Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wright Not Right And Should Sit


The Mets lost a tough one to the Braves last night 3-2. Once again David Wright struck out multiple times, 3, and one of the times was in the 9th inning with the go ahead run on third with one out.

David "Nuke LaLoosh" Wright is the Wilpon's Golden Boy, but he has been horrific in the field of late, and has been striking out on a consistent basis.


Bay has been rested. Francoeur has been rested. Reyes has been rested. Castillo has been rested. Pagan? Rested. Barajas? Rested. Now it is time for Jerry to sit Nuke down.


Not only did he strike out three times last night, and that the last K was with the go ahead run at third with one out, but his error in the bottom of the ninth allowed the winning run to score.


If you remember, Wright could very easily have been charged with two (if not three) errors against the Marlins the other day; he got eaten up on a ball that hit the third base bag, he dropped the throw for the force out at third from Jon Niese, and more.


Granted, his OBP is .382 which is respectable, but to get away from statistics, if you watch this team every day, you will see how many times Nuke leaves men on. He is unable to hit, and lay off the slider down and away. He appears nervous on pitches inside, and tends to bail.


Wright has played in 40 games thus far. He has 37 hits, but 55 strike outs. Read that again...he has 18 more strikeouts than hits!


In an earlier
post, I wrote that the Mets need to take a good hard look at Howard Johnson as hitting coach. Since HoJo has been with the Mets, Wright has declined. If you remember, Wright has been un-reliable since the closing months of 2008. He was awful down the stretch when the Mets needed him. He was terrible last year, and this year, he is headed down that same road. His strike outs are increasing by the truck load. Wright must bear responsibility for his lack of production, but Howard Johnson should be scrutinized also.

The quick answer is to have Wright sit tonight against the Nationals. Wright says he is pressing and making bad decisions. Maybe a day or two off to clear his head will work. Jerry has had no problems sitting Castillo, Reyes, Bay, Pagan, and Francoeur. Why is Nuke above reproach?

Jerry needs to take charge before this season slips beyond recovery.


Sources: CBS Sportsline, Baseball Reference

No comments: