I don't know what has gotten into David Wright lately, but whatever it is, I hope it doesn't leave him any time soon.
The way I see it, it can be one of two things. Either David Wright plays his best baseball in weather above 60 degrees, or he is beginning to mature into the leader the New York Mets envisioned him to be. While it never hurts to be playing baseball in beautiful, warm weather, I'm going to go on record in saying that I believe this is the beginning of the next phase of David's promising young career.Wright has never been a fast starter; statistically, April is by far his worst month in every category related to batting. It is also easy to see the drastic improvement in his play at the plate since May 1st. David has raised his batting average by 61 points from a modest .280 to a boisterous .341, batting a ridiculous .434 (23-for523 in the 14 games he has played thus far this month. He has reached base in half of his plate appearances (.500 May OBP), and his .717 slugging percentage has him up an astonishing 129 points (.390 to .519).
Yet, as important as the numbers are, there is something more to be said for what David Wright is in the midst of accomplishing. Wright has faced a lot of scrutiny in light of the Mets' late-season failures over the past two years. Thrust into the role of "the face of the franchise" player, the three time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger could not seem to escape the critics who deemed him to be a soft player who lacked a killer instinct and competitive edge, despite his solid overall numbers at the end of an 162-game schedule. However, the significance of the past two games cannot be underestimated.
It is never easy for a team to embark on a 10-game road trip to the opposite coast. In fact, as Gary Cohen pointed out during Thursday night's game on SNY- if I did hear this correctly- the New York Mets had not won the first game of a 10-game west coast road trip since 1988. After dropping two of three to the Braves, the Mets' momentum seemed to be slightly down, making them vulnerable to another rough start to a cross-country trip. Instead, the Mets opened their 4-game series with San Francisco with a 7-4 victory on Thursday, followed by an 8-6 win on Friday.
What makes these two wins so important is the way they were accomplished. In the series opener, the Mets took a 4-2 lead into the 8th inning on a solid pitching performance by John Maine, but found trouble when the Giants managed 2 runs off of Bobby Parnell in the bottom of the 8th, tying the game at 4 apiece. In a display that defied Met critics, the Amazin's did not falter, rallying for three runs in the top of the 9th inning off of Giants closer Brian Wilson.
It was indicative of everything the Mets hadn't done during the first month of the season, and showed undeniable heart, toughness, and fight. The rally started with a one out double by Carlos Beltran, who stole third base for the second consecutive game. Following a walk to Gary Sheffield, David Wright stood in the batters box and delivered a blow that knocked the Giants back, singling to right, scoring Beltran.
What happened next was unexpected, and in its essence, perfect. The double steal by Sheffield and Wright that followed the go-ahead RBI single was unexpected was not just a double steal. It
was a statement, a cutthroat maneuver by a team that has found its edge. Rather than ease up, satisfied with a one run lead, the Mets held their foot to the throats of the Giants, threatening to score again. With now two men in scoring position, Ramon Castro delivered the knockout punch two batters later with a single that scored both runners.Although the rally technically began with Beltran's double, what turned it into a rally was the clutch hit by David Wright. Those who insist on knocking Wright may have seen this as a one-time event, rather than an indicator of something more, but on the next night, David was at it again.Facing Cy Young Award winning phenom Tim Lincecum, Livan Hernandez and the Mets fell behind 5-1 by the second inning of Friday's game. The Giants' ace was rolling through the fifth inning, and despite hitting a rough patch in the 6th, found himself ahead 6-3 in the top of the 7th. Lincecum yielded a leadoff single to Luis Castillo, who stole second before Carlos Beltran reached base on a walk, lifting the 24 year-old from the game. A walk to Gary Sheffield loaded the bases for David Wright, who for the second straight night, provided the spark to ignite another Mets rally.
(click to watch Wright's 3-run double)
With the count 0-1, David scorched a double to left, a hit so hard that it reached the outfield wall, skipping past the speedy Fred Lewis. Castillo, Beltran and Sheffield all scored, tying the game at 6-6. The Mets pulled ahead with more clutch hitting in the 9th inning, again with Wright and Sheffield on the base paths, again with Brian Wilson on the mound. Wilson, attempting to throw Sheff out at third on a grounder by Ryan Church, threw wide of Pablo Sandoval, allowing Sheffield to score and Wright to advance to third. The very next batter Omir Santos hit a sac fly to right, scoring the run from third to give New York an 8-6 lead. Closer Francisco Rodriguez shut the door in the bottom of the 9th to earn his 11th save in 11 chances as a Met.The two wins on the road are impressive, even more so off coming of the lost series to the Braves. Within the victories themselves are several other huge positive signs. The Mets have won both games without their dynamic shortstop Jose Reyes, who has been bothered by pain in his calf. They've won without Carlos Delgado, who is headed to the DL with an impingement in his hip.
As for what the Mets have had, their starting pitching has been good enough to keep them in games, going hand-in-hand with their new found spell of clutch hitting. And at the forefront stands David Wright. Over the two-game span, Wright is 6-for-8 with 6 RBI and 5 stolen bases, four of which came in a career-high performance on Thursday night, as the Mets also set a franchise record with 7 steals on the game.
David has done it all, and the best sign is that he has done it in the clutch, late in the game. Four of his 6 RBI and 2 of his stolen bases have come in the Mets' two late-inning comebacks. Say what you want, critics, but Wright has stepped up when the Mets need it most, without two of their regular stars to start a tough road trip, and to me that says one thing: David Wright is ready to be the leader of this team, not just in theory, but for real on the field.
Let's go Mets.
