There was plenty Mets third baseman David Wright did well in the field yesterday, including making a bare-handed play on a slow grounder to end the eighth.
But Wright booted Jayson Werth’s grounder to lead off the Nationals’ ninth, giving him his eighth error in his past 10 games.
It continued what manager Terry Collins called a “[crummy] homestand defensively.”
Wright, who has made 18 errors in his injury-plagued season, said he doesn’t have any particular reason for his recent fielding problems.
“You can take ground balls all day, but you can’t simulate the ball off the bat in a game situation,” Wright said after the Mets’ 10-1 loss to the Nationals yesterday at Citi Field. “I just have to stay confident.”
Wright also said the struggles haven’t gotten into his head.
“I’ve never been tentative,” Wright said. “Once you start not wanting the ball hit to you, you’re going to get it hit to you.”
He also could use some luck.
“I’m getting in-between hops and that kind of compounds things,” Wright said. “When you’re struggling, you rarely get that nice, big hop to make it easy.”
Collins said he still hasn’t lost faith in Wright.
“He had a bad homestand,” Collins said. “That’s not a reflection on how good he’s been playing all year. It’s just a bad time right now.”
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Jose Reyes got his scheduled day off yesterday, as the Mets and the shortstop try to manage his hamstring.
Though Collins said he knows he has to rest Reyes, it doesn’t make it easy to play without one of his key contributors.
“Even though due to his leg situation he’s not the Jose Reyes we all know, he’s still one of the best offensive players in this game,” Collins said. “So not to have him in the lineup when we’re struggling offensively, yeah it’s hard not to put him in there.”
Collins said he plans on playing Reyes all three games in Atlanta.
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Ike Davis flew back to Arizona after yesterday’s game, his final trip to Citi Field this season.
“I’ll be ready for spring training,” Davis said. “I’ll start working out earlier in the offseason to get myself going.”
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The Mets’ 1-8 homestand was their worst since 2004, when they went 1-10 from Aug. 23- Sept. 2. . . . Jason Bay‘s run-scoring double in the sixth snapped the Mets’ 18-inning scoreless streak. Bay, who went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, is hitting .382 (21-for-55) over his last 16 games.
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The Mets went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and are hitting just .189 (18-for-95) in those situations in their last 10 games.