining moment with Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who grappled with his own debilitating back problems during his career with the Yankees, during the Mets' trip to Los Angeles over Fourth of July weekend.

"He had the conversation with Donnie about 'Look, you can get through this, you're going to be just fine to play at the same level you've been playing' I think is when we said he'll be back," Mets manager Terry Collins recalled. "That meant a lot to him that he could ease his mind and certainly the more he worked and the more he knew his back was going to be an issue in how he felt, we turned him loose."

Wright describes the conversation as integral to his rehab from both and physical and mental standpoint.

"That was very helpful for sure, because he felt a lot of the same things I felt or that I feel and the way he discussed it and the way he managed it, it was very similar to the way that I'm expecting to make it through and manage it. I think it was calming," Wright said.

" … It was very calming and influential to have a guy like that who had the success that he had with the same condition kind of discussing his routine, what he went through, some advice he had for me. I would say it was definitely beneficial in the recovery, probably more mentally than physically."

In his long-awaited return to the Mets on Monday, Wright went 2 for 5 with a home run on his first at-bat in more than four months, an accomplishment not just for Wright, but for all those who helped him in his recovery as well.

Family, friends, doctors, physical therapists, teammates, coaches, and last but certainly not least, Don Mattingly.

(h/t NJ.com)