A Closer Look: Mets Third Baseman David Wright

Ok, I will admit-I was wrong on David Wright. Back in March, I ranked David Wright as the 5th best third baseman in fantasy baseball here, and also stated he should not be a first round pick here. Well, based on his performance to date, he is well worth a first round pick, and should end the season as a top 3 third baseman.

Coming into Monday's game, Wright is hitting .300-.386-.542 with 14 HRs, 61 RBIs, 42 runs scored and 13 SBs in 19 attempts. He is on pace for a 31-135-28 season which would definitely rank him as the top fantasy third baseman.

Let's dig into his performance to see why he has rebounded in 2010. Much has been made of Wright's propensity to strike out, and he is striking in 32% of his at bats vs 26% of his at bats in 2009. He is walking a bit more than in 2009-12.8% vs 12.0%, and his BABIP of .384 compares to his .394 BABIP in 2009. As a result, his ISO of .242 is back to his 2008 ISO of .232.

Wright's batted ball statistics show that he is hitting less line drives-20% vs 26% in 2009, but is hitting more fly balls-42% vs 36% in 2009, and his HR/FB%-17%-is back to his 2008 rate, so it appears his power has returned for good.

Wright has benefited from a hot June which has seen him hit .385-.436-.681 with 6 HRs and 27 RBIs. He is striking out just 25% in June vs 37% in May and 33% in April, and has an extremely high June BABIP of .460.

It appears Wright is back to the Wright we all knew back in 2008, even though he is striking out more. It does appear that CitiField has changed his swing as he is hitting more flyballs this season, and the most since 2006, but fantasy owners are happy with the results to date.

Will he continue to hit like he did in 2008. or resort back to his 2009 form? To me, 2009 now appears to be a fluke. But one thing I do want to note is Wright has hit 10 of his 14 HRs on the road this season, so Citifield is still holding down his power numbers.