David Wright Needs To Take A Chill Pill

Let me preface this post by saying David Wright is my favorite Met by far. Okay, that said, let me proceed with the utmost of caution…

On the surface, David Wright had a phenomenal year at the plate, particularly in the RBI department. In 2009 he drove in 124 runners, so no complaints there, right?

Well forgive me for probably standing all alone on this one gripe, but it just seemed that every time David Wright came up with guys in scoring position and we needed a huge hit, he either struck out or popped up most of the time. Come on, you saw it too, didn’t you?

I came across an interesting stat while reading a Peter Gammons article this morning. Guess who led the National League in at-bats with runners in scoring position?

Give up? It’s yours truly, David Wright… who led the league with a whopping 189 at-bats with runners in scoring position. What was his batting average in those 189 at-bats? A very disappointing .243.

Imagine if Wright eased up on the pressure he puts on himself, and just batted like David Wright normally bats?

David Wright is a career .306 hitter, but he absolutely becomes somebody else when the pressure is on. It’s why I’ve always protested the fact that he is our number three hitter.

I know, I know, me thinks you protest too much…

Look, there’s nothing wrong with trying to improve certain aspects of the Mets offense with just a little tweak. For two straight seasons we failed to make the post season by just one game.

One game… One hit… One more RBI…

Maybe in a few years, Wright can become patient enough to be the number three hitter, but until then, the five spot looks more appropriate for him.

I love Wright, but the Mets are handling him all wrong.