Careers cut short: David Wright

David Wright was one of the premier third baseman of the mid-2000s to early 2010s who made dazzling plays at the hot corner and had some of most productive hitting seasons in New York Mets history which unfortunately was shortened due to a span of injuries that began in 2009. Photo by MLB Stats.

Jack Butler

The New York Mets were a year removed from reaching the 2000 World Series against the New York Yankees – the franchises’ first trip to the Fall Classic in 14 seasons – where they fell in 5 games to their cross-town rival and had the 18th and 38th picks in the opening round of 2001 MLB June Amateur Draft. Mets management used the latter pick to select David Wright of Hickey High School in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Wright hit the cover off the ball during his three years in the minors that the Mets called him up to make his major league debut on July 21, 2004, against the Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium. The young third baseman went 0 for 4 at the plate but played a clean game defensively. He would play in 68 more games in his rookie season for the Mets to collect 77 hits, 14 home runs, 40 RBI, and hit .293. Wright had a breakout 2005 campaign with 176 hits, 42 doubles, 27 home runs, and 102 RBI while hitting .306.

The 23-year old was just getting started as he followed it up in 2006 with 181 hits, 40 doubles, 26 home runs, 116 RBI, and batted .311 as alongside Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, he guided the Mets to the NL East Title, meaning postseason baseball was back in Queens. The Mets easily took care of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS which set a date with the 83-78 St. Louis Cardinals to play for the National League pennant. In Game 7, Yadier Molina’s go-ahead two run blast in the 9th silenced the sold out Shea Stadium crowd and Adam Wainwright dropped a 0-2 curveball to get Beltran out looking to end the Mets season. Wright hit .216 with 3 doubles, 1 home runs, and 6 RBI in 10 postseason games that October.

In 2007, Wright continued his consistent production with 196 hits, 42 two baggers, 30 home runs, 107 RBI, 34 stolen bases, and a .325 batting average. That year he became the 23rd player in NL history to have a 30 HR/ 30 SB in the same season as only five players have achieved the feat since. Those numbers resulted in receiving a Silver Slugger and a fourth-place finish in the NL MVP vote. Wright also had superior defensive metrics with 4 Total Zone Total Fielding Runs Above Average and 12 defensive runs saved to earn his first of back-to-back Gold Gloves.

Wright had another strong campaign during the final year of Shea Stadium in 2008 by batting .302 with 189 hits, 42 doubles, 33 home runs, and 124 RBI good enough to be 7th in the NL MVP voting and was awarded his second and final Silver Slugger. In the opening season of Citi Field, the Mets new ballpark, in 2009 he experienced a decline in production which dropped to 10 home runs and 72 but still made the NL All-Star team that summer. The next year, Wright produced his usual 20 homers and 100 RBI with 29 blasts and drove in 103 while hitting .283 – the lowest mark since his rookie campaign.

The injury problems began in 2011 when Wright made a diving tag on the Astro’s Carlos Lee that resulted in a stress fracture in his lower back. The stress fracture put him on the disabled list for more than two months and he returned on July 22 to finish with 99 hits, 14 home runs, 61 RBI, and a .254 batting mark. Wright put up his final successful campaign in 2012 with 176 hits, 41 doubles, 21 home runs, 93 RBI and hit .306.

2013 was a story book year for Wright as became the fourth team captain in Mets history, participated in the Home Run Derby, started at third base for the National League in the All-Star Game in front of the home crowd. He still hit .307 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI but missed some time with a right hamstring injury he obtained in early August. Wright played in 134 games in 2014 – 22 more games than in 2013 – and sustained a left rotator cuff contusion early on that decreased his production at the plate and limited his range on defense as he only hit 8 home runs and committed 15 errors.

Wright missed most of the 2015 recovering spinal stenosis and returned on August 24 to help the Mets win NL East Division Title. In the NLDS versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, he drove in 2 runs with a single in Game 1 that got his club on the right foot early and ended up winning the series in 5 games. The Mets faced the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS and swept them in four games to claim the franchises 5th pennant and had a date with the Kansas City Royals in the World Series. Wright hit in his only Fall Classic going 5 for 24 for a .208 mark with 1 memorable home run in Game 3 at Citi Field and had 4 RBI. The Royals would defeat the Mets 4-1 games to win its first Championship in 30 years.

Following a resurgence in the postseason, Wright went through neck surgery in 2016 and rotator cuff surgery on his right shoulder in 2017 and experienced setbacks but began baseball activities again on June 1, 2018. He would be called up and play in his final game as a Met on September 29, 2018, before retirement where he went 0 for 1 with a walk and fielded one ground ball before replaced in the top of the 5th receiving a lengthy ovation from the crowd.

David Allen Wright was a tremendous Met for 14 years where he experienced consistent offensive production early on and after each injury continued to battle to come back and play for the fans of New York. Wright was well liked as unlike other stars of his era was never shown in the news in a negative light and that’s a testament to his amazing leadership abilities and loyalty to the team that drafted him. As Keith Hernandez’s number 11 is getting retired by the Mets this summer, hopefully it opens the door that his number 5 is retired by the organization as well.