With the worst record in baseball, it’d be tough to find anyone wanting to be the face of the Mets franchise these days. Maybe that’s why David Wright has been invisible lately.
With a 4-3 loss to the Astros at Citi Field last night, the Mets fell deeper into the abyss their season is rapidly becoming, losing for the 12th time in 14 games. Wright isn’t far behind.
The five-time All-Star has now gone five games without a hit, seeing his average plummet from .314 to .229, and has 22 strikeouts, tied for second-most in the National League.
Last night, Wright at least managed to get on base for the first time in six days, walking twice, but he also struck out twice and flew out to right field for the game’s final out to finish 0-for-3. He extended his hitless streak to 19 at-bats, which includes nine strikeouts, matching the longest hitless stretch of his career (April 20-26, 2008).
“It’s frustrating,” Wright said. “We can’t be hanging our heads and feeling sorry for ourselves. We’ve gotta keep fighting, gotta keep our heads up, and hopefully things will turn around.”
Wright’s strikeout rate has become an alarming trend over the past few seasons. During his first four full seasons, Wright struck out in between 18.8 and 19.6 percent of his at-bats, but during the past two seasons, Wright’s strikeout percentages were 26.1 and 27.4, respectively. This season it’s at 31.4, but he does not view the whiffs as an ongoing problem.
“Some of them have been good at-bats and the pitcher makes a good pitch with two strikes — nothing you can really do about it,” Wright said. “I’m feeling alright. I’m having some good at-bats, just not really much to show for it, but I think if I continue having good at-bats, the results will be there.”
Wright has never been one to open a season with a blazing start, batting .274 in his career in April, his lowest in any month. Still, his struggles are just one of many the Mets are currently dealing with. Tied with the third worst start in club history, the Mets are 1-8 at Citi Field this season, marking their worst-ever start at home.
“We have a lot to work on, I think that’s pretty obvious,” Wright said. “We can’t really play much worse.”
Don’t be so sure about that.