Posts Tagged ‘David Wright’

BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

Ah, doesn’t it feel good to be back in third place again? What, it doesn’t? Even if you don’t like third place, if you’re a Mets fan, you should like the way the Mets played tonight. They trailed late, but persevered and came out on top, just like a winning team should. At 63-62, the Mets are technically a winning team again, even if that winning team consists of a bunch of underachieving bums.

Seriously, though, the Mets played with pride tonight. They refused to fold when Gaby Sanchez crushed a 3-run homer with two outs in the 7th to ruin R.A. Dickey’s nice start. Even with two outs in their half of the 8th, the Mets did not quit. Angel hustled hard enough to turn a single into a double and was quickly rewarded when he rounded third and scored on Beltran’s single.

In the 9th, Ike Davis led off with a swinging-bunt infield single just past the pitchers mound. After Thole lobbed a broken bat bloop over short stop for another single, the Mets ended up with runners on first and second with two outs. Luis Castillo, who was switched into the lineup after Jesus Feliciano pinch hit for Ruben Tejada in the 7th, became the surprise hero by nubbing a soft liner into right field. Right fielder Mike Stanton was playing in, but his throw was off target and everything was good for one night.

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BY AARON YORKE
STACHE WRITER

The Mets are going for the road sweep in Pittsburgh this afternoon. First pitch will be at 1:35 p.m. and delivered by Pirates lefty Zach Duke. The Mets own lefty Johan Santana will take the hill for New York. As usual, the Sunday afternoon tilt will be broadcast by both WPIX Channel 11 and WFAN.

By the way, Rod Barajas got picked up by the Dodgers. Huzzah. Jesus Feliciano is back in the majors as a result, and he’ll be playing for the Mets.

New York Mets Lineup
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Angel Pagan, LF
3. Carlos Beltran, CF
4. David Wright, 3B
5. Jeff Francoeur, RF
6. Ike Davis, 1B
7. Henry Blanco, C
8. Ruben Tejada, 2B
9. Johan Santana, P

Although Chris Carter was swinging the bat well, Jerry Manuel has removed him from the lineup in favor of Jeff Francoeur. Carter has not had the chance to hit vs. a lefty with the Mets, but with Buffalo, he was 10/27 against them… why not give the guy the opportunity (is Jerry is afraid to hurt Frenchy’s feelings)? Josh Thole is another lefty absent from the lineup, but it’s a day game after a night game, so that makes sense. We all love Hessman, but I’m glad Davis is getting the chance against Zach Duke.

Interesting Fact/Trend: Before last night, PNC park was one of two ballparks that David Wright had at least 30 ABs in and had not hit a home run. Of course, that did not count the All-Star Game. He’s got the monkey off his back anyway, and the only remaining 30 AB/no-homer park is Nationals Park.

Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup
1. Andrew McCutchen, CF
2. Jose Tabata, LF
3. Neil Walker, 2B
4. Garrett Jones, 1B
5. Pedro Alvarez, 3B
6. Lastings Milledge, RF
7. Ronny Cedeno, SS
8. Chris Snyder, C
9. Zach Duke, P

It’s the same lineup as last night, except our old friend Lastings Milledge replaces Ryan Doumit in right field.

Interesting Fact/Trend: All 12 of Andrew McCutchen’s home runs this year have been sad solo affairs in which he only gets to high five the on-deck batter. Moving him down in the lineup would make sense to manager John Russell… if he had another player on his roster fit to lead off.

On The Bump:

Zach Duke (5-12, 5.33 ERA) takes on Johan Santana (10-7, 2.97 ERA) in a match-up that should favor the Mets. We all know how that usually works out. Still, the Mets should feel good after winning two in a row on the road. Duke’s rough season is the result of a wicked 14.5% home run to fly ball ratio (compared to 10% last season when he had a 4.05 ERA) as well as a .345 BABIP. That HR/FB rate is even more alarming considering PNC Park’s pitcher-friendly nature. Look for David Wright to go deep again.

Meanwhile, Johan is having the second half we all hoped he’d have and he’s quieted talks of his accelerated decline. The strikeouts are back, with at least 6 in each of four August starts, including a couple of double digit dandies vs. Atlanta and Colorado. He’s also sporting a 1.64 career ERA at PNC Park. Yummy.

Daily Stache’s Keys to the Game:

1. Score early again – This should be the key to every game, but it is especially so now that Santana is on the hill and the Mets have been scoring early with relative frequency. They’ve scored first in the last six games. Jose Reyes might have something to do with that.

2. Get Reyes around – Jose Reyes doesn’t have everything to do with it. They say “as Reyes goes the Mets go” but since the All-Star break, Reyes was the Mets best hitter, and… they didn’t score much at all. That’s because everyone else stunk. Now that Wright has come around, the scoreboard is getting a workout thanks to Reyes actually crossing the plate.

3. Just keep pitching – The Mets might be able to establish a respectable winning streak if their great pitching keeps up during this brief offensive renaissance. The Mets 3.25 staff ERA since the break is third best in the majors behind Oakland and Atlanta.

BY RANDY SHEMANSKI
STACHE WRITER

Just a few hours after manager Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen talked to the media about a possible innings limit on rookie Jon Niese, the lefty turned in another strong outing in a rain-shortened, 5-1 win over the Pirates.

Niese allowed a run on five hits and a walk while fanning five in five innings. It’ll go in the books as a complete game after heavy rain forced a delay and the eventual end of the game after five innings. The victory was Niese’s first since July 27, but his fourth straight start in which he allowed one or no runs; he earned no-decisions in the other three. He improved to 8-5 with a 3.33 ERA with the win.

Niese has now thrown 138 innings, easily a career high. At just 23 years old, the Mets will discuss how to use him over the season’s final six weeks when they return home. Manuel said before the game that it would be difficult to put Niese on an innings limit while trying to win games. Warthen seemed to be in favor of a limit. With the Mets on the fringe of contending – they’re just 62-61 – they’d be wise to protect Niese unless they get hot and using him could give them a chance to reach the playoffs.

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BY MATTHEW FALKENBURY
EDITOR

(All stats and facts are current at time of publication of this article)

Stats in His Mets Career

965 Games: .307 BA, 158 HR, 639 RBI, 137 SB, 1115 Hits

His Mets Moment

The bright smile, the youthful exuberance, the power, the speed, the arm and the glove. David Wright had it all when the 2006 season came around for the New York Mets. He was the future of the franchise and the best young 3rd baseman in the game. What you see today is someone beaten over the head by the pressure of playing in New York. But in 2006, there wasnt a care in the world for David Wright.

On May 19th, 2006 against the hated New York Yankees at Shea Stadium, David Wright had his moment and it was against the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera that he got the job done.

In a game where the Mets started Geremi Gonzalez against the Big Unit Randy Johnson, the Mets feel behind 4-0 before even coming to bat. The Mets would get 3 runs back in the bottom half on a Carlos Beltran Home Run. The game was a slugfest through the first half of the game as the score was tied at 6 after 5 innings.

With the Game tied in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Yankees, going against the book, brought in closer Mariano Rivera in a tie game on the road to take on the Mets top of the order.

Jose Reyes popped out to shortstop and Paul LoDuca doubled down the left field line and put the winning run in scoring position for the Mets 3-4-5 hitters.

Carlos Beltran would strikeout swinging and the Yankees, knowing that Carlos Delgado had more experience facing Rivera, walked Delgado Intentionally to face David Wright, a common occurance early in Wright’s career.

On a 2-2 pitch that was down near his Ankles, Wright hit a deep drive to Center Field that Johnny Damon was trying to catch to force extra innings. The ball kept going and as Wright was jumping up and down along the 1st base line, the Ball hit the warning track and one hopped the fence.

Paul LoDuca scored the winning run and David Wright had not only won the game with a walk off hit, but did it at home, against the Yankees and against Mariano Rivera. David had arrived and for now, and I hold out hope that this will change soon, He had his Mets moment.

Fast Facts

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BY SCOTT ILOWITE
STACHE WRITER

What is it about “You”-ston? Every single time the Mets take a trip to the “Juice Box”, I need 3 Grande Mocha Frappuccino’s  just to make it though these extra-inning marathons. We figured to get good starting pitching with R.A. Dickey and Brett Myers on the hill. 

Both pitchers were as advertised. Myers went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs, while Dickey lasted 8.1 innings, but was yanked after serving up the game tying solo homer in the bottom of the 9th to Geoff Blum. 

Unfortunately, in the 12th inning, David Wright led off with a howitzer into centerfield, but immediately slowed up and had apparently injured himself. He almost walked to 1st base.

When he reached 1st, he immediately turned around and walked back to the dugout.  After the game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that David was just not feeling well. He said that he had a queasy stomach and felt a little light headed.

Bobby Parnell came in for the 11th and 12th innings and threw the best 2 innings of his career. 

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Our guy. Our leader. (AP Photo/Ed Betz)

BY ANTHONY LAFAMAN
STACHE WRITER

In seven big league seasons, counting this years 44 games, David Wright has a lifetime .306 batting average. A .388 OBP, slugs .905 and has collected 594 RBI’s. He also sports 148 home runs and has swiped 127 bases. Now a realistic approach in determining what those numbers would average out to if he played another 7 years would simply be to double those numbers. So you would be hard pressed to find a gold glove caliber guy at third base that sports a .300 + average with over 1000 RBI’s and 300+ home runs. Don’t forget the 250 stolen bases. Also don’t forget he is only 27.

I’ve heard this and that about how David Wright despite being the face of the franchise is part to blame for the Mediocre Mets. I’ve heard he is not a championship player or the Wright/Reyes era is just one big giant tease to Met fans. I cannot disagree more.

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It was another one of those days for John Maine

Maybe Jerry Manuel should limit John Maine to five pitches every time he takes the mound. Tonight, Maine walked lead-off hitter Nyjer Morgan on five pitches and Dan Warthen immediately saw that something was wrong. Maine was lifted and replaced with the pleasant Cuban surprise known as Raul Valdes. The result was a 10-7 Mets victory.

After the game, Maine was clearly frustrated and told reporters that Warthen and Manuel did not even give him a chance to explain what was wrong. Maine made it clear he just wants to pitch no matter how badly he struggles. I’m not sure Mets fans feel the same about that, but I’m pretty sure Manuel made the right decision tonight, especially after Warthen told SNY that Maine routinely lies about injuries to stay in ballgames. No matter what Maine said to Warthen or Manuel when they came to the hill, he was coming out of the game.
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Will this current core be the future core? (PHOTO BY ICON/SMI)

In the last part of the series on leadership in the New York Mets club house, we will look at several player options. Those options include Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas, Ike Davis and Jose Reyes. We have reviewed Johan Santana, David Wright and Francisco Rodriguez.

Now, moving on, let’s further examine the rest of that list, starting with Carlos Beltran. Beltran was brought in to be the playoff-tested veteran. He was supposed to bring experience and leadership to a young core to push them over the top. He has brought the experience, but he never has brought that leadership the team sought.

Too often, his mouth has written checks that his abilities couldn’t cash. That has gotten his reputation into poor standing in both the league and the club house. Then, his health became an overwhelming issue. It still is. A leader, as previously stated, must be both on the field and produce.
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Has Johan been the leader? (PHOTO BY ICON/SMI)

In the second part of our look at the deeper issue facing the Mets, leadership, we will look at the potential leaders on the current roster. As previously mentioned, neither the Carlos Delgado’s or Pedro Martinez’s of the organization in the past few years has been a true leader or have been able to get others to follow for one reason or another.

However, there are a few players on the current roster who will need to try in order to right this sinking ship that we call the New York Mets. Those players are Johan Santana, David Wright, Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran, Jason Bay, Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas, Ike Davis and Jose Reyes. None of these players are the current leader of this team. They have all led in a particular moment or game, but not for any stretch of time longer than that.

First is Johan Santana. Let me say this before getting into Johan, personally, I like Santana. With that said, he was brought in to put the team over the hump and to carry them on his back at times. He is the supposed to be the team ace. The unwritten definition of an ace is two-fold. They are supposed to bring a reputation and an attitude with them.
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Zimmerman owned the Mets on both sides of the ball

The Mets stranded a lot of runners on base tonight. It’s not like the offense totally sucked. They just couldn’t get the right hit at the right time. This kind of madness makes for a far more entertaining game than if the bats are just shutdown completely, but it’s also longer and even more frustrating.

Somehow the Mets banged out 12 hits and only had two runs to show for it. If you take out Angel Pagan’s 9th inning solo blast, the Mets used 11 hits to score just one run. That’s crazy. Angel Pagan himself came up twice with a runner on third an one out, and both times he hit the ball straight back to the pitcher. In the bottom of the first, Pagan and Castillo reached base, but Reyes, Wright and Davis all struck out against Luis Atilano, who was making his fourth major league start and had just six career strikeouts. The Mets would go down on strikes eight more times against Atilano and a bunch of relievers who were neither Tyler Clippard nor Matt Capps. Yikes.
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