So much for the platoon in left. Manager Jerry Manuel said it is Daniel Murphy’s job to lose, and he’ll see a lot of time against left-handed pitching. That doesn’t mean Fernando Tatis is useless. He’ll get at-bats in right against left-handed pitching, which means less playing time for Ryan Church.
I like the confidence Manuel is showing in Murphy, and I hope it continues even when there’s an inevitable slump. The onus now is on Church to produce vs. lefties so he stays in the line-up.
Manuel’s thinking is Murphy has less holes in his swing and approach than does Church.
This post was written by John Delcos
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Its about time someone on this org sees a 23-24 year old as a prospect who can grow and a 30 year old who’s never done it as a platoon player. But when Murphy’s in left and Tatis in right, Beltran better have his legs in tip-top shape.
manuel has already come out and said he did not mean church will be in a platoon. tatis will play the super sub off the bench…hopefully wright gets some days off if tatis can be serviceable at 3rd everyonce in a while.
lot of pressure on both murphy and church to produce. this team needs depth in the lineup so these guys need to step up.
a ton of church hate lately..i hope to see him rebound well this yr.
(2) Too bad.
Church can field and can hit righties… and not a whole lot else. A good part of a platoon and a bad full-time player. Good to see the organization’s slowly coming around on admitting it.
Church has never really gotten a chance to play vs LHPs, but looked good enough against them before concussion #2. Let’s give him a chance before writing him off.
Before the concussion last year Church was one of the best players on the team.
dave- people dont remember that. they just continue to bash church. i hope he plays like he did in april/may. i think he has the ability to be solid but i must say he did look lost vs lefties at the end of last yr. he needs to work on going the other way.
i see him in between april/may of ’08 and the end of the yr
i think a
.285/20 hr/80 rbi is his ceiling
and
.255/14 hr/ 65 rbi is his basement
i see him being streaky but finishing with a respectabkle
.270/17 hr/ 72 rbi
i saw a vid of an interview with him.
He is a trouper. very uncomfortable, but he sat and answered questions about his platoon situation.
i hope he steps up and focuses and plays like the player we saw early in the season. young, hungry aggressive, fundamentally sound.
agreed
Does anyone have any detailed information on why Jerry Manuel failed in Chicago after a promising start? I am under the impression he was too placid. Is that correct.
I remember Chruch, before and after. and it took tons of guts to go out there and try to play after 2 major hits.
I still think he has it, he of all the Mets has an excuse to have had a bad year last year. I think this year we will see the old church back in teh saddle.