SEATTLE — Unable to shake continuing problems with his legs, Seattle shortstop Jack Wilson is beginning to question just how much longer he’ll be in baseball if he can’t stay healthy.
A glum Wilson was in the Mariners clubhouse before Saturday’s game against San Diego after being recalled from a rehab assignment at Double-A West Tennessee. Wilson strained his hamstring in his first at-bat at West Tennessee, while working his way back from a separate leg injury.
The latest leg setbacks have Wilson struggling to stay positive and keep doubt from creeping into his mind.
“You start thinking about is this the way it’s going to be the rest of your career and is your career going to last if it ends up being like this?” Wilson said. “I don’t want to play like this. … It’s tough. You work hard during the season and in the offseason getting ready and it doesn’t do too much. Sometimes the writing is on the wall. You never know.”
Wilson has played just 26 games this season and last played on May 5, sidelined at first with a right hamstring strain, but feeling that the injury was closer to his knee and not so much in the hamstring. His setback while in the minors is higher in the leg, confirmed by an MRI on Friday.
It’s a continuation of Wilson’s struggles for much of the last three seasons. Wilson played only 31 games with the Mariners last season after he was acquired from Pittsburgh on July 29. Wilson missed the final 17 games of the 2009 season with a bruised left heel.
Between the 2008 and ‘09 seasons, Wilson missed 131 games due to injury. He can add another 15 — and counting — this seasons. In his 26 games this season, Wilson is hitting .253 with seven doubles.
“There’s nothing more I can do than what I have done,” Wilson said. “Some days it’s going to be good, some days it’s going to be tight. It’s just if I’m going to be lucky enough not to pull it.”
Wilson started a new workout regimen during the offseason in hopes of keeping his legs healthy and has continued the program into the regular season. All that work to try and prevent injury has made the setbacks even more frustrating.
Wilson says his legs are feeling better, but the team is not being any time frame on when he will return.
“We’re just hoping we can continue to strengthen the leg and he can be back in there with no problems,” Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said.
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