*insert David Wright inadequacy rant here*

That is how I choose to begin my article. David Wright looks horrible at the plate, righties are killing him with sliders away and anyone with a fastball has a 33% chance to strike out Mr. Wright. He’s walking a fair amount, but it means nothing when he can’t drive anyone in. David Wright has hit in the 3rd and 4th position in the batting order all season, and should have substantially more RBI’s then he does. Is this the evolution of what David Wright has always been? In this article, my intentions are to ruffle a whole lot of feathers and then provide some proof that this may in fact be who David has always been.

David Wright, as noted by Matthew Cerrone and Joe D earlier today, is on a prolific strikeout pace to amass around 220+ strikeouts which would place him 2nd all time to – wait for it. Mark Reynolds, one of the infamous 5 players who all played on an AAU team in Virginia together. The other 4 are the Upton brothers, B.J. and Justin, Ryan Zimmerman and wait for it yet again – David Wright. Now other then origin, what do all of these hitters have in common – 100+ strikeouts per season. Zimmerman’s final strikeout total mirrors that of David’s average season strikeout total with 119 K’s. They are all power hitters minus B.J. Upton, who has other-worldly speed but still managed 152 K’s last season. Is this a VA thing?

Second, as i mentioned in my game recap yesterday – if David Wright put up a similar season to Mark Reynolds minus about 10 home runs, can Mets fans really be mad. By just extending his statistics over the course of the season, He’d finish with his lowest career average at .270, but 32 home runs, 32 stolen bases, roughly 80 runs and 104 RBI. Now, I am no expert, nor am I preventing mass-rioting, but isn’t a 30-30 season something to be proud of? Anyone with eyes sees him struggling, but his numbers exhibit nothing particularly wrong. His HR to overall hits isn’t skewed (a third of Mark Reynolds total hits are due to the long-ball) which shows he’s still making good contact when he does make contact in the 2/3 of his at bats where he isn’t walking back to the dugout angry

Now, as a Mets fan and someone who over-analyzes situations and uses fancy numbers and formulas to prove that I am the smartest Mets fan ever (total sarcasm) – I can’t be upset with anything short of these numbers possibly being “empty” in the sense that they may or may not have come in a situation that truly deserved and required it (RISP, anyone?). What i do know is David is a good hitter, and with the evolution of Ike Davis, the highly anticipated return of Carlos Beltran and hopefully the resurgence of Jason Bay, David may receive more fastballs and possibly adjust his timing – but he needs to find a spot in the lineup and get at-bats or days off.

My only solution is a very, very simple and basic one. Bat David third. He’ll get more at-bats, get to see the pitcher more and with a Bay resurgence they will want to pitch to David and are more likely to make mistakes

Please, keep your pitchforks and nooses indoors – at least until mid-June. If this doesn’t improve, I’ll pay for all the supplies for the burning at the stake.