“If the batter is afraid of being hit, then I can pitch him any way I want,’’ Martinez said.

That’s the way it seems these days for David Wright even though he will never admit it. That’s all right, because what the mouth won’t say body language does, and there have been numerous times when Wright bails out.

We see him more turning away from the inside fastball rather than turning on it and ripping it to left. Once a pitcher knows he has the inside half of the plate, there’s no reason to go to the outside.

The Matt Cain beaning last season has had a residual effect of Wright, and it mostly is mental, which leads to bad physical habits.

I’ve seen Wright pull off pitches he used to hammer, and I see him get too anxious when he does get a ball on the outside half and middle. His swing is long with a noticeable uppercut.

Statistically, Wright has made enough contact to be on a pace to hit 32 homers and drive in 105 runs. He’s also on pace to strike out 223 times and hit for a .262, some 43 points below his career average.

Those aren’t the results Wright is seeking.

“If you don’t see the results a lot, you start pressing a little bit,’’ Wright said last night after his three strikeout game in Atlanta. “It’s tough when somebody is out there playing as poorly as I am right now, costing us both offensively and defensively.’’

Wright was having an off-year in 2009 even before the beaning, which some of it being written off as adjusting to the new stadium and him being on an island in the line-up. There was no Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado or Jose Reyes for much of this year. There’s no Beltran this year, Jason Bay has done nothing to protect Wright and Reyes hasn’t been on his game. The situations are very similar, as are the results.

Wright called baseball a “humbling” game and right now the man is humbled.

It all boils down to this, that regardless of the psychological and statistical theories, if Wright is the player the Mets and he believes himself to be, things have to dramatically change. These reasons, or excuses, for him not hitting must be pushed aside.

It could start with something small, like hitting a sacrifice fly instead of striking out.

Here’s tonight’s line-up”

Jose Reyes, SS
Luis Castillo, 2B
Jason Bay, LF
Ike Davis, 1B
Angel Pagan, CF
Jeff Francoeur, RF
Fernando Tatis, 3B
Henry Blanco, C
RA Dickey, RP

Not all great athletes can teach, but Koufax has been able to impart something to others. Well, others have tried with Perez, from Pedro Martinez to Johan Santana, but nothing has stuck. Maybe this time will be different. At least, let’s hope so.

Word is Perez is healthy and in shape after working out at a sports institute in Arizona in the offseason. He’s won 15 games before, so the potential and history is there, but he’s also shown an aptitude for wildness and disaster. Perez is a wild card for the Mets. He does well and the team can be competitive; he does poorly and he can take the Mets down with him.

LOOSE THREADS

I’m still waiting for the Mets to add a pitcher. I hate to say this, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Pedro Martinez is brought back. To think the Mets will look at what Martinez did with the Phillies and to think he might duplicate it this summer might be a reach. Afterall, part of his success has to be attributed to playing half a season and being strong down the stretch. More indicative would be his second World Series start.

I saw where the Royals are willing to trade Gil Meche and Brian Bannister. Meche is a lot of money for somebody who is now merely average.

I’ll have something on the remaining FA pitchers on the market this week as well as something on David Wright.

Today, for me, I’ll watch the Celtics and Lakers this afternoon. One of the great sports rivalries. Rooting interest? Celtics.

Enjoy the day.

Here’s the main names on the list: Joel Pineiro, Jon Garland, Doug Davis, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Ben Sheets, Chien-Ming Wang and Erik Bedard.

The Mets are talking with Smoltz and still are considering Pineiro.

So, who do you want?

Post your comments here and vote in the poll.

The Mets are talking with Smoltz which does nothing in terms of making them younger, but if he’s on – at this stage he’s a four or five – he could be valuable. He did pitch well down the stretch last year. Yeah, I’d like a young stud, but there aren’t any out there.

Sheets, Wang and Bedard, coming off injuries, represent the biggest risk.

Ben Sheets, despite his injury history, wants $12 million per season and Joel Pineiro wants a four-year deal with a higher annual average than Wolf. Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector who has never thrown a pitch in the major leagues, has a $15.5 million offer on the table from the Red Sox.

Also, lurking are Pedro Martinez, Erik Bedard, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Brett Myers. There are three Hall of Famers there, but that’s in the future and past tenses. Present tense, well, they aren’t much better than whom the Mets have now.

For the Mets to add pitching, their choices are to overpay for mediocrity, or in the case of Sheets, take a health gamble. The Mets are gambling their current rotation will progress, and if it doesn’t, then at least they have the economics on their side (save Oliver Perez).

Not encouraging, is it?

MARQUIS: Now a Nat.

I never had the Mets getting any of the big pitchers, like John Lackey and Roy Halladay, but would settle for a middle-tier arm such as Joel Pineiro, Marquis and Jon Garland.

It’s not that they didn’t get Marquis that is so disturbing, but for how cheaply he went (maybe that does tell you something), but the Mets needed any and all pitching help.

My confidence level in the Mets bringing in an arm of substance is waning, especially considering the news that ESPN is reporting they are considering bringing back Pedro Martinez to a one-year deal at $8 million.

I keep going back in my mind Jeff Wilpon’s vow after the season and Omar Minaya’s pronouncement “we have a plan.”

Think it might be a good time to hear it.

MARTINEZ: Wants another year.

Martinez was 5-1 in nine starts for the Phillies down the stretch and started two games in the World Series. Game 2 was a decent start. Game 6 wasn’t so good. Both starts were at Yankee Stadium. The pitching deprived Mets aren’t interested in an encore. The Phillies haven’t said whether they’ll bring him back.

Martinez also said he will pitch for the Licey Tigers in the Dominican winter league. Martinez, obviously, is one of these players who won’t let go of his career. It has been a good one, but it can’t be overlooked that last year he pitched in a fraction of the games he would normally start, which must factor into his effectiveness.

MARTINEZ: Where will he land?

Martinez played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in spring 2009 and hoped that would convince teams of his health. It did not, and he had to audition before he signed a $1 million, one-year contract with the Phillies. In nine games he was 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA.

Martinez pitched will in Game 2 of the World Series, but working with the flu, was hit in Game 6.

Martinez vs. Pettitte

Tonight, it’s Pedro Martinez against Andy Pettitte, with each going 3-3 against the other.

“Two old goats out there doing the best they can and having fun with it,” Martinez said. “I don’t have enough words to describe how excited I am about being here. This is just a great gift to me.”

The objects are simple for each. For Martinez, it is to keep the Phillies’ season alive. He pitched well in Game 2 at Yankee Stadium. For Pettitte, it is to bring the Yankees’ 27th World Series title to the Bronx.

Pettitte won Game 3 in Philadelphia. Pettitte got the victory, but was hit for four runs in six innings. That was on normal rest. Tonight he’s going on three days, and how much he has left will be a defining moment to the game and Series.

Naturally, Pettitte downplayed the issue, but he can’t ignore he’s 4-6 lifetime in that scenario.

“I really don’t think there’s that big of a difference,” said Pettitte, who is 3-0 during the playoffs. “I think just mentally people make such a big deal about it because it’s just not done very often anymore.”

What’s also not done, at least in this Series, is the Yankees getting out Chase Utley, who has five homers. Yankee pitchers have fed him a diet of fastballs, many of them over the plate. He can expect fastballs tonight, only high and tight.

“We have left a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate,” said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada said. “We probably need to make him feel a little bit more uncomfortable.”