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Wright confident of 2017 return, vouches for Reyes

Adam Rubin/Twitter

David Wright knows it's a long shot to return to big-league form after his latest surgery, but it's a shot.

After announcing earlier in June he would elect to undergo surgery on a herniated disk in his neck, the New York Mets captain spoke to the media for the first time Friday saying he's "confident" he'll be back, even if it's not this season.

"I can't wait to get back out there, but the most important thing for me now is my health and trying to get my neck healed," Wright told reporters. "If I go and do something I'm not supposed to, we're not talking about baseball, we're talking about something that is going to affect me later in life.

"I love the game, and I want to get back to playing this game. I plan on coming back and being the player that I feel like I'm capable of being."

When asked if he was planning a return this year, Wright was non-committal, saying, "I don't know. I really don't know."

The veteran third baseman, who has been with the club for the entirety of his 13-year career, also gave a vote of confidence to his former teammate Jose Reyes, who was signed by the Mets on June 25.

"I wouldn't tell you guys anything I wouldn't tell him. I feel like what he did was awful, terrible. There's just no other way around it," Wright said. "With that being said, he's shown - in my eyes - he's done what he can do to earn a second chance."

Wright added that maybe coming back to New York is what Reyes needed. After signing a monster deal with the Miami Marlins, he was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays, then flipped to the Colorado Rockies until his release in June.

Reyes recently completed a 51-game suspension for violating MLB's domestic-violence policy after an incident with his wife in Hawaii this past October.

"If he's going to be given a second chance, I think this is a good place for it," Wright added. "I think he's comfortable here. I think this is home for him. Again, I can't say it enough: What he did is something that is horrible and should never be done.

"So I hope that he's learned his lesson and everything he's said, it's seems like he's acknowledged the great mistake that it was and that he's not gonna let it happen again. And I hope that's correct."

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