Wright finishes the season strong
Photo credit: AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill | New York Mets' David Wright watches his ground rule RBI double in the first inning of the baseball game against the Houston Astros at Citi Field in New York, Friday, Oct. 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)
Unlike the dozen of his teammates lost to season-ending injuries, David Wright is going to finish the year in uniform. But this past month has been a struggle for Wright after returning from a concussion, and only now does it appear that the All-Star third baseman is truly feeling like himself again.
Wright went 3-for-4 with a double in the Mets' 7-1 win over the Astros on Friday night, part of a 14-hit attack that also featured home runs by Jeff Francoeur and Daniel Murphy. With three hits off Wandy Rodriguez, Wright's .416 mark against lefthanders is the highest in the majors, and he's showing signs of a rebound.
It took a little bit longer than expected. Wright was drilled in the head Aug. 15 and placed on the disabled list the next day. But the recovery involved much, much more than simply resting for two weeks.
The turning point came last weekend in Florida, where Wright watched video with hitting coach Howard Johnson and closely examined situations in which he was flinching at the plate. Wright could feel that he was more tentative since the concussion, but it helped that Johnson, as well as Jerry Manuel, pointed out specific episodes.
"I think it's important that he sees it and he can go from there," Johnson said earlier this week. "He's going to be OK. I think a lot of it is subconscious and those things take time to go away. But they do go away. I just keep putting the thought in his mind - be aggressive, swing the bat and be the hunter up there. Let it go."
Wright apparently has taken those words to heart, and the results have been dramatic. On Tuesday, he smoked a pair of doubles and crushed another long drive that was blindly caught on a full sprint.
In his first three at-bats Friday, he hammered a ground-rule double, pulled a hard single to left and ripped another to center. He no longer is waiting to react to how a pitcher attacks him. It's just taken some time to get back into that mode.
Said Wright: "Obviously, with the more success you have, the more confident you are and the better you feel. When I'm struggling, it's not so much mechanics, it's more of a mind-set and approach. So instead of just trying to guide the ball, go ahead and be aggressive and let it rip a few times."
Shortly after his return from the DL, Wright admitted he was a little gun-shy, and it took that intervention in Florida to speed up the process - and give him the chance to finish strong.
"The whole time he was trending in the right way," Johnson said. "It's important that he does have some measure of success here down the stretch."
Reyes slower in 2010? The Mets made no announcement Friday on Jose Reyes, even after a person familiar with the situation said Reyes will have surgery to repair his torn right hamstring tendon. Manuel did say, however, that Reyes might have lasting effects from his hamstring issues. "I still feel very confident, despite maybe even if he's a step or two slower," Manuel said. "I don't see that hindering him as far as overall offensive production. And defense." . . . John Maine pitched a season-high seven innings for his longest outing since he went seven on July 23 of last season. After returning from the DL, Maine went 2-2 with a 4.12 ERA.
