This past Sunday June 8, manager Terry Collins benched all-star third basemen David Wright of the New York Mets. Collins was planning on benching him sooner rather than later for rest.
The day before against the San Francisco Giants, Wright only went 1-for-5 and had a crucial two out throwing error in the sixth inning that led to two unearned runs. Sunday seemed like the proper time for Collins to make his move.
Collins reason for not wanting to play Wright Sunday was because he did not want to over play Wright this early in the season and cause an injury. Wright went down with an injury last year so Collins was taking the safe approach.
"We got to be smart about this because the one thing we don’t need is what happened a year ago where all of a sudden fatigue set in and we thought he had a cramp, it turned into a bad hamstring. I don’t need that," said Collins, reported by New Jersey.
Although Wright was not in the starting lineup Sunday, he tried to talk his way out of being benched for rest. Despite being benched, he understands that Collins is looking at the big picture and he is doing what is best for the team. Wright wanted to be out on the field to support his teammates because of their recent struggles as of late.
“I just tried that and I'm not sure if it's a day off or more. It's more so probably a benching at this point for tomorrow. I think that as much as I'd like to be in there, especially with how we've struggled lately, I think Terry is looking at it more of big picture. Hopefully we win tomorrow. Like I said, I'd love to be in there, but I lost that battle,” said Wright, confirmed by ESPN.