David Wright, Smoking Hot

David Wright had four more hits in Saturday’s 9-3 dismantling of the Miami Marlins to raise his league leading average to a stunning .402. Wright is red hot, and he has been all season long.

If it seems like Wright is always getting base hits, you are not imagining things. Wright has gotten at least one hit in every game he’s played in (he missed three contests with that busted finger) except for four games, three of them in that series with the San Francisco Giants. Perhaps he was worried Matt Cain would throw a ball from the dugout and hit him in the head.

In addition to batting average, Wright is also leading the league in on-base percentage at .489. This is largely because of his 20 walks (tied for fourth in the league) as well as cutting down dramatically on his strikeouts; he has just 18 on the season. In contrast, on May 12 of last season Wright already had 40 strikeouts.

The power numbers are down a bit, but I think Wright is about to heat up in that department. He had the home run on Saturday to raise his total to four. And he has had seven RBIs in his last five games after not driving in a run in the previous six games.

His fielding has also improved. He appears to be cutting back on sidearming the ball to first. Those throws often tailed away from the first baseman, leading to throwing errors.

It is nice to see Wright playing up to his potential after last year’s injury-laden, wasted season. Hopefully Sandy Alderson sees what Wright brings to the team and signs him to a long-term contract that will make him a Met for life.