And Here Comes Willis

In the span of 24 hours, we went from “David Wright is headed to the disabled list”, to “I can’t believe the Mets would risk Wright taking BP with a broken pinkie”, to “Boy if he makes it worse playing in a game I want the training staff lined up and shot”, to the final destination: “Three hits with a broken pinkie! Yeah!!!”

Slamming a home run on the first pitch he saw from Vance Worley was indeed very Willisian, or at the very least very Kariyaish, if not on as big a stage. Hitting a home run with a compromised pinkie in Philadelphia is a stage that’s big enough for me. And it led a Mets attack that took down the Phillies for the second straight day, with only Mets whipping boy Cole Hamels standing in their way of a sweep on Sunday.

I don’t know if David Wright is going to be here at the end of this season, or next. I thought his departure was a sure thing this offseason. I’m moving away from that a little bit as we go along this season. I’m still not convinced. But don’t ever mistake my belief that he’s a sure goner for the respect he deserves for being willing to risk his health for the good of the Mets (or to the detriment of the Mets, if indeed he does re-injure himself … for Wright will never get the blame for wanting to play through pain, but the Mets will be blamed for not saving David from himself … and I’m all right with that.) It’ll ultimately wind up being the difference between Wright, who will be a fan favorite for years to come whether he’s a Met or not, and Jose Reyes who the fans soured on after that final game and his courtship with the Marlins. Fair to Reyes? Not really. But David Wright deserves all the accolades he gets after Saturday’s performance.

Of course, this would have been more of a blowout if Jason Bay had not been completely useless in the fourth … grounding into a double play in front of Lucas Duda’s home run. But I specifically said before Bay’s at bat that anything less devastating than a triple play would be a positive for the Mets. Giving Duda a chance to bat by not hitting into a triple play was a great accomplishment for Bay, who has earned less money in two years than Jon Niese has in his last two starts. That includes Saturday, when Niese went six and two thirds only giving up five hits and one walk. It starts with pitching, kids.