David Wright's Stance: Part II

Back in the WBC and Spring Training I noticed that David Wright's stance had changed from last year. He was open and stood a bit further from the plate.

At the time I worried that he would struggle early as he didn't seem able to drive the fastball to the gaps and make good contact with breaking pitches.

Furthermore his swing became very upright and loopy as he tried to "re-plane" his swing from the more open position.

From the article I wrote on April 5th:

Have you noticed that David Wright has opened his stance up about half a foot?

I'm very curious as to why he would do this right before the season opens. His stance this weekend was more open than I've ever seen it, and it's changed even since the WBC.

Could this lead to a bad start by our superstar third baseman?

Anyway, no alarm bells here, just something I'll be keeping a close eye on this week and as the season progresses.

Well we are now one month into the season, and my worst fears have been realized.

2009 Season Stats
SPLITS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Season	21	82	15	23	4	1	1	8	12	27	3	2	.280	.372	.390	.763
Career	724	2732	479	842	187	11	131	497	352	526	95	24	.308	.388	.529	.917
Last 7	7	29	5	7	1	1	0	3	2	11	2	0	.241	.290	.345	.635
Projected	162	633	116	177	31	8	8	62	93	208	23	15	.280	.372	.390	.763

That is not a typo...he is on pace for 208 Ks and 62 RBIs.

DW has actually closed his stance back up to last year's position, but his early struggles have obviously gotten into his head and the loop is there. This has thrown his timing off, and the results have been disastrous.

Thankfully DW is extremely hard working, and he is battling to groove his swing back to keep the bat on the correct plane and recognize pitches early.

This leaves the question of when is he going to break out of this slump? For all Mets fans, the hope is that the work he has been doing with HoJo will pay off this weekend.

At some point he has to hit, and that time is now.