Tag Archives: David Wright

March 23, 2019

The Wright Stuff

David Wright is a big part of the Mets trying to be a player centered team. He’s serving as a friendly negotiator between the front office and Jacob deGrom:


“I’ve made it abundantly clear that with my new role, I guess technically I’m considered front office, but I’ve also told the front office that I am very good friends with Jake and that I want it to work out for both sides because I love this organization and I love Jake, so hopefully something can come of it, but each player has to make their own individual decision,’’ Wright told The Post at First Data Field on Friday, when the Mets were hammered 15-5 by the Cardinals.

NYPost.com

Take the article with a grain of salt, because there are no player comments about Wright’s role. What is clear is that Wright was given more than just an honorary front office job. Having someone who communicates well with the players is a good way to avoid misunderstandings between the front office and the dugout. Feeling comfortable with the organization likely helped seal some recent extensions.

September 29, 2018

The Wright Ending

It sounds like David Wright had a nice send-off at Citi Field:

The team captain went 0-for-1 with a walk against the Marlins and was removed after two plate appearances as planned. On defense, he handled a one-hopper to third base with no problem.

Wright, who fouled out to first base his final time up, took his position before the top of the fifth inning. Mets manager Mickey Callaway then came out of the dugout to make a lineup change, and Wright began his slow walk off the field.

As he exited, Wright shook hands with third-base umpire Mike Winters, saluted and thumped his chest toward fans and hugged each of his teammates, who poured out of the dugout to salute the captain.

Fans stood and cheered Wright for about 3 minutes, 15 seconds.

Wright certainly made a great effort to try to return from his injuries. I suspect he’ll continue behind the scenes in the Mets organization for a while.

September 14, 2018

Wright Retires

David Wright decided to call it a career, and the Mets will give him one more chance to play.

“Physically, the way I feel right now and everything the doctors have told me, there’s not going to be any improvement,” he said.

Note that he is not retiring:

Wright never used the word retirement on Thursday, nor did Wilpon and John Ricco, the Mets’ assistant general manager, who flanked him at the news conference. If Wright retired, he would forfeit the $27 million left for the final two seasons of his contract.

Wright posted an impressive career .376 OBP with a high slugging percentage. Even as he fought injuries in the late stages of his career, he managed to keep getting on base. He was part of the greatest generation of third basemen in the game, from Adrian Beltre on down. I’m glad he’s getting at least one more game.

February 28, 2017

Wright Still Wrong

David Wright is already doubtful for opening day:

General manager Sandy Alderson told reporters Tuesday that the third baseman flew back to New York to have his sore right shoulder examined Monday and was diagnosed with an impingement on Tuesday.

Count me as not surprised. The Mets did the right thing this winter, refusing to put voice to the probability of Wright not playing in 2017. He is their long term star, and the team said nothing negative about his health. So it would appear Jose Reyes will get another chance at third, with the early prime Matt Reynolds maybe getting a shot, or even Asdrubal Cabrera. The Mets were prepared for this likely contingency.

December 28, 2016

The Compassion Position

Jonathan Goehring makes an interesting observation about the Padres and Yangervis Solarte:

Solarte’s wife Yulianna passed away in September after a long battle with cancer. This tragedy is one which transcends baseball, and one that the Padres organization has treated with care and respect.

Solarte’s desires are not publicly known, but under circumstances such as these, they carry much heavier weight. This may explain why there hasn’t been a whole lot of talk lately about a possible trade, despite the fact that it would seem to make a lot of sense.

If Solarte would rather stay in San Diego and take care of his three young children, the Padres will likely honor his request not to be traded.

In a similar situation, Cleveland Indians’ infielder Mike Aviles was not traded while his daughter went through Leukemia. Even though it may have made sense for the Tribe to involve Aviles in a deadline deal, they put him and his family first.

Kudos to the Padres for putting the needs of a player first.

Solarte is a solid two-WAR player, early in his prime, so he will be valuable to some team. He is entering his first year of arbitration, so he poised to make about $6 million this season. That would certainly give him the means to take care of his family properly. I also suspect a team that wanted to acquire him might make accommodations for the children.

The Mets might be a good landing spot. David Wright‘s health is still questionable despite Sandy Alderson’s confidence. Solarte knows New York since he spent time with the Yankees. New York certainly offers the services Solarte needs to raise his children well.

June 16, 2016

Season Ending Injuries Thursday

David Wright underwent surgery and is done for 2016:

The Mets officially need a third baseman.

After weeks therapy and oral and local medications, David Wright has decided to have surgery to repair the herniated disc in his neck. The surgery was scheduled for Thursday in California with Dr. Robert Watkins, the Mets announced Thursday morning.

While the Mets said there is no timetable for Wright’s return, the Mets captain’s season is effectively over.

The Mets were 20-17 when Wright played in a game, .541. They are 15-12 without him, .556. So they haven’t missed him that much, as Wright wasn’t really contributing, especially on the road. I hear former Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is available.

Meanwhile, the Twins lose Glen Perkins to shoulder surgery:

All-Star closer Glen Perkins will miss the rest of the season because of a torn labrum and rotator cuff problems that will likely require surgery, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The diagnosis comes after Perkins underwent another Magnetic Resonance Imaging exam this week and received another opinion on his ailing left shoulder. Perkins’ labrum is definitely torn, although it’s unclear how severe the tear is, the source said.

There’s a chance Perkins could be ready at or near the start of the 2017 season, but it could take a little longer.

Better strengthening of the rotator cuff muscles turned this into a very rare injury. Better surgical techniques also means it is no longer a career ender.

May 31, 2016

Wright’s Neck

David Wright received an injection to try to relieve a herniated disk in his neck:

Collins said the injection could take 48 to take effect. The Mets opted to keep Wright, who is batting .227 with seven homers and 14 RBI this season, on the active roster. If Wright doesn’t respond well to the medication, he might be headed to the disabled list.

Wright played in only 38 games last season as he rehabbed a back injury that flared up while he was coming back from a hamstring injury.

Wright was hitting the ball far but not too often, with 15 of his 31 hits going for extra bases. He also drew 26 walks to give him a healthy OBP. In other words, he was helping the team at the plate despite a low batting average. Given his injury history since 2011, however, it’s not clear how much more his body can take.

May 21, 2016

Pitching to Wright

David Wright was 0 for 3 with a walk when he came up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Mets and Brewers tied at four. Michael Blazek could not find the plate to go 3-0, then put the ball down the middle. Wright lined a single to right-center, and the Mets win 5-4.

Wright’s stat line for the season now stands at .223/.361/.388, meaning he’s generating a lot of his offense via walks. With his back troubles, it’s not clear that he’s a very good hitter. I suspect that pitchers should go after him a bit harder. Instead of falling behind and having to catch a good chunk of the plate, they should make Wright beat them and not avoid contact. Despite the game winner, he’s not the same hitter as in his younger days.

April 4, 2016

Thoughts on the Mets and Royals

The Royals beat the Mets 4-3 Sunday night to finish the first opening day of the season. Watching the game, these thoughts struck me.

The Royals defense is still very good. They are capable of covering up a number of pitching flaws. The only real defensive mistake I saw came from Lorenzo Cain, who misjudged a Michael Conforto fly ball that carried to the wall. Cain, to his credit, covered a lot of ground.

Conforto’s wall ball went for a double, capping a great night in which he also walked twice and singled in four plate appearances. He is playing 2016 as a 23 year old, and it may not be that much time before he’s the best hitter on the team. Jessica Mendoza on the ESPN broadcast noted that Conforto’s batting practice hits seemed to carry farther than one would expect seeing the ball off the bat, which is why Cain might have misjudged the ball. I wonder if Conforto’s swing puts high back spin on the ball that causes it to carry like that? He already has a good eye at the plate and hits for power, can’t wait to see how high his ceiling goes.

The Royals bullpen is not invincible. They allowed five hits, three walks, and all three Mets runs in three innings Sunday night. Teams seem to be moving toward the Royals model of starters who can go six innings and three lights out relievers. As relievers pitch less, however, it becomes more difficult to gauge their true talent level, and it also makes them susceptible to bad luck.

David Wright‘s days as a third baseman might be numbered. His throws to first looked like they required maximum effort. Fast batters may very well take advantage of him as the season wears on.

Eric Hosmer is cool. I loved the bunt in the sixth inning. It came as a surprise, and the worst that could have happened is that he would put a man on second with one out. As it happened, he set up the winning runs for the Royals.

November 1, 2015

Wright Out of the Glove

Mike Moustakas hits a ground ball that David Wright boots, and the Royals get an extra out starting the second inning. We’ll see if they can capitalize again. They trail the Mets 1-0.

Update: Matt Harvey induces two grounders and a fly ball to negate the error. The Mets take a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the second inning.

October 30, 2015

Wright Busts it Open

The Mets score a run and load the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth, bringing David Wright to the plate with a chance to bust the game open. He hits a line-drive single to center, driving in two of the three base runners, and the Mets lead the Royals 8-3. Wright has four RBI in the game and for the series.

Update: A Yoenis Cespedes sacrifice fly makes the score 9-3 in favor of the Mets.

Update: That’s it for the Mets. We’ll see if the Royals have another big comeback in them.

October 30, 2015

Beating the Shift

Curtis Granderson faces Ben Zobrist playing deep behind the infield as the second baseman, expecting Granderson to pull the ball. Granderson goes more up the middle. Given his deep position, Zobrist gets to the ball, but can’t make a timely throw. David Wright follows with a home run to deep left-center, and the quickly turn the game around to lead the Royals 2-1 in the bottom of the first. A magnificent home run.

October 18, 2015

Jake Jacked

Curtis Granderson singles, then with Granderson running, David Wright hits a ball over Dexter Fowler‘s head to the wall in center, driving Granderson all the way around. The Mets tag Jake Arrieta early, and lead the Cubs 1-0.

Update: Daniel Murphy pulls a ball just foul, then on a 1-2 pitch, dumps a home run down the rightfield line. That’s five home runs for Murphy in the 2015 post-season in just 26 at bats. The Mets lead the Cubs 3-0.

Update: Yoenis Cespedes pops out in foul territory for the first out. It was a tough play for Anthony Rizzo, as the wind in playing havoc with the Cubs. It was a factor in David Wright’s double and Murphy’s home run.

Update: Granderson contributes with the glove as well, stealing a home run from Chris Coghlan in the top of the second. The Mets still lead 3-0.

August 24, 2015 May 24, 2015

Wright not Right

It looks like David Wright is not coming back to the Mets any time soon:

The third baseman has been shut down from rehab activities for the second time in just over two weeks with back pain. Wright will cease all baseball activities for at least a week while trying to heal what the team is now saying is spinal stenosis through rest.

“They thought it would be gone by now, but the fact he is still feeling something,” Mets assistant GM John Ricco explained Saturday afternoon. “I think the initial diagnosis was stenosis, which is a narrowing of his spinal column, not anything structural.

“At this point he should be feeling pain-free for the most part and he is not,” Ricco said. “This is the way they recommended to try to heal it. Strengthen the core and hopefully stabilize the back.”

Stenosis can be very serious. It was stenosis in the neck that caused Giants running back David Wilson to retire last year and it ended Lenny Dykstra’s career.

It’s a tough loss, since Wright should be one of their best hitters. Despite the recent slide, the Mets played better without him that I thought they would. They’ve had mixed results at the plate with Wright’s replacements.

September 25, 2014 July 15, 2013

Wright at Home

David Wright comes up as the last batter of the first round in front of the home team fans.

Update: Wright is pulling the ball hitting high arching shots to left. He has five so far, and needs seven to force a swing off with Cuddyer.

Update: Wright hits just five, and Michael Cuddyer makes the second round. No ESPN experts picked Cuddyer to finish first or second. They’re at 50% in picking the top four, but they could still do well picking the top two.

June 23, 2013

Asterisk Cycle

David Wright hit two doubles early in the Mets game against the Phillies, then picked up a triple and a home run. If he had stopped at first on one of the doubles, he could have hit for the cycle. His hitting, and another great outing by Matt Harvey, gave the Mets an 8-0 victory.

It seems to me there should be a list of pseudo cycles, ones in which the batter got a hit with an extra base he didn’t need. So two doubles, a triple and a home run, a single, two triples, and a home run, or single, double or triple, and two home runs, at least one being inside the park. That’s a nice research project for someone with access to the Retrosheet data and the Tattersall home run list.

February 25, 2013 November 30, 2012

The Wright $tuff

David Wright and Mets made their relationship long=term with an eight-year, $138 million contract:

David Wright and the New York Mets have agreed to a $138-million, eight-year contract that would be the richest in franchise history, WFAN radio reported early Friday.

The deal would keep the All-Star third baseman under contract with the Mets through the 2020 season, when he will be 37.

Without a new contract, Wright would be eligible for free agency after next season. Last month, the Mets exercised his $16-million option for 2013. That money is included in the new agreement, according to WFAN, which broadcasts Mets games.

Looking at Wright’s career, when he’s having a great season he’s worth about twice the $17 million per year he’ll receive. When he has an off year, he’s worth just below that. So the Mets seem to have signed him to a contract that will be easy to justify, and New York might even end up with some residual value.

Health likely played a big part in the price, in addition to the home town discount. Injuries took a toll on David in three of the last four years, either in playing time or production. If he waited a year for free agency, he’d be rolling the dice on this health. Now David, Mets fans, and Mets management all have a great deal. Wright is set for life, fans get to know one of their favorites is staying put, and the contract won’t break the Mets.

July 19, 2012

Wright On

David Wright hits two home runs to lead the Mets to a 9-5 win over the Nationals Thursday afternoon. Wright reaches 14 home runs in 88 games, the same total he hit in 2011 in 108 games. With 30 doubles and two triples, Wright’s .586 slugging percentage would be the highest single season total of his career. So much for his power being gone. The win means the Mets avoid a sweep.

This series was a nice battle of third basemen as Ryan Zimmerman stayed hot with a home run. He’s 20 for 52 this month with six doubles and six home runs.

May 25, 2012

Finding Holes

Seventeen out of twenty Padres batters put the ball in play against Mets starter Jeremy Hefner Thursday night and nine wound up with hits as San Diego pounded New York 11-5. Table setters Will Venable and Cameron Maybin combined for five hits, five runs and four RBI, Maybin pulling himself out of a long slump with five hits in his last two games.

The one bright spot for New York was David Wright‘s 3 for 5, missing the cycle by a triple. Wright’s batting average now stands at .405, and I calculate he has about a 1 in 34,000 chance of hitting .400 for the season.

May 20, 2012

Shooting for .400

David Wright and Josh Hamilton both collected two hits today as the Mets beat the Blue Jays 6-5 and Texas defeated Houston 6-1. Wright’s 2 for 4 and Hamilton’s 2 for 3 improved the chances of them hitting .400 this season.

David  Wright probability of hitting .400 in 2012.

X-axis represents number of days games played. Y-axis is on a logarithmic scale.

With a .412 batting average, Wright currently has a 0.00004 probability of hitting .400, or about 1 chance in 25,000.

Josh Hamiltion probability of hitting .400 in 2012.

X-axis represents number of days games played. Y-axis is on a logarithmic scale.

Hamilton is currently hitting .389, and while his probabilities are off his highs, he still owns a 0.000018 probability of hitting .400, or about 1 chance in 56,000.

May 20, 2012 May 17, 2012

The Wright Half

The first half of the Reds-Mets game belonged to Cincinnati. They took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth, Joey Votto hitting his sixth home run.  The Mets, however, would score in every remaining inning, winning 9-4.  David Wright had a perfect day, two for two with three walks, raising his batting average to .411.  I’m on the road, but when I return tomorrow I’ll work up the odds of Wright hitting .400 for the season.

May 16, 2012

Right and Wright

Last night, after a Mets pitcher plunked Ryan Braun, Terry Collins took David Wright out of the game so he would not be hit. Wright took exception to this:

Wright erupted. Emphatically yelling at Collins, demanding to stay in the game before storming down the tunnel and in to the clubhouse. Wright later returned and next to Collins on the top step, spoke passionately about the situation, as Collins stared intensely at the field.

Vinny Cartiglia reviews notes how both player and manager acted correctly in this situation:

David could have easily been drilled with a fastball on the wrist, elbow, or the head and needed a DL stint to which we would all have been furious that he was left in the game. Wright is very important to this club and there is no reason he should have been put in harms way during an 8-0 game. And so, I am glad Terry did what he did.

On the flip side of that coin, I get why Wright was upset. He’s the leader of this club and official or not, he is the captain.

Of course, the real right thing to do was not plunk Braun in the first place. The HBP came after a home run in a lopsided game, so it seemed retaliatory. Hitting someone when because you’re down 8-0, especially someone who hadn’t contributed much to the offense that night, seems Bush League.

May 12, 2012

All’s Wright with the Mets

David Wright goes four for six to push his batting average to .402 as the Mets cream the Marlins 9-3. Both teams collected a ton of hits, the Mets leading 16 to 13, but New York went 6 for 20 with runners in scoring position to 2 for 11 for Miami. The heart of the Mets order, their 3-4-5 hitters, combined for 10 of those 16 hits as they concentrated offense.

Wright hit his fourth home run, but only 13 of his 45 hits went for extra bases. His high slugging percentage, .598, is mostly due to his high number of hits.

April 26, 2012 April 10, 2012

Pinkie and the Pain

David Wright will sit out tonight’s game due to an injured pinkie finger:

While the extent of Wright’s injury was not known, he did not sound hopeful when he spoke with reporters before the game. He wore a heavy wrap on his hand and was to undergo an X-ray exam shortly before the game.

Wright injured the finger while sliding into first base on a pick-off attempt in the third inning on Monday night.

Wright is off to a fast start with seven hits and four walks in four games.

Update: The pinkie is fractured.

March 14, 2012

Wright Torn

Doctors diagnosed David Wright’s injury as a rib cage muscle tear:

Wright returned to camp Wednesday after receiving a cortisone shot Monday in New York. The injury occurred during a fielding drill early in camp and he hasn’t played in a spring-training game this year.

Wright is expected to resume baseball activities Thursday. He said he just needs about two weeks to prepare for the season, which starts April 4.

”I think I’m past the difficult part,” Wright said. ”Now it’s just a matter of getting back in the swing of things and making sure that I can get back on the field as soon as my body will allow me to, and then get some at-bats.”

Rib injuries can be painful, and I would think swinging a bat would make matters worse. I appreciate him trying to play through pain, but I hope he doesn’t make the injury worse.