Wright & Beltran To Sit

Too little too late? Jerry Manuel will sit both Carlos Beltran and David Wright this afternoon against the Marlins. Wright, who has had a terrible season, although the Sabre Metric geeks will find some irrelevant, stupid stat that they claim will prove otherwise, made the bonehead play of the game last night in the Mets 9-6 loss to the Marlins.

Wright, on second base, didn't cross the plate before Jeff Francoeur, who had singled, because he slowed up coming around third. Francoeur was the third out of the inning, so Wright wasn't running hard with two outs. If this was Jose Reyes, he would have been benched immediately.

It's amazing the double standard that happens with Wright. He was supposed to be given a day off after every start since returning from the concussion weeks ago. This rule held fast for...one day. Wright had the second day off after returning, and has played every game since, and has played terribly. Manuel, commenting on Wright's lack of hustle said it was "unacceptable."

As a Met fan, I am concerned about Wright. He has not played well in over a year. People will look at his stats from last year and think he had a good 2008. If you watched the Mets daily, like I have and did, Wright left so many men on base; although he had 124 RBI in '08, he should have had about 160 RBI.

This year, Carlos Beltran, who missed two months, and Daniel Murphy have more HR's than Wright. It's not from a lack of effort, it might be that he's trying too hard. Wright should sit, and not just for today's matinee. He should sit for a minimum three games...straight. Let him clear his head. He should not be allowed to take BP. Just let him sit and clear his mind. Might he be suffering from the effects from his concussion? Most likely. But I look at Wright's short comings as a year long abyss, which needs close monitoring. Be sure to take out poll to the right.

I do not have a warm fuzzy feeling that Wright will be any better next year. Maybe it's me, but something doesn't seem right with Wright. Wright should be treated equally for his mistakes as "lesser" players for their indiscretions. Him sitting down today is probably to give him a day off, but it should be stated that it was for lack of hustle and intelligent baseball.

Source: Adam Rubin - Surfing The Mets