WASHINGTON — David Wright made it clear he wanted to play his way out of the prolonged slump he’s been in.

Jerry Manuel, however, saw things differently and sat Wright down in the series opener at Nationals Park against Livan Hernandez, a pitcher the third baseman had hit .334 against, with four homers and 10 RBIs, in 36 career at-bats.

But those numbers were outweighed by ugly ones like this: Prior to the game, Wright had struck out in 15 straight games and in 27 of his previous 57 at-bats.

“You wanna play, but I don’t fill out the lineup card,” Wright said before the game, replaced in the lineup by Fernando Tatis.

He didn’t, however, react like Florida’s Hanley Ramirez, who, after being benched for a lack of hustle, ripped Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez.

“It’s Jerry’s decision to put [Fernando] Tatis in there,” Wright said. “I’ll be on the bench, supporting these guys … If Tatis gives us the best chance to win, I’m all for it.”

That would be Tatis, owner of a .216 average.

Manuel was asked how Wright reacted to the news, one day after Wright said a day off “would be the worst thing for me.”

“He didn’t give you my 55 [career] at-bats and that I had five hits in the big leagues, what do I know about hitting?” said Manuel, referring to Ramirez’s criticism of Gonzalez. “We have to make decisions at times to give people a break here and there. I just thought [this] would be a good time to give him a break.”

That came despite Wright’s success against Hernandez and the fact Tatis has been unproductive since he stopped playing regularly with the emergence of Ike Davis at first base, and was 4-for-22 (.182) over his last 14 games with an at-bat.

The bigger issue is Wright’s continued struggles at the plate, where he was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and an error that led to the game-winning run in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss in Atlanta.

“I’ve never liked having off days,” Wright said. “Of course I told him I’d rather play.”

When he’s back in the lineup, he’s hoping to get better results.

“I’ve been in slumps before,” Wright said. “It’s not the first time and it’s surely not gonna be the last. I don’t want to go out there and really struggle at both ends of the game like I’ve been doing recently.”

The only way to recover, though, was to be on the field.

“I’ve gotta fight my way out of it,” Wright said. “All it takes is one swing, one at-bat where something clicks, you feel good and you go on a hot streak.”

Manuel believes that a game off might do the trick.

“We need [Wright] back to where he can be and I keep telling these guys: Every time I give one guy a day off, the next day he hits a home run,” Manuel said. “What do you all want? You want strikeouts today or a home run tomorrow? We’ve got to keep the level of energy, life and we’ve got to be able to use everybody. That’s a philosophy of mine and I haven’t done a good job of that this year.”

That theory will be tested again when Wright returns.

“When you manage or coach, you get to see a different perspective,” Wright said. “It’s about winning games, not about the third baseman getting hits… I’ve had days off before when I’ve struggled and been given a day off. It’s nothing new to me or new to Jerry. It’s part of the process. Hope they’re few and far between.”

So do the Mets.