I was glued to the TV for the first inning Tuesday night, as if it was late September and there was still hope. I am still very much paying attention, but I have not been watching as much as usual the last few weeks; any guesses why? But I had to see David Wright’s mannerisms in that first at bat against live pitching. I remember very well watching the up and coming star Dickie Thon getting beaned by Mike Torrez, and his career was never quite the same. I was dreading seeing David possibly step out, flinch, or give any sign that he was timid. He looked eager and aggressive and smacked the very first pitch he saw into left for a single. Too early to make definitive judgments, but this was perhaps the most promising thing we have seen from a Met in months.
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Despite the lack of HR power (2B have remained the same and he has had a slight uptick in 3B) and the increase in Ks, Wright has had a fine year. The rest of his line has been his career norm, which is Hall of Fame level thus far. When we were still in the race, Wright was driving in key runs seemingly every day. Yes, his RBI are down, but he really has not had a lot of guys to drive in. Most games now, it is Wright, Castillo, Francoeur, and five guys who are marginal starters. Wright has not pressed despite all of the Ks and being pitched around, and we have seen him become more aggressive and vocal this year.
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First off, his seeming to get right back on the hitting horse after the beaning should finally silence the annoying and whiny Cassandra Chorus with their “Wright is soft†bleating. We have also seen Wright quite vociferously get in Pelfrey’s face in the dugout, as Wright is obviously as frustrated as the rest of us are with Pelf’s inconsistency. After being thrown out on the bases twice in one game, Manuel questioned Wright’s decisions, and Wright came right back in the media and disagreed with Jerry. He also called out unnamed teammates (or Jerry, as I believe) for being unprepared during the low point of our season-long assault on baseball fundamentals. In addition, he immediately has wisely started wearing the bulky new extra-protective helmet; the silly comments made about it by Francoeur and Keith notwithstanding.
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No, these incidents are not quite the same as heroically leading a platoon in war or rescuing children from a burning building, but they are also, most certainly, not the actions of a soft player who lacks leadership skills. 2009 should finally put an end to this utter nonsense.
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Statistically, Wright is a fantastic hitter. Some especially demanding fans question Wright’s ability to hit in the clutch. Yes, his “clutch†numbers have fluctuated, and no, he still has not gotten Murph home from third in that Cub game last year. As if that one at bat would have clinched the division. But Wright is a great player, an all-around star, a future Hall of Famer who is the very best non-pitcher the Met system has ever produced. Maybe the Gold Gloves are somewhat debatable, but he is a fine fielder. Many of the errors come on throws, and this will very possibly improve. He is the best in the game at charging bunts and making the barehanded play, and he makes almost as many spectacular highlight reel plays as he does throwing errors. He is our leader and has begun to step into this role quite nicely this year; perhaps with Delgado’s absence easing his way.
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Wright will be 27 this offseason, and his critics would be very hard-pressed to find other active players who have done what he has over the last five years, or to find many players in the history of the game who have produced what he has by this age. Sports has seen all-time greats who suffered criticisms like Wright early in their careers and eventually demolished the inaccurate portrayals. Barry Bonds was thought of as a regular season monster and postseason choker until he had one of the World Series’ greatest offensive performances in 2002 in getting the Giants the closest they have come to a title since 1962. John Elway was thought of as someone who “couldn’t win the big one†(as was Peyton Manning) early in his career, and no one ever says that about him anymore. Even Shaquille O’Neal was given a similar label after failing to win in college and getting swept in his first trip to the NBA Finals. That eventually changed a bit when he played alongside Kobe and Wade. Wright is our leader, the Core of our Core, and it will be he who is viewed as the centerpiece and leader of this team if and when it wins a title.
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No, he did not get Murph home last year, and no he did not hit .400 w/RISP last year, but his numbers in these spots are very good again this year. Even Keith Hernandez, the legendary Mr. Clutch and owner of a huge closet full of those extinct GWRBI, had years where his clutch numbers were very ordinary. And yes, Keith bore down, grinded his hands, and had a huge hit in Game 7 in 1986, but even he made what could have been the next to last out of the 1986 WS by going down in the bottom of the 10th in Game 6. Baseball is simply not a game where a player can be judged by one at bat, several at bats, a postseason series, or even a whole season in many cases.
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The 2007 and 2008 Mets just did not have the depth to win. We did not have enough starting pitching, the pen was abominable last year, and we lacked the type of complimentary players that teams like the 1986 and 2000 and 2006 Mets had. Fans of a certain mentality look to Wright and expect him to get it done every time, but this is not fair, not reasonable, and not the way baseball works. In 2006, when surrounded by a better group, and with a fine bullpen which did not put late-inning pressure on the offense almost every night, Wright’s clutch batting stats were fantastic across the board. In 2006, Wright hit .365 w/RISP and .358 w/RISP & 2 outs. With a healthy and better team around him in 2010, this is much closer to what we should expect.
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David Wright is the face of this team, without question. Should we miss the postseason in 2010, it will without a doubt be the end of Omar and Jerry and most likely the end of The Core. We do not have enough talent to make multiple serious trades without trading one of The Core, and if we do part with one of them, it will surely be either Beltran or Reyes, unless Jose finally becomes Rickey Henderson next year. We will not trade Wright and we should not. He is a rock, he is fearless, he is becoming a more vocal leader, he has very clearly shown what he can do in the clutch when there is a more complete team around him, he never gets hurt or wants to sit, it takes a serious beaning to get him to miss a few games, and by all accounts he is a very solid person off the field as well.
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Gary Sheffield said that Wright’s calling to recruit him was one of the keys to his choosing to be a Met. I think Shef knows what great players and leaders look like—they look an awful lot like David Wright.
14 comments
trs86
9/3/2009-8:10am at 8:10 am (UTC -4)
Great job Kingman. My only fear is that you have for sure brought Mr. Bill back in and now Alex may wander over.
prismo
9/3/2009-8:28am at 8:28 am (UTC -4)
Great post Kingman! Also, one marked improvement I saw in Wright early this season was his throwing to first base. I think he’s been working on being more deliberate with this throwing, and it paid off.
I do find it difficult to say a 27 year old is a future HOF though. If he keeps up these stats for 3-4 more years, we can start talking HOF.
trs86
9/3/2009-8:37am at 8:37 am (UTC -4)
Yeah a lot of 27 year olds were future HOF. But at this point there is a good chance.
prismo
9/3/2009-9:38am at 9:38 am (UTC -4)
Well…obviously. Every HOF was once 27.
But I just think unless you have ridiculous stats like Pujols, it’s too early to call. What if Wright has a serious injury at some point (like oh…a concussion) and is never the same? Then he wouldn’t make the HOF. You just never know.
udontmesswthejohan
9/3/2009-9:20am at 9:20 am (UTC -4)
Great job Brock, very well written.
Now, re: the lack of power from Wright, I see it as a result of two things. Early on, I believe that the size of Citi Field, or at least the way that it was playing, definetly got in his head and affected his power stroke. I’m loathe to rely on Chipper Jones for anything, but I do recall an article in the beginning of the year where DW supposedly made an in game comment to him regarding how Citi played, so I do think it was in his thoughts. Secondly, and more importantly, the lack of power and pop around him in the line up as a result of injuries has clearly affected the power numbers. Hoepfully, with Reyes and beltran back next year, plus who ever is brought in to solidify left field will allow him to get his power stroke back.
Why does it matter? Well, yes, all things considered DW has had a nice year, but let’s be honest, we need more than 8 HR’s out of him. It just won’t be all right for him to hit 15 HR’s next year, even if he does have 100 RBI’s.
trs86
9/3/2009-10:21am at 10:21 am (UTC -4)
It depends, if he keeps his OPS up and only hits 15 HR that is still great. We would just have to adjust the order around that. Most teams would kill for a player with those numbers playing 3B.
CaseStreet
9/3/2009-9:35am at 9:35 am (UTC -4)
nice job kingman. Given the crazyness of the season, it’s easy to forget the postives. Here’s hoping Omar can build a good team around David.
fongy2
9/3/2009-9:48am at 9:48 am (UTC -4)
Heres hoping someone not named
Omar can build a championship
team around David Wright!
metsfan4decades
9/3/2009-9:59am at 9:59 am (UTC -4)
I couldn’t agree more with this, Kingman.
Trading DWright would be well….ludicrous.
I’m willing to be a bit more patient and see what 2010 brings for Wright. I think this year is an exception, in some part maybe b/c of the reason that there just wasn’t a ML lineup we ran out there daily, designed to ‘protect’ him, thereby getting better pitches to hit and not pitching around him to get to the likes of Tatis, or Reed, or Murph, or countless others..
trs86
9/3/2009-10:23am at 10:23 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, we look at Beltran’s stats and Wrights stats when both were healthy and it’s still clear that BOTH had a different approach at the plate. Most likely a product of two things park factors AND maybe that hitting drill which focused on going the other way.
metsfan4decades
9/3/2009-10:39am at 10:39 am (UTC -4)
Agreed. April has notoriously been a slow start to the season for Wright. If I remember, this year wasn’t much different.
If I remember correctly, Beltran was on fire prior to going on the DL, at one point leading the league in BA for a long spell.
metsgirl31
9/3/2009-10:26am at 10:26 am (UTC -4)
I agree with pretty much every word here. I think this was a big year for him in more ways than just numbers.
stickguy
9/3/2009-10:48am at 10:48 am (UTC -4)
nice piece. I expect the HRs to go up a bit next year, but I don’t really care that much. I know chicks dig the long ball, but they can get to be a tad overrated by some people.
Like TRS said, if the OPS is up there, and he is driving in runs, I don’t care too much if it is via more doubles and triples and fewer HRs.
Still, if the team actually has some people to help out in the lineup next year, seeing him jack ~25 seems logical. Is that enough for the doubters?
I will be fine with .325/.410/.520 with 20-25HRs, 125 RBIs, and a bunch of doubles.
wannybackstra
9/3/2009-11:40am at 11:40 am (UTC -4)
Nice work, Kong. Agree with it completely.
This team is definitely better off with David than without him. And knowing how image conscious the Wilpons are (at least they claim to be), it wouldn’t make sense for them to trade a kid…man…like him for as long as he’s productive.