David Wright's Stance, Part III

By jove I think he's got it!

Back during the WBC and in spring training David Wright's stance had me very concerned.

On April 5th, we wrote "David Wright's Stance":

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, the alarm bells did go off, and he had some difficulties adjusting--on some night's he looked lost up there. Thankfully, DW is an extremely hard worker with a hitter's mentality.

On April 30th, we did another update, "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.

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.

DW 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.

It's been getting better and better and better, and he broke out of his slump a while ago. The next step was for him to get fully on plane and drive the ball--that's been coming too, and last night, it all clicked. DW had finally closed his stance back to the proper position, and it looked like he was taking batting practice against the Giant's pitchers.

Keith Hernandez noticed it in the booth and commented on what a "strong hitting position" Wright was working from now that "he closed his stance". Gary Cohen paid scant attention to that comment, but we heard it loud and clear.

Line drives are popping off his bat, the outside pitch doesn't look 2 miles away to him, and right field is his friend.

The last piece to this is the longball, and it I fully expect DW to hit a bunch in his next 10-15 games. In fact, I'll go ahead and predict he'll be at double digits by month's end.

Welcome all the way back David, it's great to see.

2009 Season Stats
SPLITS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Season	34	130	24	43	8	3	3	20	19	38	9	6	.331	.417	.508	.925
Career	737	2780	488	862	191	13	133	509	359	537	101	28	.310	.390	.532	.922