A Case Can Be Made to Bat David Wright Leadoff

The Mets are bad.  We all know that.  Injuries have decimated the ball club this year and the only reason they are still within striking distance in the NL East is because the rest of the division is bad as well.  The only member of the Mets' core that hasn't been beset by the injury bug is the "face of the franchise."  Anyone who watches the Mets day in and day out can see that David Wright just isn't getting the job done with runners on base.

At first glance, the casual observer would point out that with the lineup as depleted as it is this season, there is no reason to pitch to David.  I'm sure that has something to do with it, but it really doesn't tell the whole story.   You see, Wright's numbers in key situations have been atrocious since September of 2007, and there appears to be no signs of this changing.

So far this season, David is batting an abysmal .125 with 2 RBI with runners on second and third and is not much better, batting at only .182 with 4 RBI with the bags full, and that is not counting the sixthth inning of today's game where he grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

With two outs and runners in scoring position, he is hitting .261 with 13 RBI.  Last year with a fully healthy squad, surrounded by a healthy Delgado and Beltran, and Reyes batting lead-off, the numbers weren't much different.  With runners on second and third, he hit for a .167 clip with only 5 RBI on the season.  With the bases loaded, he hit .235 with 13 RBI and he hit only .247 with runners in scoring position and two outs.  This is a far cry from the David Wright that we saw early in his career. 

In his first several seasons, David drew comparisons to the man who seems to be in the middle of every clutch play in New York, Derek Jeter.  For example, in 2006 he led the Mets to within one game of the World Series batting .727 with 16 RBI when hitting with runners on second and third and knocked in 19 more while batting at a .400 clip with the sacks full.  While hitting with two outs and runners in scoring position, he hit .358 while knocking in 38.  Whatever the reason—pressing too much, bad pitch selection, can't handle the pressure, he's just not the same guy he was. 

While I'm not advocating trading David Wright, because to be quite honest that's not going to happen, I do suggest trying something else because David batting in the middle of the lineup just isn't working.  His power numbers are way down and not all of that can be attributed to the cavernous Citifield because he has only two home runs in 42 road games.

His batting average and on base percentage are still high overall, and he is on pace to steal 40 bases, which would be a career high.  If he's not hitting in the clutch, something he hasn't for more than the last year and a half, maybe he can be the table setter at the top of the lineup and spark the offense that way.  The Mets need to do something, and they need to do something different with David Wright.