David Wright and the Scrubs

The Mets banded together last night to pull out a much needed victory. With the news of Carlos Beltran heading to the DL and the previous week's painful losses, the Mets needed a victory to take their minds off of all the bad and to stop the bleeding.

But what was most evident to me last night, besides the fact that Fernando Tatis is an automatic double play with a runner on first and one out, is that this is now David Wright and everybody else.

Wright is going to be walked more in the next two weeks than he has all of the previous games this season. If you're an opposing pitcher why on earth would you want to pitch to Wright when you can deal with Tatis or Murphy or Santos behind him?

The scrubs will put up a good show for the next few days, but then reality will set in and they will start playing up to their potential instead of exceeding it. This is going to be a trail by fire for David Wright. Can he be consistent? Can he be a leader not just in the dugout or clubhouse, but at the plate by coming through when he's needed most?

These injuries the Mets have experienced are unbelievable, but in a way this could be the struggle that David Wright needs to turn him into the reliable and clutch performer that we need him to be. Or the weight of this team could crush him and he'll rival Ryan Howard for being the strikeout leader.

Either way it appears as if David Wright will be getting zero help from the front office in the way of a trade for additional support. The Mets seem to be willing to ride out this wave of injuries and play with the hand they've been dealt for better or worse.

So get used to the power core of bats you saw in the lineup last night and say a little prayer for David Wright (and Johan Santana while you're at it).