NY Mets: When Captain David Wright hits his last home run

We didn’t know it at the time, but on May 27, 2016, New York Mets Captain David Wright hit a home run for he final time in his career.

The 2016 season was a very memorable one for the New York Mets, for many good, and for many bad reasons.

Coming off of a trip to the World Series in 2015, the Mets came into the year as one of the top teams expecting to contend for the postseason, and while they did eventually make it there as an NL Wild Card, it was quite a bumpy road.

Despite high expectations, the Mets entered the season with several question marks, such as how will Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto follow up on their rookie seasons, how will Neil Walker do in replacing Daniel Murphy‘s bat, and of course, what can the Mets expect out of David Wright?

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For years, David Wright had been the face of the New York Mets organization. Since debuting in 2004, the team captain had been a seven-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove award winner, Member of the 30-30 club, and the owner of countless Mets franchise records.

However, Wright had been struggling with mounting injuries for several seasons going into 2016. The previous year, David had only played in 38 games during the regular season and 14 additional games in the postseason.

During the 2015 season, he was diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis, limiting his ability to play ball in the same capacity. Knowing what he was facing, Wright made adjustments when he returned to better prepare himself in games, but knew he would be limited going forward.

The Mets were not sure what they would get from Wright in the 2016 season, but he broke spring training with the team and was starting the third baseman for Opening Day.

Wright struggled at the plate to start the year, and going into the May 27th game against the Dodgers, was only batting .226 with 6 home runs, but did post a solid .352 OBP.

Going into the game, Wright did however appear to be turning a corner at the plate, having hit home runs in his previous games against the Nationals on May 23rd and 25th. Earlier in the week, he hit a walk-off single against the Brewers on May 21st.

Wright went into the game batting 3rd in the order, facing off against Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias, who was making his MLB debut. Wright struck out swinging on 5 pitches during his first at-bat, but the Mets got to Urias early in the game and he was pulled with 2 outs in the 3rd inning.

Urias was replaced by Chris Hatcher, whom David would go on to face in his second at-bat in the fourth inning. This turn in the order went better for Wright, as he hit a 1-1 breaking ball to Right-Center Field for a solo home run, extending the Mets lead to 4-1.

Wright would have 2 more turns at the plate during this game, however, went hitless in both of them, finishing the day 1-4 with a HR and 2 Ks. The Mets would go on to win the game 6-5 following a Walk Off home run from Curtis Granderson in the bottom of the 9th, so Wright’s one home run did make the difference.

Following this game, David had hit a home run in 3 consecutive games. Unfortunately, although we did not know it at the time, this game would be David’s final one of 2016.

Following this game against the Dodgers, Wright was pulled from the starting line up after experiencing neck issues and was placed on the Disabled List on June 3rd after being diagnosed with a herniated disk. Wright would undergo surgery for it, and after experiencing other injuries and setbacks, missed the remained of 2016 and the entirety of the 2017 season rehabbing.

After two and a half years and continuous nagging injuries, Wright finally made his return to the Mets in September of 2018, appearing as a pinch hitter on September 28th, in which he grounded out, and starting his final game on September 29th, going 0-1 with a walk before being pulled to a standing ovation in a sold-out Citi Field.

Following the 2018 season, David Wright announced his retirement from baseball, making that home run on May 26th, 2016, the final one in the career of the Mets greatest third basemen.

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