Major League Baseball

Mets: Three things David Wright needs to do for a monster 2017 season

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:48 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Richard Heaton/FanSided via Rising Apple

David Wright has never been one to strike out like the likes of Ryan Howard or Chris Davis. But over the past few seasons, this has been a growing concern for the Mets third baseman.

That’s just one of the things that Mets third baseman David Wright needs to do to make sure that 2017 can be one to remember. For the last few years, Wright has been plagued by both minor and major obstacles, whether it be his strikeout rates, his drop in power output, or his inconsistent health.

Here are three things we want to see him do in 2017.

Wright needs to strike out less, and walk more

Since the start of the 2013 season, his strikeout rates have been on the rise. While this is a small sample size thanks to injuries, a high strikeout rate is never good.

In 2013, Wright struck out 79 times in 492 plate appearances, which is a rate of just above 16 percent. This is considered just above average according to Fangraphs. During this season his walk rate was 12 percent while he hit .307.

In 2014, Wright struck out 113 times in 586 plate appearances. This equates to a strikeout rate just north of 19 percent. While this is still average, his walk rate dropped to just seven percent and he hit .269.

In 2015 over the course of just 174 plate appearances, Wright struck out 36 times. His strikeout rate rose to 20.7 percent and his walk rate stabilized itself at 12 percent. During the season he was able to hit .289. His walk rate and batting average went back on track, however the increased strikeout rate left a few possible opportunities.

In 2016, Wright struck out 55 times in only 164 plate appearances. That equates to a horrible 33.5 percent of the time.

When it comes to strikeout ratio, Wright’s 2016 season is in fact worse than Chris Davis’ 2016. Davis struck out a career high 219 times, and his ratio was 32.9 percent.

Wright’s walk rate rose a bit to 15.8 percent and his average plummeted to .226, his career worst. The walks have been able to help Wright’s season a bit, however, over the course of a full season, he would have been on pace to strike out 165 times and barely cracking 100 hits.

Wright needs to hit more home runs

One good aspect of Wright’s 2016 season was his home run pace, where he averaged one every 23.4 plate appearances. This would equate to about 25 to 30 home runs over a full season.

If Wright can work on his hitting, and maybe take a few more pitches and be a bit more picky, not only can his strikeout ratio drop, but he’ll be able to get on base more as well.

Those extra times on base could have resulted in more power. In fact, had Wright’s 2016 strikeout ratio been the same as 2015, out of his 172 plate appearances, he could have had an extra 19 to 21 at-bats that could have resulted in either walks or balls in play. Even with the .226 batting average, Wright could have turned that into an extra handful of hits, and home runs.

Around 25 to 30 home runs in a season for Wright sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well, the last time Wright hit at least 25 four-baggers in a season was back in 2010. For the most part, ever since his monster 30 home run seasons, power has been a struggle for Wright.

But if he can keep up the power output of 2016 over the course of a full season, those struggles could be a thing of the past. Heck, if Wright can stay healthy and have one more 600 at bat season, we could see one of his best home run seasons ever if those rates hold up.

However, if we want that to happen, we need something else to happen first.

Wright needs to stay healthy

Above all else, Wright needs a clean bill of health.

In the past two seasons, he only had about 340 combined plate appearances, which is horrible for a guy who used to have 1,400 over two seasons.

If Wright can stay healthy he will be able to play more games. If he can do that, the Mets are more than certain that he can help the team win.

The goal for 2017 should be for Wright to crack 100 games played, and if he can, and both his strikeout and home run numbers work out, things could turn around for Wright. Terry Collins sees David playing in 130 games next season, a number that any Mets fan would take in a heartbeat. Whether that’ll happen remains to be seen.

That’s what Wright needs to focus on for the 2017 season. If he can get through the first month of the season with a strikeout rate that hovers around 16 to 20 percent, along with a good number of plate appearances,  he’ll be looking at a much better season.

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