Why is Ryan Church not playing?

Marty Noble of mlb.com was asked in his most recent Mets Inbox why Ryan Church has seen his playing time continually decrease while players such as Gary Sheffield have seen plenty of playing time with worse numbers. He wrote:

"You hardly are alone in your wonder. My sense of it, and that of others, including men in uniform, is that Church has been shortchanged -- in words, plans and, since the season began, playing time. It began early in Spring Training. The comments manager Jerry Manuel made about him then seemed unnecessarily uncomplimentary. Then Church made most of the trips and played as much as anyone other than Daniel Murphy in exhibition games. He was exhausted by mid-March. Since Opening Day, he has become the player most affected by the batting-order imbalance -- too many left-handed hitters.

"Church is a fine outfielder, the best defensive right fielder the Mets franchise has had, and he ought to be in right as often as possible in Citi Field. He plays hard; no one can quarrel with that. And he was hitting early on. I suspect Manuel didn't want to sit Murphy when he was having so much trouble in left field and have Murphy begin to doubt himself."

Now here's my take on it: Omar Minaya has had the reputation since his days with Montreal that he favors mediocre minority (specifically hispanic) players to even good white players. His seeming preference all through the offseason to stick with Ollie Perez instead of Wolf or Lowe looked like further evidence of that. Could he be pulling the strings against Ryan Church? Or could Jerry Manuel have the same preference? Sheff has hit nothing at all (other than his 500th homerun), Tatis can get at-bats at other positions (and has done so, with Delgado's health issues). And look how long it took for Jeremy Reed (who is also white) to finally get a start. He only just got his first one this past week, over 20 games into the season. And while Daniel Murphy was favored by Jerry Manuel in his statements during Spring Training, Murphy has also seen his starts decrease in favor of Tatis and Sheffield. So while one white outfielder was favored over another, they both take backseats to the minorities. I'm curious what will happen when Brian Schneider comes back from his injury (whenever that may wind up being). Is Minaya going to try long and hard to deal him away in order to keep Ramon Castro and Omir Santos?

Now suppose an organization was intentionally playing very mediocre white players over much better and more productive black or hispanic players simply due to race. That organization would be subject to lawsuits and be branded as racist by fans. Should the Mets not be viewed the same way? Racism against whites is still racism.

Clay Hensley is Going to Dominate the NL this season.

The Mets have batted around here against Clay Hensley of the Astros in the 3rd inning. Delgado just followed up Schneider's grand slam with a 3-run homer of his own (which nothing looked right about -- the swing was a terrible uppercut, it looked like a pop fly, and wound up going about 3 inches over the shoulder of the right fielder who simply missed the ball as it cleared the fence). Hensley was just pulled from the game after the Mets announcers said this is a terrible sign for a guy trying to earn a spot on the roster.

What does this all mean?

Answer: Clay Hensley is going to win the NL Cy Young Award.

Why, you ask? Well, last year, the Mets had a Spring Training game against the Cleveland Indians in which the Indians sent out Cliff Lee to the hill. Lee was competing for a spot in the Indians' rotation. He failed to make it out of the first inning after giving up several runs (I don't remember exactly how many), and the Mets announcers that day said it was a terrible sign for a guy competing for a spot. How did it turn out for Lee? He had a dominant season that resulted in a Cy Young Award and Comeback Player of the Year Award.

So there you have it: Clay Hensley is the early favorite for the NL Cy Young Award.

It's good to look to Church on Sunday

Ryan Church returned to the Mets line-up in right field Sunday night for the first time since suffering his second concussion of the season against the Braves. The result? The Mets offense actually looked alive for once. Church made me jump out of my seat in his first at-bat when he hit a low-inside pitch deep to right, but it was caught a few steps short of the wall. The Dodgers weren't so fortunate later in the game. After Carlos Beltran homered (his second in two days... amazing), Delgado walked (I guess that's something...). Church stepped up and hit a two run shot to right on a high-inside fastball. It's great to have Church back. Maybe we can actually get over .500 again now. The Mets face the Giants and Padres next -- the bottom dwellers of the bad (with the exception of Arizona) NL West. If there's a time to gain ground on the Phillies and Marlins, this is it.


By the way, after Church homered, ESPN continually showed the replay and viewers were forced to listen to Joe Morgan talk about what a poor scouting report the Dodgers obviously had on Ryan Church since they threw him up and in and he turned on it for a homer. So let me see if I understand this, Joe Morgan. Any time a batter hits a homerun, is it because of a bad scouting report used by the pitcher and catcher? Or does that just apply to Mets players who had hit a low and inside pitch to the warning track in their previous at-bat? Ever stop to consider that maybe Ryan Church just guessed right? Or -- and here's a wild idea -- maybe Ryan Church is just a good Major League hitter? Thank God Steve Phillips wasn't up there in the booth. Who knows what he and his hatred for the team he worked hard to destroy would've concocted as the excuse for why the Mets suddenly looked like a Major League baseball team!

Mets Home Opener about to Begin

I've been listening to the introductions of the Mets' players in the pregame ceremonies for the final Home Opener at Shea. A couple things stood out:

• Obviously, Johan Santana received the loudest and most sustained ovation. He was also the only new Met who received an introduction including the words, "Welcome to New York..."
• The next loudest ovation was predictably for David Wright. In 3rd place? John Maine. I am personally a big John Maine fan (I'm wearing a Maine jersey today), so I appreciate that the crowd at the game recognizes like I do how well Maine pitched for us last year despite his tail-off in the August.
• Scott Schoeneweiss received -- if nothing else -- a quieter reception than he was expecting (Said Schoeneweiss over the weekend about the upcoming player introductions: "I'm scared to death of it because I always get booed. Can't I just wear my hoodie out there?"). I heard more boos than cheers, but it wasn't as loud as I expected.
• Aaron Heilman was not booed, despite already having given up a few costly runs this season, along with his checkered past including that homerun he gave up to Yadier Molina in the '06 NLCS.

Anyway, today's the final Home Opener for Shea Stadium. So I leave you with these song lyrics:

Now we see them rushing

To the stadium in Flushing.

Big Shea will see its last game in the Fall.

We've got Maine and Ollie Perez,

Moises and Chavez,

Santana's our guy and we're finishing high

So let's play ball.

We're talking baseball (Jose Reyes and Mr. Wright)

Talking baseball (Delgado's bat is dynamite)

Pedro, Church, and Billy -- they're all set.

And Carlos Beltran -- he's as good as it gets.

We're talking baseball. Baseball and the Mets.

Are We Seriously Relying on Delgado?

Carlos Delgado has played two games so far this Spring since returning from his latest injury, had 5 at-bats, and has struck out in all 5 of them. It's great to see he's right at mid-season form.... Maybe Easley or Anderson should be the everyday first-baseman. It's too bad Shawn Green only wanted to play for a West Coast team this year (and wound up retiring). I know he was never fully accepted by many Mets fans, but at least Green hit consistently. He certainly didn't have the power he had during his years playing for Toronto and Los Angeles, but an average around .300 with limited power is something I'd gladly take over Delgado at this point.

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Edit:
Delgado just made contact with the ball finally. However, his first ball put in play this Spring resulted in an inning-ending double play. It would have been better if he had struck out...

Update from last post

Out of the large number of Mets listed in the last post as being injured, several returned to the lineup today. The biggest surprise was Ryan Church, returning from the Grade 2 concussion he suffered in his collision last weekend. Church looked good, ripping two line-drive singles to right in his only 2 at-bats. Also returning to the lineup for the game against the Marlins were Brian Schneider, Damion Easley, and Endy Chavez. This was a split-squad game, and on the other squad which traveled to face the Baltimore Orioles, Marlon Anderson made his return to the lineup.

Duaner Sanchez is also scheduled to pitch for the first time in 8 days in the game against the Marlins, though he hasn't entered the game yet as of now.


Beltran, Castillo, and Delgado continue to sit out. Reports on Beltran and Castillo sound like they could appear in a game any day now. Delgado has taken batting practice and reported no pain.

Moises Alou will definitely miss the beginning of the regular season. Orlando Hernandez has finally thrown a bit down in Florida, but there is no definite timetable for his first appearence in a game.

No Surprise from Alou; Mets' team injury recap

The first poll on this blog asked readers to choose which Mets player would be most seriously injured this season. By a large margin, readers selected "Moises Alou, just by being Moises Alou." Those people are off to an early lead, as today it was learned that Alou will miss 4-6 weeks following surgery for a hernia.

How exactly did Alou get a hernia? From all that heavy lifting he does in his life? The bat and ball are really heavy.... Every Spring Training game he has played so far, I've yelled at the tv screen for Alou to just walk to any balls hit to left and allow the batter to get an inside the park homerun in order to avoid injuring his legs. I don't know what he could have done to cause this hernia, or possibly could've done to prevent it. What a disaster.

So, to recap for people, the Mets regular starters in the outfield (Ryan Church, Carlos Beltran, and Moises Alou) are all injured. Their primary back-up outfielder (Endy Chavez) is injured. Their starting catcher (Brian Schneider) is injured. Their first baseman (Carlos Delgado) and both of his backups (Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson, both of whom are also backup outfielders and backup utility infielders) are injured. Their second baseman (Luis Castillo) is injured, along with both of his backups already named and also the person who would come 4th on the depth chart at second base (Jose Valentin). So out of the Mets 8 position-player regulars, only David Wright and Jose Reyes are uninjured at this time (though Reyes did take a couple days off after awkwardly fouling a ball off his own knee). What a great start...