The Mets' Hitting Record David Wright May or May Not Want

David Wright has usually been a spectator when the home run apple has risen at Citi Field.  (Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/AP)

David Wright will be the first to tell you that he's had a disappointing season.  Entering Sunday's rubber match against the Cincinnati Reds, Wright is batting .270 with eight home runs and 63 RBI.  His .371 slugging percentage would not only represent a career-low for Wright, but it would also be lower than his .377 lifetime on-base percentage (which was .382 coming into the 2014 campaign).

Needless to say, Wright has not done many positive things to help the Mets' struggling offense in 2014.  However, he is close to accomplishing something with his bat that has never been done by a Met in a single season.

There are currently eight players in franchise history who have driven in 60 or more runs in a season that did not see the player reach double digits in home runs.  The chart below lists those eight players and adds a ninth - David Wright - with his numbers entering today's game.  The chart is sorted by runs batted in and also lists the number of home runs hit by each player during his tenure with the team.

Player	Year	Home Runs	RBI	Career HR as a Met
Dave Magadan	1990	6	72	21
Joel Youngblood	1980	8	69	38
Lance Johnson	1996	9	69	10
John Stearns	1979	9	66	46
Daniel Murphy	2012	6	65	48
David Wright	2014	8	63	230
Gregg Jefferies	1991	9	62	42
Doug Flynn	1979	4	61	5
Rey Ordoñez	1999	1	60	8

As of today, David Wright has the sixth-highest RBI total of all players in Mets history who failed to hit a minimum of ten home runs in a season.  Wright needs seven RBI in the team's last 20 games to become the second Mets player to have a 70-RBI campaign without the benefit of a double-digit home run total.  Should Wright drive in ten runs before the end of the season without hitting more than one ball out of the park, he'd set a new team record, becoming the most prolific single season run-producer of all Mets players who failed to hit 10 HR.

What makes Wright's name look completely out of place on the list above is that Wright has 230 career home runs, which are second in franchise history behind Darryl Strawberry's lifetime total of 252.  Incredibly, the other eight players listed above combined to hit 218 homers during their time with the Mets, or a dozen fewer than Wright has hit by himself.  (That number can still rise, as Daniel Murphy is still active.)

Wright owns or will own most of the Mets' hitting records, but this is one single-season achievement he probably wasn't counting on.  Dave Magadan, who hit 21 home runs in seven seasons as a Met, most likely never expected to hold on to this unusual team record forever.  But he surely never thought it would be David Wright who was about to knock him off his perch.
 

D'Arnaud Hoping To Go Where No Met Has Gone Befo'

The Mets have had a number of great catchers in their half century of existence.  Jerry Grote was behind the plate for two pennant winners, nurturing a young and dominant pitching staff.  John Stearns was a four-time All-Star who was at times the best player on his team.  Ron Hodges was always No. 2 on the depth chart but in his 12 seasons in New York, but was the perfect complement to Grote and Stearns.

Gary Carter was a tremendous leader, who molded a young staff into an elite squad and ignited a memorable World Series rally.  Todd Hundley evolved from a good-field, no-hit catcher to a two-time All-Star and one of the best power-hitting catchers the Mets had ever employed to date.  Of course, the best power-hitting catcher in team history replaced Hundley, as Mike Piazza made the position his own for eight seasons.

All six of those catchers combined to crouch behind the plate for approximately forty seasons, making the catcher's position one of the most stable in team history.  But Jerry Grote wasn't a homegrown Met, playing for the Houston Colt .45s in 1963 and 1964 before being traded to the Mets in 1965.  John Stearns played in 810 games over his major league career, but 809 of them came in a Mets uniform, as he made his major league debut as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974 before being traded to New York in the Dave Schneck trade (although most of you might refer to it as the Tug McGraw trade).  Gary Carter and Mike Piazza were All-Stars in Montreal and Los Angeles, respectively, before going on to great things with the Mets.

Of the six main catchers in team history, only Ron Hodges and Todd Hundley made their major league debuts as members of the Mets.  But Hodges was mostly a backup catcher, surpassing 155 at-bats in a season only twice in his 12-year career.  That leaves Todd Hundley as the most productive catcher in franchise history who made his way onto the major league scene as a member of the New York Mets.  But even Hundley didn't become a star until half a decade into his Mets career.

Over his first five major league seasons, Hundley batted a mere .219 with 35 HR and 136 RBI, reaching base at a .271 clip.  Although Hundley was showing signs of having some pop in his bat, he was pretty much an automatic out when he wasn't hitting the ball over the wall.  But in 1995, Hundley started to show signs that he was about to break out, hitting a career-high .280 and showing a more selective eye at the plate, as evidenced by his .382 on-base percentage.  Sure enough, his next two seasons were some of the best produced by a catcher in team history.

In 1996, Hundley went where no Kingman or Strawberry had gone before, becoming the first player in club annals to reach and surpass the 40 HR plateau.  Hundley also set a franchise record for catchers by driving in 112 runs.  In 1997, Hundley became the first Met catcher to hit 30 or more home runs in consecutive seasons, despite collecting 123 fewer at-bats than he did in his historic 1996 campaign.  He also set a career high with a .394 on-base percentage, a far cry from the .271 mark he posted from 1990 to 1994.  For his efforts, Hundley was selected to play in the All-Star Game in both 1996 and 1997.

In nine years as a Met, Hundley hit .240 with 124 HR and 397 RBI to go with a .323 on-base percentage.  No other catcher in Mets history who began his major league career in New York has been able to approach those numbers.

Enter Travis d'Arnaud.

Although it took a Cy Young Award winner (and two catchers) to pry d'Arnaud and friends away from the Blue Jays, the 23-year-old has the credentials to become the most successful catcher to make his big league debut as a Met.  In 2011, his first season above A-ball, d'Arnaud had a .311/.371/.542 slash line.  He also collected 33 doubles, 21 HR and 78 RBI in 114 games.  In 2012, d'Arnaud improved his slash line to .333/.380/.595.  A knee injury limited him to 67 games, but not before he amassed 21 doubles, 16 HR and 52 RBI.  If you double his games to 134 (which is about average for a No. 1 catcher in the major leagues), his cumulative numbers would project to 42 doubles, 32 HR and 104 RBI.  And this is for a catcher who is still years away from entering his prime.

As a 23-year-old in 1992, Hundley hit .209 with 17 doubles, seven homers and 32 RBI in 123 games for the Mets.  At the same age, d'Arnaud surpassed all of those numbers while playing in only 67 games at AAA-Las Vegas.

It's true that playing in the altitude of Las Vegas helps a hitter's offensive numbers.  But if that's the case, then what's the explanation for d'Arnaud collecting 38 doubles, 13 HR and 71 RBI as a 20-year-old in 2009 for the Lakewood BlueClaws?  For those who do not know, Lakewood is in New Jersey, a state that's known more for its attitude than its altitude.

Lakewood's height might not have helped Travis d'Arnaud, but d'Arnaud helped Lakewood reach new heights.

Travis d'Arnaud will make his major league debut for the Mets at some point during the 2013 season.  Whether it be on Opening Day or midway through the season, d'Arnaud will bring his potent bat to Citi Field when he steps up to the plate for the first time.

The Mets have had some excellent catchers in their 50-plus seasons.  Some of them have been defensive stalwarts while others have been powerful producers at the plate.  But most of them played elsewhere before coming to the Mets.

Todd Hundley is the best hitting catcher who made his major league debut as a Met.  And that's with a .240 batting average over nine seasons in New York.  If Travis d'Arnaud can produce anything near what he has shown he's capable of doing, then he can potentially surpass all of Hundley's marks before he's out of his twenties.  If he does, d'Arnaud can indeed go where no Met catcher has gone before. 

A Different Kind of Mets Top Ten Leaderboard (Hitters)

As I was perusing through the Saturday New York Times sports section, I came across an article by Tyler Kepner on the recent signing of David Wright.  Kepner poses an interesting question when he asks: "Has there been a single important Met before this decade who did not play in the World Series?"

Of course, David Wright has never played in a World Series for the Mets, coming closest in 2006 when the Mets fell one game short of the Fall Classic.  But Kepner's article got me thinking about other Mets who performed well for the team but never got a chance to participate on baseball's greatest stage.

If you're a regular reader of Studious Metsimus, you know that I enjoy discussing the Mets' all-time leaderboards.  But what would those leaderboards look like if they consisted of only those players who never played in the World Series for the Mets?  It would look very interesting indeed, and in some cases, quite shocking.

So sit back, kick off your Mets slippers and enjoy this special Mets leaderboard, which lists the top ten in each hitting category using only Mets players who never appeared for the team in the World Series.  (Thanks to baseball-reference.com for the leaderboard assistance.)  You might need to borrow one of Davey Johnson's old bottles of Rolaids after reading the list.

(For the pitching leaders who never played in the World Series, please click here.)

Hitting Leaders For Mets Who Never Played In The World Series


Batting Average
 

Rank	Player	Batting Average	Plate Appearances
1.	John Olerud	.315	2018
2.	David Wright	.301	5453
3.	Dave Magadan	.292	2483
4.	Jose Reyes	.292	1742
5.	Daniel Murphy	.292	4840
6.	Steve Henderson	.287	2029
7.	Angel Pagan	.284	1646
8.	Ron Hunt	.282	1887
9.	Carlos Beltran	.281	3640
10.	Roger Cedeño	.279	1614

On-Base Percentage
    

Rank	Player	On-Base Pct.	Plate Appearances
1.	John Olerud	.425	2018
2.	Dave Magadan	.391	2483
3.	David Wright	.381	5453
4.	Carlos Beltran	.369	3640
5.	Steve Henderson	.360	2029
6.	Bernard Gilkey	.357	1567
7.	Bobby Bonilla	.356	2040
8.	Cliff Floyd	.354	1884
9.	Carlos Delgado	.351	2023
10.	Ron Hunt	.344	1887

Slugging Percentage
 

Rank	Player	Slugging Pct.	Plate Appearances
1.	Carlos Delgado	.506	2023
2.	David Wright	.506	5453
3.	John Olerud	.501	2018
4.	Carlos Beltran	.500	3640
5.	Bobby Bonilla	.495	2040
6.	Cliff Floyd	.478	1884
7.	Bernard Gilkey	.461	1567
8.	Kevin McReynolds	.460	3218
9.	Dave Kingman	.453	2573
10.	Jeff Kent	.453	1992

Games Played
 

Rank	Player	Games Played	Plate Appearances
1.	David Wright	1262	5453
2.	Jose Reyes	1050	4840
3.	Rey Ordoñez	916	3216
4.	Carlos Beltran	839	3640
5.	Todd Hundley	829	2904
6.	John Stearns	809	3081
7.	Kevin McReynolds	787	3218
8.	Dave Magadan	701	2483
9.	Dave Kingman	664	2573
10.	George Foster	655	2610

Runs Scored
 

Rank	Player	Runs Scored	Plate Appearances
1.	David Wright	790	5453
2.	Jose Reyes	735	4840
3.	Carlos Beltran	551	3640
4.	Kevin McReynolds	405	3218
5.	Todd Hundley	340	2904
6.	John Stearns	334	3081
7.	Dave Kingman	302	2573
8.	George Foster	290	2610
9.	John Olerud	288	2018
10.	Dave Magadan	275	2483

Base Hits
 

Rank	Player	Hits	Plate Appearances
1.	David Wright	1426	5453
2.	Jose Reyes	1300	4840
3.	Carlos Beltran	878	3640
4.	Kevin McReynolds	791	3218
5.	Rey Ordoñez	720	3216
6.	John Stearns	695	3081
7.	Hubie Brooks	640	2620
8.	Todd Hundley	612	2904
9.	Dave Magadan	610	2483
10.	George Foster	602	2610

Doubles
 

Rank	Player	Doubles	Plate Appearances
1.	David Wright	322	5453
2.	Jose Reyes	222	4840
3.	Carlos Beltran	208	3640
4.	Kevin McReynolds	153	3218
5.	John Stearns	152	3081
6.	Todd Hundley	118	2904
T-7.	Daniel Murphy	115	1742
T-7.	Rey Ordoñez	115	3216
9.	Dave Magadan	110	2483
10.	John Olerud	109	2018

Triples
 

Rank	Player	Triples	Plate Appearances
1.	Jose Reyes	99	4840
2.	Steve Henderson	31	2029
3.	Lance Johnson	27	1023
4.	Doug Flynn	26	2269
5.	Angel Pagan	23	1646
6.	David Wright	19	5453
7.	Joel Youngblood	18	2103
T-8.	Rey Ordoñez	17	3216
T-8.	Carlos Beltran	17	3640
10.	Lenny Randle	15	1093

Home Runs
 

Rank	Player	Home Runs	Plate Appearances
1.	David Wright	204	5453
2.	Dave Kingman	154	2573
3.	Carlos Beltran	149	3640
4.	Todd Hundley	124	2904
5.	Kevin McReynolds	122	3218
6.	Carlos Delgado	104	2023
7.	George Foster	99	2610
8.	Bobby Bonilla	95	2040
T-9.	Cliff Floyd	81	1884
T-9.	Jose Reyes	81	4840

Runs Batted In
 

Rank	Player	Runs Batted In	Plate Appearances
1.	David Wright	818	5453
2.	Carlos Beltran	559	3640
3.	Kevin McReynolds	456	3218
4.	Jose Reyes	423	4840
5.	Todd Hundley	397	2904
6.	Dave Kingman	389	2573
7.	George Foster	361	2610
8.	Carlos Delgado	339	2023
9.	John Stearns	312	3081
10.	Bobby Bonilla	295	2040

Stolen Bases
 

Rank	Player	Stolen Bases	Plate Appearances
1.	Jose Reyes	370	4840
2.	David Wright	166	5453
3.	Roger Cedeño	105	1614
4.	Carlos Beltran	100	3640
5.	Vince Coleman	99	978
6.	John Stearns	91	3081
7.	Frank Taveras	90	1583
8.	Angel Pagan	87	1646
9.	Kevin McReynolds	67	3218
10.	Lance Johnson	65	1023