The Mets don't need to lose David Wright. Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
NEW YORK — Anthony Recker ended Tuesday night playing third base for the New York Mets. The backup catcher can guarantee he won’t be at third base on Wednesday — or probably at any point thereafter, for anybody, ever again.
“Obviously it’s not going to be me tomorrow,” Recker said with a grin following the Mets’ 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. “But whoever it is, we’ll have confidence in them to come in and step up and fill the void as best they can.”
The void at third base was created in the eighth inning Tuesday, when captain David Wright suffered a hamstring injury just before he slid into second on a successful stolen base attempt. Wright, who knew Recker was the last player left on an already-short bench, tried remaining in the game but pulled himself several pitches later when he realized he couldn’t stretch out the muscle.
Wright will undergo an MRI on Wednesday morning. He said he knows he didn’t strain the hamstring as badly as he did in August 2013, when he tried playing through a sore right hamstring before suffering a Grade 3 strain while legging out an infield hit. That injury cost Wright seven weeks.
The Mets appear ready to place Wright on the disabled list: The club announced shortly after Tuesday’s game that infielder Eric Campbell, who was the final cut in spring training, was on his way to New York.
The Mets will likely turn to either Campbell or second baseman Daniel Murphy as their new starting third baseman. But Murphy could not move over on Tuesday because his backup, Ruben Tejada, was used as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.
So the Mets, who have a four-man bench because they opened the season with an eight-man bullpen, had to stick Recker — who actually had a third baseman’s glove despite never playing the position, not even in Little League — out there and hope for the best.
They got what they wanted: No balls were hit to Recker, who jogged to his new position sporting a huge grin. He said he’ll take a few more grounders during batting practice in case he’s needed again, but acknowledged his time at the hot corner has almost certainly come and gone.
“Let’s be honest: Because this happened tonight, the odds of it happening (again) are probably very slim,” Recker said. “I think they’ll have a couple backup plans. But if it does, I’ll be ready.”
