PHILADELPHIA — Playing four games at Citizens Bank Park might do more to cure David Wright’s hitting woes than moving him down in the batting order.
That was manager Terry Collins’ assessment Friday, after admitting he gave some thought to moving the slumping Wright from the No. 3 hole.
“There’s only one other guy you can hit there, so where do you move David?” Collins said before the Mets beat the Phillies 5-4. “You’ve got to have somebody hitting in front of him, so we thought about it, but I don’t want to show any panic. I know he’s going to bounce out of it and come back.”
Wright, who finished 2-for-5, has 19 homers and 64 RBIs in 361 at-bats at Citizens Bank Park.
Overall he is batting only .205 (17-for-83) with no homers since the All-Star break.
Though Wright has battled a sore left shoulder since June, he said it isn’t a factor in his slump.
“My shoulder is just fine,” Wright said. “I’m sick and tired of talking about my shoulder. It’s just something where if I’m going out there to play, I expect to play at a certain level and when I don’t do that, I take responsibility for that.”
Jeremy Hefner will be examined in New York after incurring elbow soreness during a recent appearance for Single-A St. Lucie. The right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery last August and had hoped to rejoin the Mets at some point this season.
For each strikeout recorded by Mets pitching during this series against the Phillies, fans will receive 1 percent off the box office ticket price for select seats during the Mets’ next homestand.
The Mets registered seven strikeouts on Friday. Bartolo Colon had six and Jenrry Mejia added another in the ninth inning.