After not hitting a homer through the first 11 games on the young season, Mets Captain, David Wright hit two last night in yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Both to the opposite field as well, looking as though he was his vintage self.
Wright, 33, has had quite a start to his season at the plate. He has produced a .289/.426/.952 slash line to date and hasn’t showed any signs of slowing up as he manages through a full season with spinal stenosis. Mets manager, Terry Collins, isn’t too surprised what he has seen from the longest tenured Met.
“Star players should never surprise you with what they can do,” Collins said. “They do things that capture your attention and he’s dangerous here. He feels great hitting in this park and he did it again tonight.” (NY Post)
Wright leads all opposing batters with 22 home runs at Citizens Bank Park. It has been a home away from home for the third baseman. Last year Wright returned from the disabled list with a blast at Citizens Bank in his first game back from his spinal stenosis diagnosis, crushing a homer to the left field upper deck. Wright had not had the same amount of at-bats as others leading up to the opener, as he took it slow this past off-season.
“Certain with the number of at-bats he had in spring training, we weren’t sure they were enough,” Collins said. “But he’s had past camps where he was hurt and he didn’t have many more than that and he got off to a pretty good start.”
Wright, now being the two hole is an integral part to this lineup. No longer is he going to be the RBI machine he once was, but now looks to be a table setter for Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes. Wright is a professional hitter and he does whatever needs to be done to get on base.
“He’s just a good player,” Collins said. “He’s willing to take a walk if you’re going to give him a walk and here he knows he’s just got to put a good swing on the balls and he’s going to be dangerous.”
Wright will be sparingly given days off throughout the season to manage his ailment. He has shown already to be such a resilient ball player, who may just be able to manage such a grueling injury and have a successful season. It is great to see David coming back in such a big way.
