A David Wright Question for a Met fan ...

[Guest SwitchHitter]

My favorite Astros blogger asks ... "Question - can some Mets fan PLEASE explain why David Wright is hitting seventh instead of third????!!!!!" and I for sure don't know.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Willie has said that it's because Wright's comfortable there, and since he's performing well, why rock the boat?

I suppose that implies that Wright will have to go into a slump before getting moved up in the order.

At the beginning of the year, Willie said that Wright would have to earn his way up the order, but I don't see how he could have done much more than he has . . . That being said, Wright did start off in the 8 hole, so maybe in another 2 months, he'll be batting cleanup . . .

[metirish]

Because Willie is not pushed about moving him up in the order,he said the other day somrthing like.."why move him when he's doing just fine where he is", I think Willie knows someday Wright will be his #3/4 hitter but he's not pushing him, fine by me .

[Elster88]

I guess the need to make sure that batting order change doesn't negatively affect Wright psychologically far outweighs the need to have your best all around hitter (thus far, minus Cameron?) hit with more runners on base.

Silly Willie.

Not that I'd hit him 3rd, but I damn sure would've hit him above Marlon Anderson yesterday.

[Vic Sage]

]why move him when he's doing just fine where he is",

of all the stupid things WWSB has said, this is certainly one of them.

yeah, DW is doing just fine. And, as the Mets keep absorbing ABs by lesser hitters at the top of the order, and as DW's ABs are diminished therefore, by hitting at the end of the order, DW is sure doing fine but the Mets are most certainly NOT.

WWSB keeps talking about keeping davey down at the bottom because he's young and they shouldn't put pressure on him. But Reyes is young, and Wee Willie keeps putting the ReyHey kid (and his sub-.300 OB%) up at the top of his order. why is Reyes more able to stand the pressure than Wright? By all accounts, DW has a mature, unperturbable nature that has allowed him to handle pressure just fine. But somehow the Mets are better off giving more ABs to Cairo, Matsui and Reyes?

:?:

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Coming out of spring training, the plan was for Wright to hit 8th. He never actually did, though.

Here's where he's batted, not including last night's game against Houston:

Lineup Analysis
David Wright's batting order position in games in which he was in the starting lineup.
2004: 2nd, 1 game. 3rd, 18 games. 5th, 13 games. 6th, 22 games. 7th, 11 games. 8th, 3 games.
2005: 5th, 7 games. 6th, 21 games. 7th, 27 games.

[Guest Rotblatt]

Interesting! I coulda sworn he actually played in the 8 hole, but I guess I was wrong.

At least he's trending upwards now . . .

I don't mind Willie wanting Wright to prove himself, but I think he's already done it. 18th in the league in AVG, 16th in SLG, 16th in OPS, tied for 14th in OBP, 25th for HR and 22nd for RBI (despite hitting 7th most of the year), with a third of the season played.

And it's not like he was a slouch last year, either.

As you say, Elster, at least bat him ahead of the bench players . . .

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Willie doesn't want to tamper with Wright's "cahnfidence" by moving him up in the order.