Was last year an aberration??
27 years old
6'0" 215 pounds
7th major league season
Bats R/Throws R
The Good: Compact, inside-out swing (which may change slightly this year). A complete player that before last year, was one of the top 5 young players in the game. Career .309 hitter, and .390 OBP. Has averaged 24 steals the last 4 years. Had been regarded as an above average fielder in 2007 and 2008, but had a bad year last year in the field.
The bad: Had 618 plate appearances last year and hit only 10 HRs. He also struck out 140 times (previous high was 118, and he has 117 more plate appearances that year). Was thrown out stealing 9 times last year (75% success rate). Awful defensive metrics last year that need to improve.
My projections: 700 plate appearance, 105 runs, 28 Home Runs, 110 RBIs, 25 SB, .315/.400/.520
As a reference, major league 3B bat aver/OBP/Slug % in 2009 were: .265/.335/.421
Another position player above major league average (Jose Reyes being the other)!!
And the answer to the above question, was last year an aberration? The answer is YES.
Hat tip to Eric Simon (Amazin Avenue Annual) for this interesting stat: David Wright will play 2010 as a 27-year old, and his .907 career OPS is second only to Miguel Cabrera among active players under 30
D Wright is an All-Star. I would like to see improved fielding and throwing, but let's be honest--franchise player, team leader, and does everything you would want a guy to do. I am fully confident he will be the "man" this year and I agree with Anthony--last year, just a blip on the radar.
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