20
2009
Happy 27th Birthday To David Wright!
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Happy Birthday to New York Mets third basemen David Wright!
As Wright turns 27 today, we still have so much to look forward to from our homegrown all-star third baseman.
Last year David Wright had the worst season power-wise of his career. Wright hit just 10 homeruns, but with 39 doubles and 72 RBI. Also on the downside, he saw his strikeout rate jump 8% over his 2008 level. There were, however, still some positives from Wright. He posted a very solid .307 batting average along with a .390 OBP. The question is, where did his power go?
As we all know, 2009 was a terrible season for the Mets in terms of injuries. Reyes, Beltran, Delgado, and a slew of others missed significant time which crippled the heart of the Mets order.
The only player to not miss any significant time last season was David Wright, that is until he was hit in the head by a pitch toward the end of the season, but still he returned faster than anyone could have imagined.
As usual, Wright was positioned into the 3 hole and he was expected to hit his typical 25-30 homers while driving in 110 plus runs. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way, and worse yet he saw his contact, both inside and outside of the strike zone, fall significantly. His performance was down against almost all pitch types, most notably fastballs and sliders which he usually smashed. His offensive woes even translated negatively on the defensive side of the ball.
The argument for Wrights hitting woes was that Citi Field had diminished his power stroke, but his power was down both at home and on the road.
I’m not sure what this all means for Wright in 2010, but personally I still have the same lofty expectations for him as I’ve always had. Wright can still work some miracles for the Mets.
So Happy Birthday David Wright, and have yourself a great day!
You deserve it!
About the Author: Rob Johnson
7 Comments + Add Comment
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Give him another year, he’s entitled to it. However, if he has yet another, start sharpening the knives.
Having 38 doubles and an average of over .300 is hardly an awful year, but yes his power numbers were down and strike outs up. There was NO one else in the line up, he had no protection whatsoever.
I’ve read the comments ad naseum (sp?) about him not being the leader some thought, but I think, also as usual, we are putting TOO much on this guy. I think he’s done a hell of a job, and while he didn’t come up with a few big hits in an abysmal end of 07 and 08 I feel he is taken the blame far too unfairly. It’s not like he’s NEVER had that big hit in his career. I know he’s had a few walk off hrs, but remembering clearly his walk off hit off the invisible Mariano Rivera comes to mind as a pretty big moment, so in other words, he’s done and is capable.
Happy Birthday Mr. Wright – your fture is looking very bright.
39 doubles – sorry for short changing him
Lets not forget his .390 OBP. One of the best players on this team. Happy Birthday D. Wright!!!
I believe the reason why David did not have a good power year was because he had no protection the line-up. Beltran was gone, and so was Delgado, so what pitcher in their right mind would want to pitch to David Wright? Hopefully next year, when the Mets are fully healthy, we will see David perform at 100% throughout the year.
I think the lack of protection in the lineup did lead to his low power numbers, although I don’t think that is the only reason. He weasn’t hitting them when Beltran was there either. I think even more then protection in the lineup was that he had worked last offseason with HoJo to change his swing a little bit to accomodate CitiField. Even Wright said at the end of the season that he is going to work again this offseason with HoJo to change his swing, so that he can get more power. At least he realizes that there is a problem, and he is the type of player that will do anything he can to correct it.
Happy Birthday David. Whatever the reason for his 09 season I feel that if he did change his swing for Citi then HoJo needs to back off or help David swing the way he did before. How can you change your swing for a park that you have not played a whole season in yet, 09? David needs to get back his old swing, back off HoJo, and just let his power and hitting adjust to Citi not adjust his swing for Ciit. I believe he will have a great comeback season in 2010.