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Wright Goes 30/30…MVP Next???
By J Platt on September 17th, 2007 6:01 PM |
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on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Baseball, Mets Rumors & News.
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As bad as the weekend was for the Mets, congratulations must go out to David Wright. His solo home run of Geoff Geary made him the twenty-ninth player in baseball history to reach baseball’s “30/30” club (30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season). Wright is the third Mets player to reach this plateau. Howard Johnson (who did it three times), and Darryl Strawberry both did it in 1987. With his 30th home run, Wright has put himself closer to being the favorite to land the National League MVP. Besides leading the Mets on the field, Wright is among the top 10 leaders in batting average, home runs, RBI’s, runs scored, stolen bases, and on base percentage.
When you hear talk of the MVP, Wright’s name isn’t immediately mentioned. You hear names like Matt Holliday, Prince Fielder, and Jimmy Rollins. The main reason the Mets are in the position they are is because of Wright. Aside from his clutch bat, there are Wright’s daily “Web Gems” at third base. His leadership makes him a player the Mets cannot survive without. As good as Holliday has been offensively, I don’t think he brings the whole package to the table. A case could be made for Jimmy Rollins. His numbers are strong and he has gold glove caliber defense, but as good as he is he lives in the shadows of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. As far as Prince Fielder is concerned, I don’t know if you can say he’s the MVP of his own team. With the impact Ryan Braun has had since his call up, he’s now considered the Brewers MVP. If Fielder’s not the MVP of his own team, how can he be the MVP of the league?
At twenty-four, David Wright is finally coming into his own. The expectations Mets fans had as Wright was coming up through the minors and as a rookie are now coming to light. Having already set career highs in stolen bases, home runs, and walks, Wright is on pace for career highs in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and RBI’s. He’s going to be a fixture at third base in Flushing for a long time. If he doesn’t win the MVP this season, it won’t be long until he does.
