I thought I saw the end of my favorite player.
On August 15th, 2009, David Wright stood in the box against Matt Cain, down 0-2 in the count. Cain unleashed a 93 MPH fastball up and in. It quickly escaped the safe realm of chin music and escalated into a weapon capable of incredible destruction.
The ball thudded loudly against the helmet, resulting in an audible gasp from the stadium and then an eerie silence. Wright burrowed his head into his forearm and Cain squatted next to the pitcher’s mound.
The year 2009 is infamous in Mets history for several reasons. It was the first year that the New York Mets called Citi Field home. It was the first in a string of 6 consecutive losing seasons, a streak that finally looks like it will be broken this year. It saw Bernie Madoff sentenced to 150 years in prison for his Ponzi scheme. 2009 marked the beginning of a downturn in payroll, a downturn in attendance, and a downturn in quality. And for David Wright, 2009 was the year that everything seemed to change.
Wright debuted with the Mets in 2004 at the age of 21. In just 69 games for the Mets, he hit 14 home runs, drove in 40 runs, and had an OPS of .857. By WAR standards, he was the most valuable positional player of the entire year for the Mets. He was the first sign of light for a Mets team in darkness. The next year would bring Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, but David Wright signaled the future the second he stepped on the field.
His first full year was even better than his rookie preview. Wright slugged 27 homers and began a four-year streak of driving in 100 runs or more. There was an excitement surrounding him and the team that hadn’t been seen in a long time. In addition, David made one of the most memorable plays in team history when he barehanded the ball in San Diego. According to FanGraphs, from 2005 to 2008, David Wright was the fifth most valuable positional player in all of baseball, behind Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Chase Utley, and Grady Sizemore.
The end of the 2008 season brought about the second consecutive collapse of the Mets, but David did all he could, posting a .993 OPS for the month of September. And so began 2009, a new season and a new home for the Mets, and unfortunately a new David Wright. The cavernous Citi Field seemed to zap David of all of his power as he failed to hit more than two home runs in any month. He totaled just 10 on the year, by far the lowest for a full season of his career. This began a three-year trend where Wright seemingly regressed in every facet of his game.
For 2009-2011, Wright averaged less than 18 home runs a season and was worth a total of 8.0 WAR, or less than he was worth for 2007 alone. And after being a top 5 player for the first four years of his career, this three-year period saw him as the 70th most valuable positional player in the league. Obviously, a lot changed between 2008 and 2009. Wright lacked protection in the lineup, and that issue only got worse as time went on. The newly designed stadium played against his strengths, as it was large enough to hold in his opposite field power. And the injury bug bit David unlike it had ever in his career before.
But the great players rebound, and that’s exactly what David did. In his next two seasons, David registered back-to-back all-star selections. In 2012, he even finished sixth in the MVP voting, showing just how recently he was a force in the National League. He evolved into a different hitter and was having potentially the best season of his career in 2013 before being shutdown due to another injury. A forgettable 2014 saw David post career-lows in a number of offensive categories as he unwisely played through an injury.
And so we arrive at 2015. David began the year pleasantly enough, albeit in a very small sample size. When he returns next week, Wright will find himself in his first pennant race in seven years and in a lineup significantly better than the one he left. Furthermore, he will find himself still the captain of this team. He will find himself being looked upon as a leader both on and off the field, and that is an area where David has never slumped.
It would be foolish to think David can turn back the clock and perform like he did in 2006 or 2007 or 2008. Even the 2012 and 2013 David Wright will probably not be seen playing third base at Citi Field again this season. He is battling back from a very serious injury and he is simply not going to be the player he once was. But, I remember jumping to my feet alongside the entire crowd at that fateful game against the Giants, everyone fearing the worst. A man next to me quietly whispered to himself, “He’s never coming back from that.”
Tonight, David Wright will make his return to the lineup against the Phillies in Philadelphia. Here’s hoping that David proves us wrong once again.
