The Mets are slumping. They had a rough 4-7 road trip that saw them fall from first to third place in the NL East. That will happen when your position players hit .209/.282/.336 over an eleven game stretch. The team hit .184 with RISP. The overreaction to the slump has caused some people to look for a solution. 

Many have pointed to moving David Wright down in the order. With his spinal stenosis any slump could be a signal of the beginning of the end of his career. This is further exacerbated by his possible travel issues. That’s Wright’s new reality. Accordingly, the Mets and Wright should look to do what is best for the team even if that means Wright moves down in the lineup. 

The argument for Wright moving down in the order focuses on the aspects of his game that are subpar starting with his strikeouts. According to Fangraphs, he’s striking out 32.6% of the time, which is by far the highest strikeout rate of his career.  

Also of concern is Wright’s average with RISP. He’s only hitting .185 with RISP. That’s bad. However, it should make you question why someone would want to drop him lower in the lineup when people are on base. If he’s not driving in batters from the second spot in the lineup, there’s no evidence he will do it batting sixth or seventh in the lineup with more runners in scoring position. 

No, you want Wright batting second and setting the table for the Mets big bats. Looking deeper into the numbers, Wright is succeeding in this role. 

No matter how you look at the numbers, the fact remains Wright is getting on base. His 18.5% walk rate is the highest in his career. It’s fueling his .373 OBP. His OBP leads the team. That’s eight points higher than the second place Yoenis Cespedes and 20 points higher than the third place Michael Comforto. Cespedes and Conforto also happen to hit third and fourth in the lineup. In essence, Wright is getting on base in front of the team’s big run producers. 

As for that tough road trip, Wright struggled like everyone else. He only hit .148/.361/.296. You’d like for him to hit for a better average and more power. However, it must be noted Wright’s .361 OBP was the second highest on the team next to Cespedes. 

If we look at Wright’s numbers this year, the fact is he’s a table setter now. He’s the guy that gets on base in front of the Mets big bats like Conforto and Cespedes. So far this year, Wright is doing his job. It’s time the people behind him do their job and knock him in.