| Scott Essman. 12th September, 2007 - 8:13 pm
 Though he started slowly and had many naysayers questioning his true abilities, New York Mets' starting third baseman David Wright should be considered a strong National League Most Valuable Player candidate and is well on his way to becoming the greatest Met player ever at that position.
2007 did not start well for him. After a miserable series in Arizona from May 3-6 in which he went 1 for 18, Wright bottomed out at .239 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI for the season to date. Many in the media and even some fans doubted Wright, also pointing to an unproductive end of 2006 and a poor NLCS against the Cardinals. In that series, with the Mets losing to St. Louis in seven games, Wright was 4-25 (.160) with one home run and just two RBIs and took part of the blame for the Mets' failure to beat the overmatched Cardinals. However, this May, following the Diamondbacks series, Wright began to steadily turn things around. He was hitting .271 by the end of May and .288 by the end of June.
Now, going into the last 18 games of the season, Wright is 10th in the NL in batting average at .316, which marks the highest average of any player on a playoff-bound team at this point. Wright's 28 home runs are already a career high and are only behind Arizona's Chris Young (batting .237) and tied with teammate Carlos Beltran regarding players on playoff teams. With 96 RBI, Wright is eighth in the league and tops among playoff-bound players Though he is not considered a pure power hitter, Wright is also 12th in slugging average, again tops among players going onto the playoffs. Plus, unusual for a third baseman, Wright has 31 stolen bases to date, good enough for seventh in the
NL.
Above all of those statistics, Wright has become a heroic Shea Stadium clutch hitter, providing the right hits at the right times. Wright is hitting .335 for the year with men on base and is hitting .333 in the 68 games that the Mets have played at Shea.
Though only 24, he and shortstop Jose Reyes are the spiritual young leaders of the team, anchoring the left side of the infield and providing top of the batting order consistency as they are the Mets' top two hitters for batting average.
With few home runs and a mediocre average in April and early May, Wright has resurrected his season to become the Mets' top performer and, considering his position among players on teams either leading their division or in the Wild Card spot, he should be seriously considered for NL MVP. |
