16
2011
David Wright and the C.
An article by 
Recently, there has been an awful lot of discussion between Mets fans about the dirty little C word. No, not that one. (Captain, my goodness what were you thinking?)
Of course, the word is “clutch.” I’ve gone on record as saying I don’t really care about who is clutch and who is not. I think there could be a moment in the 9th inning where Kaz Matsui could have a big at bat, does that make him clutch?
There’s no minimum requirement in order to be clutch. What do you use to decide when and if a player is clutch? How do you decide on a players true clutch talents if you don’t watch 162 games for that player’s team? And if you don’t, then doesn’t that mean that clutch is in the eye of the beholder?
You and I as fans like the feeling of a big hit in the 9th inning more than we like the feeling of a big hit in the 5th inning. If they both win a game, do they have different values?
If somebody grounds into a double play in the 5th with 2 runners on, and then does the same in the 9th inning, you walk away from the game more angry about the 9th inning than the 5th.
I think clutch is a moment, in a single moment a player can come up with a big hit. If given enough chances, players can get a chance to come through in the “clutch.”
But, here’s my biggest problem. I’m not a David Wright homer. I like Wright, I appreciate him for what he is.Do I think he’s an MLB superstar? No. Do I think his critics are incredibly harsh and ridiculous? Yes. Part of my problem with a Mets fan clutch debate is that it only occurs to give his critics a chance to be negative about him. I often find that the same people are fully on board with Jose Reyes as well, and yet never bring up Reyes’ “clutch” or “unclutch” skills?
Let me tell you why fans of other teams look at the way some of us treat David Wright and they just shake their heads.
The New York Mets have been in existence in 1962. They have won 2 World Series, and we have seen just 7 playoff appearances.
David Wright is not only a homegrown talent, but he is also a lifelong Mets fan. In his 8 seasons as a NY Met here is where he ranks in our beloved franchise’s history:
Runs Scored: 693, 2nd all-time behind Jose Reyes’ 725
Hits: 1,238, 3rd all-time behind Ed Kranepool’s 1,418
Doubles: 280, 1st all-time
HR: 181, 4th all-time behind Daryl Strawberry’s 252.
RBI: 716, 2nd all-time behind Strawberry’s 733.
SB: 149, 6th all-time behind Reyes’ 366.
BAVG: .301, 2nd all-time behind John Olerud’s .315 (Olerud 600+ less Games as a Met)
At the end of the day friends, you’ve been watching a player who has brought every aspect of a strong offensive player you could ask for. He’s never done anything to embarrass the franchise, he’s been a model franchise player.
Think about how many other fan bases would look at a player who is climbing their all-time record books in every major offensive category and be down on them because they “aren’t clutch.”
Consider that teams like Minnesota, Houston, and the Blue all came into existence “around” the same time as our beloved Mets.
How do you think Twins fans feel about Kent Hrbek? 2nd all-time in HR and RBI. They love him. Was he “clutch?” If you look at his overall post-season numbers, and use them to determine a player’s clutch factor, then you’d say he wasn’t. But he had 1 big HR in the post-season, just 1 moment… is that all it takes?
Astros fans love, and I mean love Jeff Bagwell. Because of what he did with the Astros and what he meant to the franchise. What was clutch about Jeff Bagwell? Certainly not his body of work in the playoffs.
As a Toronto Blue Jay, which hits were Carlos Delgado’s most clutch? Oh… they never made the playoffs with him? So do Blue Jays fans hold it against him or will they be proud when their franchise’s all-time HR and RBI leader gets his number retired by them one day?
A guy like Adam Dunn was one of the most elite hitters in baseball from 2004-2010, when was he clutch? He never played in the playoffs, so what aspect of Adam Dunn’s game was clutch?
From 2004-2010, there were only 7 players who drove in 100+ RBI in at least 6 of those 7 seasons. Albert Pujols, Mark Texiera, Miguel Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn and of course, David Wright.
You know, that’s pretty darn good.
To summarize, the word clutch is an excuse to either falsely praise or falsely be critical of a player. A player gets over 500 plate appearances in a healthy season, how many of those are deemed “clutch opportunities?” There’s no real definition for it, because it’s about how their actions make YOU feel in the moment.
Fans of other teams do not hold the word “clutch” against some of their all-time greats. They appreciate them, and honor them.
So lastly, lets look at some at bats in David Wright’s career that in my opinion could be labeled as clutch, because to me a clutch at bat is based on the current situation. Every at bat counts.:
2005:
April 6th: HR in 4th inning to tie game 2-2
April 25th: HR in 6th inning to take 5-1 lead, was 3-1
May 1: Singled in Cliff Floyd to tie game 3-3
May 5: Doubled in Piazza and Cameron to take a 5-3 lead in 5th inning
May 7th: 4th inning, HR to take 1-0 lead
May 8th: 8th inning grounded into fielder’s choice to tie game 4-4
June 9: 2nd inning HR to tie game 1-1. Singled in 4th to take 2-1 lead.
June 23: 4th inning, singled in a run to take 1-0 lead
July 1: 4th inning, singled in tying run
July 14: 4th inning solo HR to take the lead 2-1 v. Atlanta
July 25: 4th inning sac fly to take the lead 3-2
July 31: 9th inning single scores 1, makes the game 6-4.
August 2nd: Leadoff walk in 11th inning tied 8-8. Would score winning run on a bases loaded walk.
August 3rd: 5th inning single drives in 2, to break a 2-2 tie.
August 4th: 4th inning bases loaded walk to break a 3-3 tie
August 12th: 5th inning double to break a 3-3 tie, Mets take 5-3 lead.
August 17th: 4th inning single drives in 2, breaks a 1-1 tie.
August 26: 2nd inning solo HR, 1-0 win.
October 1: 4th inning 2 run HR to break a 1-1 tie.
2010:
April 14: 3rd inning 2 run HR to break a 1-1 tie
April 22nd: 6th inning double drives in 1 to break a 0-0 tie
May 5: 6th inning HR down 4-2, Mets would then be able to tie game on a sac fly.
May 9: 7th inning sac fly to break 4-4 tie
June 12: 6th inning Fielders choice breaks 1-1 tie.
June 15: 5th inning infield single ties game 4-4.
June 25: 4th inning double ties game 1-1
July 3: 8th inning single break 2-2 tie.
July 9: 3rd inning sac fly ties game 1-1
July 18: 4th inning HR breaks 1-1 tie
July 30: 5th inning 2 run HR Mets take 5-4 lead.
July 31: 3rd inning single ties game 1-1, 7th inning double drives in 2 ties game 4-4
August 17: 8th inning HR ties game 3-3
August 25: 9th inning HR puts Mets down 5-4.
September 2: 6th inning HR makes the game 3-1
September 28: 6th inning HR ties game 2-2
September 29th: 4th inning 2 run HR, Mets take 7-6 lead.
So that’s 36 big hits over in his 1st year as a starter and his last full season played. How many big hits would qualify him as “clutch?” There is no answer.
Because the truth is, no matter what he does, there will always be fans who do not appreciate him or will look for a way to spin every success he has into a failure. The truth is of those 36 how many do this critics remember? Probably not many, because you only remember what you want to remember to fit your point of view.
Nobody in baseball is a 3-4-5 hitter because they are “clutch.” They are 3-4-5 hitters because they drive in runs, and runs win games. It doesn’t matter if that run happens in the 1st or 9th inning.
He’s not Derek Jeter, he never said he was. Players from other teams do not get compared to Derek Jeter either. Do I think he fails in big spots? Yes. Do I think everybody does? Yes.
He is David Wright, and it’s very possible that when he leaves the Mets (whenever that is) he could be their all-time Hits, HR, RBI, Runs Scored (depending on Reyes), Doubles leader. He also could realistically finish in the top 5 of stolen bases.
For any other fan base, a player like that would be celebrated to no end. But not here, here we look at a homegrown all-time Met and shake our heads and say …. “not clutch”?
About the Author: Michael J. Branda
My time with MMO began in July of 2009 when I wrote a Fan Post defending Omar Minaya (before it was cool to do that.) I grew up a Mets fan with the mid 1980's teams. My favorite Met of all-time is (and was) Wally Backman. When it comes to sabermetrics versus old school thinking, I like to think I meet in the middle. I believe thinking of new ways to get answers is helpful, especially when the same way has not produced results. However, I think over-thinking certain situations can get you into trouble. I'm excited for the new regime, because I believe they have pieces in place to focus on several aspects of the Mets organization. I've waited this long for a World Series, waiting a few more years for another chance isn't going to kill me.
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you twist so many things here is not even funny.. i know you have been ask around “ohh, if he hits a HR in the 5th and that ends up being the only run is that consider clutch?”
well, yes, CLUTCH pitching that is.. whether is the SP or the Bullpen there was a clutch performance made by the pitching..
he’s a big time choker, hell, you saw the game yesterday didn’t you? bases loaded, 2 outs, wash up 3-1 and what did he do? fly to LF. we needed a hit, not a GS as someone suggested, a simple HIT against a guy with a career 4.09 ERA.. yet, in the post game comment instead of saying i didn’t come trough, he tried to downplayed his latest choke job by giving props to the pitcher saying “Obviously, it’s frustrating,”. “I felt like I had a pretty good at-bat against a tough reliever.”
tough reliever?? really david?? really?
a choker will look for any excuse to downplay why he failed in a big spot, this time his excuse was “he was facing a tough reliever”.. lmao, that is just sad and comical at the same time.. yet you defending him because it burns to see YOUR CAPTAIN being blasted here in MMO for being UNCLUTCH..
by the way, if you ask anybody in WASH what was the turning point of the game, they’d tell you: when coffee retired wright to END the inning and strand the bases loaded..”
that was a clutch performance by a “tough reliever, coffee”
Wright gets WAY too much blame but it simply cannot be denied that his bigger hits are all centered in the 3rd – 5th innings. That much is true. He definitely increases your chances of winning games, just doesn’t come through with the hit that puts you over the top. Can’t be denied but how is that different from 90% of the players in the Major Leagues?
Hell half of them don’t even really help you that much in innings 1-8. Wright helps you quite a bit.
In games Wright’s played in his entire career the Mets are 552 and 542. Basically .500. In games we’ve won he’s hit .343/.421/.605 in games we’ve lost he’s hit .257/.337/.407. Did many of those hits, doubles and HR’s come in the 7th 8th or 9th inning? No, but to think that he didn’t play a big part in many of those wins is naive.
Most teams would die to have .343/.421/.605 at any spot in the order even if most of it were in the first 2/3rds of the game.
Every AB is important. Even a two out hit by the # 8 hitter with no one on is vital because it lets you clear the pitcher and start from the top with nobody out which increases your chances of scoring the next inning. Not the same as a walk off 2 out single to plate the tying and winning run by any stretch but it’s still a plus as opposed to a minus.
Some people are so worried about what Wright doesn’t do that they fail to see what he does do and curiously fail to take note of what others fail to do for whatever reason.
There are really only a select few players who routinely come through in the late innings of close games and they are primarily guys who get a lot of chances in those situations. Many more than Wright, Reyes or Delgado ever did.
To continually insist that Wright is a failure because he’s not what you want him to be is childish. He is what he is. He’s a little like De La Hoya used to be. Got his work in early and rarely came up with the late round knockout. Live with it, it ‘aint gonna change, for him or 90% of players in the Majors.
Hey t agee what about that ALL homegrown lineup in 2013?
That means the Mets made no moves, no FA signings in the next 3 off seasons. Oh wait, I forgot one – the suggestion you made of trading Jason Bay and Daniel Murphy for an unproven kid catcher..and paying for Bay to boot.
Well written.
Wright looks lost in all playoff series and when the season is on the line. He is not a winner as witnessed by his recent slump at the plate and numerous game costing errors. Nice guy but time for a change…it is just not working.
The team’s starting pitching and BP absolutely blow, so the team sucks and it’s Wright’s fault? I’m befuddled by this logic of thinking.
San Fran,
“Wright looks lost in all playoff series”
In all 2 playoff series’?
This is a perfect example of remembering what we want to remember
LDS:
So a Game 1 6th inning 2 RBI double (Mets take 4-1 lead), and another 7th inning double to make the game 6-4 Mets. (Mets win 7-6)
Game 2: Only time at bat with a runner on he singled, no run scored.
Game 3: RBI single in 1st, 6th inning Big K with runners at corner (Mets up 2), then Mets up 4 in the 8th he K’d with 1 out and a runner on 3rd.
LCS Game 1:
Top 3rd, solo HR to take 2-1 lead.
LCS Game 5: 8th inning double down 4-2, Delgado doesn’t score from 1st.
LCS Game 6: 4th inning single with runner at first. No other at bats with anybody on base.
LCS Game 7: 1st inning RBI single, Fielders choice in 4th, 6th inning reached on error with runner on 1st, 8th inning K with Beltran on 1st after Delgado K’d.
So if that is “lost” in the playoffs, then I’d love to know what just a “good not great” playoff experience is?
Is he supposed to hit a HR every at bat?
He didn’t hit a HR in game 1 of the LCS.The Mets won 2-0 thanks to Beltran’s 2 run homer off Weaver in the 7th.What LCS game were you watching? He homered in game 4.The blowout in St Louis.
when the game was WELL OUT OF REACH… A STAT PADDER
David Wright and the C – CHOKE! Nuff said. I want to hear David Wright supporters ADMIT they were wrong about Wright. Instead of their apologetic-like “he’s not what I thought he was going to be” and what not.
This article is junk. It’s full of excuses and rationalization which is what you would expect from a David Wright or someone trying to defend him. Ever notice that’s it’s all the David Wright supporters who don’t believe in or have a problem with clutch? Figures.
Also there’s a lot of grasping for straws in those examples including fielder’s choices, him leading of the inning with a walk and scoring? C’mon are you serious? There’s quite a few nice hits in the 3rd and 4th and 5th innings.
The writer even cites David Wright hitting a HR in a game on August 25, 2010 that closes the gap to 5-4 – which is the score the Mets would lose by! ARE YOU FOR REAL? And you’re using a leadoff walk? And he cites a fielder’s choice in more than one example. And uses 3rd and 4th inning sacrifice flies.
Okay I’ve had enough.
Sure, like I said before if you’re a major league starter for 8 years NATURALLY anyone is going to have their share of big hits. The writer still has not convinced anyone or changed anybody’s mind about the original subject which is David Wright’s legacy is failing this team when they need him the most.
A fielder’s choice or a walk that leads to a run in the 4th inning does not fit that criteria and if he THINKS he was gonna change people’s minds by citing those examples that it sounds like grasping for straws to me.
The writer is still flapping on the deck like a fish out of water in a last ditch effort to try and disavow the research I did the other night and after reading this junk he comes across as a whiner worst than aver.
Not a nice try. This was a weak effort.
Bayonne, this seems funny to me since you are the same guy who told me once Mike Jacobs has value because of ability to drive runs in via the sac fly.
So driving in runs to tie a game, break a tie, or put the team within 1 run aren’t clutch? It’s how you drive them in that matters?
What is clutch? Is there only 1 situation that counts? How come no other baseball player outside of ARod and David Wright ever have or had their talents diminished because of the word clutch? Is it because everybody else is so clutch or is it because fans like yourself are never happy?
Murphy is still standing on 3rd base. That is everything you need to know.
Don’t show me stats, I know what I saw.
Murphy’s actually at home treating his injured leg. Do keep up.
Wrights first 4 years numbers wise were unmatched by any home grown Met.Yes he had some hits that led to wins in the early parts of games.He was an excellent player.Came up as a 21 year old kid and showed a lot of poise,falling behind in counts 0-2 and working them full,shortened his swing at got a ton of hits to the opposite field.He had a pretty good NLDS in 06 hitting 333 4 for 12.He had a terrible NLCS batting 160 with his 1 HR coming in game 4 which was a blowout thanks to the Carlos y Carlos show.Put up big numbers in Sept 07 but in those games against the Marlins and Nationals in the final days as we were choking away a 7 game lead he basically folded his tent after the 6th inning and left a 3rd world country in scoring position against god awful relief pitching of Fla and Wash when all we needed was a sac fly and one of those gut wrenching losses would’ve been a vitory.You can add Jose Reyes to the list of Mets that never got the big hit with the game on the line.He did the same thing down the stretch in 08 putting up great numbers in Sept but the late innings against terrible relievers he wet the bed.2009 he was just awful in clutch situations pretty much all year.Citifield becaame the scapegoat but Beltan was on his way to his best season until the knee injury derailed his season.He was hitting 340 when he went on the DL the Mets who were 7 games over 500,ended up 20 games under by the time Beltran came back.Delgado was also off to a good start at Citifield until the hip injury ended his career.Citifield wasn’t bothering niether Beltranor Degado.Wright Bounced back in 2010 regarding his power numbers.He had the best month of his career in June batting 400 but while he was as hot as I’ve ever seen him he struckout twice in two seperate losses with the tying run on 3rd and less than 2 out and this was when he was on a tear.He was a no show from the alstar game up until the 2nd week of September when he went on a rampage to get his RBI total over 100.He did not drive in a single run in August until the 22nd of the month.Bottom line with Wright is he has regressed in every facet of his game both offensively and defensively since September 2008.His stats don’t lie.His numbers in games decided by 4 runs or more are outstanding.His numbers in close games are awful.When the game is on the line,you don’t want Wright in the batters box.Yes he’s hadplety of big hits during the course of his career but how many times has he come up with a chance to turn a defeat into a victory and fail.He doesn’t just not come through in those spots,he gives you an absolutely dreadful at bat.He can’t handlehe ressure of being the franchise player.He can be a very good complimentary player with players like Delgado and Beltran around him as his numbers indicated his 1st 4 years.But Met fans have to come to grips with the fact that he has regressed and he is not a franchise player and he is certainly not untouchable.
I can admit it. I was wrong about him. I really thought he would be a cornerstone player capable of carrying a team for decent stretches. I have no proof or stats to back it up, but it’s just my opinion that I would have rather had Murphy up instead of Wright in yesterday’s game for example. Doesn’t mean I hate him, I think he’s a great piece to a team. Just not the cornerstone superstar. Hopefully that made some kind of sense…
OKLAHOMA, boomer sooner, THE CORE SALUTES YOU.. hopefully this shows that is ok to admit he’s not a godsend
Oklahoma..That was said perfectly. You’ve just stated EXACTLY what I have been saying for years. I rather have someone else at bat when the game is on the line. Thank You!
I don’t know if you realize this but your clutch hit calendar has a SERIOUS flaw. My point look at the dates between clutch hits” Just a few, April6th = 25th, June 23=July 1st and July 14-25th, just to mention a few. Was he on vacation during this time?
back in 2006 he was a good clutch hitter, that is why he got a pass in the playoffs, what exactly are you trying to prove?? stop with the excuses, i called him out and ppl thought i was crazy, now that we all come to see he’s unclutch as hell and folds in big spots, instead of saying alex you were right, they say i hate david… ugh.. amazing..
2006 he had 4 walkoff hits and a walkoff sac fly.He was pretty clutch until the allstar break and then he went into a long funk that many blamed on the derby.He’s had 1 walkoff hit since which was a HR against Heath Bell at Shea in 2008.Compare that to his buddy Ryan Zimmerman who started in 2006 as a regular and he has 14 walkoff hits including 8 of them walkoff HR’s.Thats what a money(clutch) player does.Win games when they are on the line and Wright doesn’t do that enough for a man with his ability.No toughness mentally.He hits the shit outta the ball when they’re up 6-2.Hard to explain.
you forget his first 5 years in the league he was well protected with a healthy reyes, he had mike piazza wh was stilla feared hitter, cliff floyd who had a monster year in 2005, mike cammeron, carlos delgado, carlos beltran, jose valentin,paul lodouca, moise alou when he played healthy and countless others who were damned good players who did what wa sasked. guy slike chris woodward. he never had to carry a team he always had people on front of him or people who could hit behind him. taht does not make him clutch or a good player. he was aplayer who had way too much luck in the begining. what you seen in 2009 and what you see this year is teh real david wright. the david wright of 2008 had a very good carlos beltran and delgado protecting him. you seem to not mention that at all.
harley, he’s not gonna mention the lineup of feasome hitters he’s had around in his career.. that’ll make his article even more meaningless..
Well there’s a lot of truth in that. Reyes being OB was big help to his RBI totals. Piazza, Floyd, Cameron, Delgado and Beltran helped a lot. Not sure how much Woodward did though.
When Wright was at his best he had a few big hitters in the lineup with him. He also took a lot more pitches, went to RF more often. When it became Church, Pagan, Castillo, Schneider, Murphy, Cora, Bay, Francoeur he became the guy that wasn’t going to be allowed to beat you. That was far from the case in 2005-2008 but almost all players fare better with the load being shared. There are so few guys that can do what they do in every lineup and every ball park without any dropoff in performance and even those that do fail WAY more often than those that don’t.
For a team who routinely goes 0-6 or 3-14 with runners in scoring position it ‘aint all one guy……even if some try to make it seem like that.
Tell that to Adrian Gonzalez who practically played with a AAA team last year in San Diego and nearly wo the diiin in the West losing on the final day of the season.He still put up his numbers with a lousy team behind him but Wright is put in that same category as A-Gonz and it’s ludicrous.
nearly wo the diiin ?
And you give grammar lessons!
Actually in 2005, David Wright batted 6th and 7th a total of 257 times, and batted 5th 279 times. Who was “protecting” Wright in 2005?
In 2010 who was Wright’s “protection” exactly? Jason Bay? Beltran and his 64 games played? Ike Davis who nobody around the league knew or cared about?
Again proving my point further. An all-time great, and fans are so negative they will stop at nothing to just TRY to negate his achievements
Ike Davis who nobody around the league knew or cared about? ”
nobody cares about lucas duda, yet he was WALKED TO PITCH TO DAVID WRIGHT!!!!!!!!
the ULTIMATE SLAP IN THE FACE!!!!
He was walked by a LOOGY so the LOOGY would face a LH hitter. That’s what LOOGY’s do. Ortiz hasn’t been able to get RH hitters out all year. No manager has a LHP pitch to Wright if he can help it. With a starting pitcher he has no choice but in late inning matchups Wright NEVER gets a LHP.
Uh huh, keep making excuses,
The guy could throw the ball with his johnson and it was still….
Lucas Duda was intentionally walked to face David Wright.
Lucas Duda and ALL of his 369 career ABs was INTENTIONALLY WALKED to face David Wright
T Agee I like how Bobby Valentine described the move that night. He said “Righty on righty cause Wright isn’t right.” Pretty much said it all right there.
Exactly MNJ. Wright has huge platoon splits, so does Ortiz. Do you want your pitcher in a situation he does the worst in facing a guy in a situation in which he does the best in or would you prefer the opposite?
Managers aren’t dummies. Left handed hitters hit Ortiz to a .327 BA with a .600 SLG percentage. Righty’s hit Ortiz to a .205 BA with a .350 SLG percentage.
No brainer.
The EXCUSES continue.
Lucas Duda was INTENTIONALLY WALKED to face David Wright.
Any baseball man will always tell you Lucas Duda is going to have to beat me to win this game. But the chose to give David Wright the opportunity to beat them instead of Lucas Duda.
You can have an octopus on the mound the fact remains:
Lucas Duda was INTENTIONALLY walked to face David Wright.
No baseball man would tell you that “Lucas Duda is going to have to beat me to win this game.”
Ortiz kills RH hitters and conversely gets killed by LH hitters. Wright on the other hand kills LHP and is so/so against RHP.
It is the managers job to put his players in the best possible situation. Letting Ortiz pitch to LH hitter would be the exact opposite of that (as would letting Wright hit against a LHP) That’s why Duda got the IBB and Wright got the chance. Simple, no brainer end of the game baseball matchup the manager of the team on the field tilted the odds tremendously into his favor by making one move.
If it had been anyone else that got the chance you would have recognised this without even giving it thought. Because it was Wright you want to twist the situation into something it was not.
If Wright’s hitting in front of Duda and the opposing manager wants to leave in his LHP Wright gets IBB’d and Duda gets the chance, especially if the LHP can’t get out RH hitters as Ortiz can’t get out LH hitters.
Sometimes the game situation dictates the managers move. This was an obvious example of that being the case.
Besides Wright’s been intentionally walked before to face Beltran and Delgado and no one made a huge deal about. Probably never even brought it up. Your just bringing it up cause you hate Wright and consequently refusing to admit that it was just a normal average late inning matchup situation.
So you don’t think Wright was ever walked to face Beltran?
??? from the top of my head no, now, rememebr this.. wright is a good player, and he was having career years while having beltran and delgado in the lineup, but NOW, he’s supposed to be the MAN on this team, and other teams are saying, let’s let “their leader, their captain” beat us!!
WTF!!?? show some f’ing cojones for once and get a hit with the game on the line!!!! MAN UP!
No, they are saying “Let’s not have our right handed pitcher throw to the guy who eats right handers alive”
donal, this is exactly why i starter to dislike david wright, not because of him and his excuses only, but fans like you who looke for any excuse ON EARTH to defend him, you said this:
No, they are saying “Let’s not have our right handed pitcher throw to the guy who eats right handers alive”
lucas duda is hitting 280 against righties, 283 against lefties.. can you explain to us how exactly lucas duda is EATING RHP ALIVE?? HOW??? please enlighten us!
A single wins the game. The Cubs have one guy left in the pen in a game that’s tied in the bottom of the 10th.
Quadry doesn’t want to take Ortiz out because the game could go 12, 13 innings and he could get caught short in the pen but he certainly doesn’t want Ortiz facing a LH hitter in that situation, after all LH hitters have been torching Ortiz to the tune of a .327 BA and a .600 SLG all year while RH hitters have only hit .205 against him with a .350 SLG and first base is open.
The next hitter up is a RH hitter so the question is why wouldn’t ANY manager walk Duda given the platoon splits of his own pitcher?
Simple no brainer baseball move.
.480 slugging and all his HR are off righties. And Ortiz is awful against lefties.
Carlos Beltran didn’t need protection
“An All-Time Great” <—- delusional Met fan.
He is an all-time great Met. If you’re saying he’s not then you’re just proving my point that you’re a pessimistic sad mets fan who will never be happy.
Jessep look at the 2010 Padres lineup around Adrian Gonzalez and yet he was still able to put up his numbers.Bad excuse.
When he was surrounded by Delgado ,Beltran and Reyes, he was good or his shortcomings were camouflaged. But when he was the man hitting 3rd or 4th ,his unclutchness was exposed. unclutchness is a sort of inborn ability or character.
A guy with unclutchness should hit 6th or at best 5th where piling up runs is required not 3rd or 4th where guys born with clutchness bat.
It is not DW,s fault he bat 3rd or 4th.
Talking about unclutchness, it seems DW’s errors always happens when the games on line in late innings. you just born with this characteristics like wetting bed which I suspect DW is born with.
Bed wetters can’t take the pressure. They wet their pants.
I am glad I am not close to DW when the pressure is on.
Oh, just another silly clutch debate. I was worried that it was the Other “C”!
“There’s no minimum requirement in order to be clutch. What do you use to decide when and if a player is clutch?
What is CLUTCH?
So much talk about a term that for every person you ask will define differently.
What exactly is a clutch at bat?
We all agree that with a runner on base and 2 outs in the 9th in a tied game that any hit that scores a run is a CLUTCH AB! Correct?
So which was the most important factor in that?
Was it the fact that there were 2 outs? Can clutch only happen when the scoreboard shows a 2 in the out column? Hardly! Because that hit would be just as clutch if it showed a 1 or a 0 in the out column if all the other parameters were the same! Wouldn’t it?
SO the number of OUTS is not the deciding factor for CLUTCH/NOT CLUTCH!
SO the situation for CLUTCH is now re-defined as
a runner on base in the 9th inning of a tied game that any hit that scores that run is a CLUTCH hit!
So let’s look at the inning parameter:
Is the 9th inning a requirement for a CLUTCH hit to be made?
Would not the same situation occurring in the 8th inning also be as “clutch” as one in the 9th?
Of course it would!
Is the inning really the important factor is it?
NO!
Clutch is now defined as:
“with a runner on base in a tied game that any hit that scores that run is a CLUTCH hit! “
We have shown that a clutch hit can happen in any inning with any outs noted so let’s look at the runner on base parameter.
If no runner was on base and the batter hit a HR to break the tie would that HR be a CLUTCH hit?
Of course it would!
So even having a runner on base is not a requirement to it being thought of as a CLUTCH hit!
Which pretty much leaves the score left and the fact that a run scored due to something the hitter did as the only CONSTANTS in what is clutch and what is not.
So lets review the SCORE parameter here.
If your down by 4 runs with 2 out in the 9th and come up with bases loaded and hit a triple, is that not as clutch as the hit that might win the game later? Does it matter that the lead didn’t actually change in your favor yet? Hardly! In fact there was JUST AS MUCH pressure on the guy that hit the triple as there was on the guy who gets the GWRBI or Hit after the fact! So the actual SCORE at the time is also irrelevant to deciding if a hit is CLUTCH or not!
Getting or changing the lead is not the important factor either!
So what about in games that we have the lead?
Does having a lead mean a clutch hit is not achievable?
If you’re leading by one run at the time and drive in an insurance run you might say it is not a clutch hit, but wouldn’t it be clutch if the other team scored another run that would have tied the game later on? Would that “irrelevant at the time” run then be VERY important to the win? Of course it would be a clutch hit in that situation. So does the fact you have a lead matter? Does how much of a lead matter either? The other side could just as easily score enough to make the hit the significant runs scored in the game to get the win!
So not even the score at the time of the hit has any relevance to if a hit is CLUTCH or not! You don’t HAVE to be behind on the scoreboard nor does how far in the lead matter to determining if the hit is clutch or not! The pressure was the same no matter what the result of the game turns out to be and how important it was to later events that occurred in the game!
Now finally let’s look at the hit itself. Is a hit actually required to have a clutch PA?
Situation: 1 out in the 9th, runner on 3rd, game tied! Sac Fly wins the game. Is that not a Clutch AB?
So not even the HIT is required when determining clutch or not clutch!
And this is why all the differing opinions on what is clutch and arguments on its existence have been seen.
Everyone defines CLUTCH differently by giving different parameters importance that are no more important than any other to describing a situation.
So WHAT defines clutch knowing all of this?
Well I define clutch as any situation where you have the ability to score runners on or change the score via an act at the plate and how effectively you score all the runs presented to you in every Plate Appearance!
A batter who has three guys OB and scores all three is more clutch than a guy who has three guys on base and scores only two. BOTH are clutch hits but with the same opportunity one did more than the other.
Under that definition it should be easy to calculate clutch by looking at the POTENTIAL RUNS a batter could have driven in all PAs and compare it to how many he actually put on the scoreboard.
PR=PA+OB – Potential Runs takes into account all of the runs a batter could have scored when he came up to the plate. We add one to PR for every plate appearance since every batter has the opportunity to score a run via the HR. And we add one for every base runner that is on base when he comes up to the plate.
By taking his RBI totals and dividing them by the number of PR he could have run you basically come up with a percentage of run scoring opportunities a player had and how effective he was at scoring them
Clutch = RBI/PR
Clutch is nothing more than scoring when the opportunity is presented and how clutch you are is based on how often and how efficient you are at scoring those opportunities.
It really is no more complicated than that. Clutch is all about scoring runs not pressure, outs, leads, deficits or even HITS!
It is about getting the JOB DONE and how well you do it.
It’s not about the game winning hit because the game winning Sac Fly is just as clutch an act as the hit is. It’s not just about the score because the score can change after the fact making the PA significant. It’s not about the inning because a clutch hit can happen in ANY inning. It’s not about the Outs because a clutch hit can happen no matter what the outs are.
Clutch is about being in a situation where a run can score and SUCCEEDING in scoring it!
That can happen in the 1st inning and any inning between that and the final score!
It can come while you have a huge lead, tied or when way behind!
What is KEY to being a clutch AB is that you scored a run and how many compared to the opportunities to do so!
I wish they would sort out RBI vs. RBI opportunities. That would show who comes through the most often with the chances they had. Then you could break it out between inning/outs/ect. That would be interesting.
Basically though a hitter has an opportunity to advance his teams chances every AB by getting a hit walk or even advancing a runner with no out. All those opportunities are important, not just the one’s that occur in the 9th.
Taking ALL of them into consideration is what determines if the guy is a net positive or negative. To me there is no question. The guys a net positive. A good player on a team that has far too few good players and has contributed far more toward winning baseball games than the usual 1st round bust college pitcher ever has.
He’s just not what some people demand he be. Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, or Carlos Beltran but how many are?
Maybe we should have just kept Ty Wiggenton all these years and made that trade for Jose Cruz Jr. Then maybe everyone would be happy.
What I proposed is perhaps over simplified and maybe should also include RS is some way to identify those hits that did not cause a run to score but were in fact scored by a later PA.
What I was really trying to get accross though is that too many people are defining clutch to singular situations that are not the ONLY situation where clutch is relevant.
If a guy like David Wright lets say drove in the 9 runs of a 10-9 ballgame but struck out with a runner on 2nd in the 9th inning can you really say he wasn’t clutch throughout the game?
Being clutch is MORE than just the winning run as no run not even the winning run is more important than the runs that made that last run the winning one.
Without the previous runs scored the winning run wouldn’t win anything!
And this point seemd to be lost on many who are trying take Wright to task for his Clutch ability.
Clutch isn’t just about scoring a run when you need one because you need a run in EVERY situation!
It’s about opportunity and taking advantage of them.
Not the score, inning, outs or type of hit.
or trade HIM for roy halladay… but no, that doesn’t seem fair to toronto and the mets fans right…
he is so clutch a few months ago jessep said trade him, hey i know you have a fixation with urinals but be consistent. if the guy is so great today in your mind why did you say trade him 2 months or so ago?
Because he would have amazing trade value. At the end of the Day I appreciate the fact that the 1st day David Wright wears another team’s uniform or retires, he’s going to be an All-Time Met. That is undeniable, and the people that deny it are just pessimistic miserable fans who cannot appreciate something like that.
then why did you write this in getting the wright return
“If David Wright were to play at his current pace until he was 37 years old, he’d be on pace for less than 2,800 hits for his career. He would just barely crack 400 HRs, which if he’s a Met for his entire career, you know that is not happening. So, calling him a “great” player is just shy of the mark in my view”?
I said his value would be great. And again, all-time Met. When David Wright finishes his career as a Met you will likely have watched the entire career for one of if not the best offensive Met player ever. A guy who will be #1 in the record books.
no u said what i copied from yout piece above. it’s dated 4/22/11 and is in the archives since you seem to need to read it again because as usual you talk from both sides of your mouth.
You’re DAMNED right even if the Mets finish last in every one of those seasons.
man, the level of discourse at this site has reached a new low. You here more intelligent debate chaperoning a 5th grade class trip.
Speaking of intelligent! It’s You’ll hear not You here.
I guess tonight will be chalked up to being a non-clutch situation for Wright, eh?
Correct. I knew somebody was gonna do this. He’s having a great game and just leave it at that.
Fair enough. When he sucks, I’ve no problem saying so. But when he has a great night, it needs to be recognized as well.
Of course.
But, but, but…he stranded Murphy at third!
smh.
Easy now, it was a good night tonight for him so leave it at that. We’ll talk about legacy and all that other stuff another time.