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Mets Rumors: David Wright Won’t Be Dropped In Order, Yet

By Kenneth Teape

May 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) warms up before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
May 10, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Mets third baseman David Wright (5) warms up before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Mets Rumors: David Wright has struggled with strikeouts at the plate; is there a chance that he will be dropped in the batting order as a result?

New York Mets rumors in recent days have been slow as the focus turns to the field, where the Mets have lost three in a row and four of their last five. They will look to get back on track this afternoon when they wrap up an 11-game road trip with the final game of their three-game set against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

One of the focuses for people on the field has been the play of David Wright. Wright is battling spinal stenosis and still working on how to deal with it as it hampers his play. Earlier in the week he was dealing with shoulder soreness, as he had to change his throwing motion to compensate for the back pain. Now, the talk has shifted to his performance at the plate, which has cratered in recent weeks.

Wright owns a slash line of .231/.376/.417 heading into Sunday, as he has struggled mightily on the Mets’ recent road trip. He is 4-for-26 on the road trip with one home run and one double, which has prompted some talk about Wright moving down in the order.

Despite the high on-base percentage, Wright has been striking out at an alarming rate this season. He has already struck out 44 times in 108 at-bats, which is one ever 2.5 at-bats. That is by far the worst rate of his career, as his career number stands at 4.7 at-bats per strikeout.

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“I’d like to, obviously, cut down on the strikeouts,” Wright said. “I’d like to consistently have better at-bats. But the fact that when I am struggling I’m still trying to find a way to get on base, I can look at that as a positive. I’d rather hit my way on base than walk. But if the walks are there I’ve got to take them.”

The on-base percentage is impressive for Wright, who has 25 walks on the season. The .376 on-base percentage leads the team. It has helped land the Mets at the second for on-base percentage from the No.2 spot in the order, trailing only the Baltimore Orioles. Despite that, there has been talk about whether Wright would get moved down in the order.

“At some point, if he continues to struggle, we’ll address that,” Collins said about Wright batting second. “He leads the team in on-base [percentage]. When you’re talking about the two-hole, you’re talking about guys getting on base. The issue is the strikeouts more than anything. This guy is not that kind of guy. He doesn’t usually strike out. That’s why they’re out there today trying to make a couple of adjustments, to certainly try to fix it.”

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Wright will never be the same player that he was a couple of years ago, as he is now 33-years old and dealing with a back injury that will never fully heal. He will have his good days and bad days, and is currently in the midst of a bad stretch.

While moving Wright out of the two-spot is something many people could be clamoring for, the question would be where do you put him then? He should not be occupying a run producing spot from No.3-6 in the order as he is not hitting the ball well currently. It would be tough to imagine Wright’s name penciled in at No.7-9, but it could be what we see if he doesn’t start making more contact at the plate.

Wright leads the major leagues with a hard-hit percentage of 47.5 percent on balls in play, but he is not putting the ball in play nearly enough. With 69 walks and strikeouts combined in 123 plate appearances, Wright isn’t putting the ball in play 56.1 percent of the time he comes to the plate.

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So while the hard-hit percentage is nice to see, the number is a little skewed as Wright just isn’t making contract at the rate that he used to. As long as he is taking walks at the rate that he is, he should be able to hold down the No.2 spot but if the Mets continue losing as they have done at the end of this road trip, a change could be made in the lineup.

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