Going to Church

The Mets are full of surprises this year. Biggest surprise of them all though has been the consistent play of right fielder Ryan Church. In 28 games he's played, he's had at least one hit in 22 of them. He's batting .310 with 4 home runs and 22 rbi's this season. When he's not killing the competition with his bat, he's using his glove or his arm, as he demonstrated just this past Sunday against the Diamondbacks, cutting down a runner trying to take third base.

Just for a bit of perspective, Church has a career batting average of .275 and, before this season, he had a distinct problem hitting left-handed pitching. Not this year. He's actually batting better vs. lefties than against righties. This is his fifth year in the majors and he's never even played a full season.

Last year, though, he played in 144 games for Washington and hit .272 with 15 homers and 70 rbi's. His OPS (On-base pct. plus slugging pct.) last year was .813 and, as his current OPS of .856 isn't really that much higher, I think we can continue to expect good things from Mr. Church. And, who knows, maybe another change of his place in the batting order. He started the season batting sixth, but his remarkable consistency and apparent bat control has made him a natural for the number two position in the lineup. Even Willie has noticed.

It's a good thing for some pleasant surprises, especially with these Mets, who have had more than their share of unpleasant ones. Until just recently, Carlos Delgado had continued to disappoint (from last year) but Luis Castillo hadn't been too far behind in the anguish department. Carlos Beltran, while he does still play a great centerfield, hasn't been quite himself yet, batting .221 with 24 runs scored but just 13 ribbies and his record with runners in scoring position has been worse. Perhaps Carlos needs to relax.

Baseball is a streaky game and the Mets certainly follow that pattern, maybe too much. Reyes has demonstrated his affinity for going to sleep, at the bat and in the field as well. Moises Alou's only consistency has been his appearance on the disabled list. Much the same could be said for Brian Schneider. Angel Pagan had started very hot but has now cooled considerably.

Then there is David Wright, .469 and .198, those are this year's numbers versus lefties and righties. Would that there were more left-handers because his overall batting average is just .274. Mr. Wright has always been a little strange at the plate though. Every at-bat seems to go to two strikes immediately, yet there's no one you'd rather have at the plate with two strikes than Mr. Wright.

Then there is the pitching. Johan Santana has been amazing as usual yet continues his predilection for giving up home runs. Oliver Perez has been less than amazing and continues his penchant for making the big mistakes. John Maine has been pretty consistent, but each of his games seems like an adventure. Nelson Figueroa has been another shining light, not so much for his overall stats but for his relative consistency. Pelfrey has been Pelfrey, and his 2-2 record has been achieved via a 5.27 ERA.

I don’t even want to think about Pedro Martinez, the pain of his going down so quickly is still with me, and I can’t say I’m happy that he recuperates somewhere in Latin America. Oh, and then there is El Duque. Right.

Strangely enough, I continue to have faith in the bullpen. Billie Wagner, Duaner Sanchez, even Aaron Heilman, I think, over the long run, they’ll be good, especially if Aaron becomes a long relief guy rather than that setup guy for Wagner. To me, the winner of that spot has clearly been Sanchez, who is just tougher in that situation, has better stuff and maybe more command of the zone.

The others aren’t bad either. Feliciano, Smith, Schoenweis, and even Sosa, who has had his share of bad luck, all have had their moments this season, and I mean that mostly in a good way. Sosa, for example, leads the team in wins with 4.

The Mets have been consistent though only in their overall mediocrity. Currently at 16-14, they are only third in the NL East, behind the Phils, of course, and the surprising Marlins. They lose 4 out of 5, then win eight in a row, then another streak of three losses. Now they seem to win one, lose one, which, I must say, doesn’t make me feel any better but does prevent overall despondency to invade my spirit.

I keep thinking things can only get better. Catching, for example, has been a merry-go-round, what with Schneider’s mysterious hand infection and Castro’s hamstring. I have to admit taking a liking for Raul Casanova, who seems to do the job behind the plate and in the batter’s box as well. His .262 BA isn’t really too shabby and he can hit for power, although he’s hit just one home run thus far.

Tonight we have Nelson Figueroa going again and I’m hopeful, both for Figgy and the whole team as well. I do see some good signs. I wonder who’ll bat second. I hope Mr. Castillo rides the pine. I look forward to seeing Delgado continuing to hit, for Wright to find his way against right-handers, for Beltran to have some luck at the plate, something he never seems to possess in abundance.

Perhaps the thing I most anticipate is having the “regular” lineup in place. Schneider is back so it’ll be Reyes, Church, Wright, Beltran, Alou, Delgado, Schneider, Castillo and the pitcher. That, at least, was the lineup last night, and, although they only scored one run with it, I’d like to think it was the Dodgers’ pitching that shut them down.

And I’ll root for Church. As Kipling said, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”….