He leads the team in runs scored, batting average (more than 10 at bats) and hits – and he has committed no errors.
Anthony DiComo penned an article for MLB.com on how Church may vie for a spot on the 2008 All-Star team.
To watch Church’s two-run home run from last night’s win over the Pirates, click here.
…church has not just been holding his own this year, he has been nearly stellar…perhaps that is because i just expected a steady, bottom of the order bat, who would play a good right field for the team…but church has been more than that…
…i figured he would be better at shea than at rfk, and that the hype about him not being able to hit lefties was overdone, but no one i know expected him to hit considerably better against lefties than righties this year, and be looking at a potential all-star bid…
…of course, it is still early and we will have to wait and see who the real Ryan Church is…at this time last year, David Wright had no home runs and was batting .244, plus church does lead the team in strikeouts…so, i fully expect church to taper off a bit but to continue yielding respectable numbers for a corner outfielder…he is still only 29 and has time to improve so, hopefully, the church i have been pleasantly surprised by so far is in fact legit…
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…i think he is, regis…i really do…it’s not like he didn’t hit well in DC last season – or even the year before…he has always been a consistent hitter – never doing too much, or too little, while always playing impressive defense…that is what he has done so far this season, and i see no reason to think he will discontinue this pattern going forward – meaning he could very well hit .290, 20 HR and have 100 RBI, as he is on pace to do…
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I wasn’t in favor of this trade when it was made. However, Church has been much more than I expected. The thing I’m most happy about is his defense.
The guy gets to balls that we used to watch drop in there. Another reason I love having Endy out there in left. He gets to everything.
Church’s hitting has been great too. Was nice to see him come up with a clutch home run last night. Let’s hope he can keep it up for the lond haul.
He’s a solid all-around player with no glaring weaknesses. His defense is very good and much better than I thought it would be. He’s a better fielder in right than Green and Milledge were.
This has turned out to be a very good trade so far, considering they go Schneider too.
Unfortunately, Heilman will never be freed. It seems like MLB has it in for him. He has like 30 years of service and never has reached free agency (that’s an exaggeration, but it seems like he has been under our “control” forever).
LOL, It does seem that way, doesn’t it. Heilman will be 35 before he can become a free agent and he’ll only have one year left to his career!
Seriously, I think his freedom may finally come this winter. I just hope they trade him to a good team and not one of the poorly run franchises like the Nationals or Pirates.. Or one with few fans like the Marlins.
For what its worth, I would have agreed with you about the Nats being poorly run up until last year. They are actually doing some good things with that team these days. Still along ways off, but they are improving.
Sorry, but I think Bowden has been one of the worst GMs in the game. Any team that hires him has a lot of screws loose. They are not where they are in the standings for nothing. Look at Florida. With a much smaller budget than the Nats, they can field a vastly more competitive team. The Nats will not be a successful organization until they fire Bowden. Mark my words.
ah, but VC: if we tade him to a crap franchise, odds are we’ll be doing so because we’d be getting an inequitable return (favoring us). mmm…lopsided trades…
Add another log to the fire that is Love of Church’s Defense…I knew he’d be ok, but he’s friggin great out there. I too questioned the trade, then came around.
As good as he has been, I think I have a man crush on Schneider.
Seems to me he’s hit it off great with HoJo, who by all accounts ironed out his swing this spring (which probably accounts for his struggles in ST)
He’s also become more patient at the plate even since the beginning of the season. I think he may have overcorrected very slightly, but better to work counts than go down first-pitch hacking.
I think we’re seeing a genuine improvement in his hitting. I agree that his average is unlikely to remain above .300 by the end of the season, but I think we’ll still look back and say he’s better than even most of the defenders of the trade (including myself) thought we were getting.
I agree with the first pitch hacking comment, except in the case of Carlos Beltran. The guy watches more first pitch (right down the center of the strike zone) strikes than anyone I have ever seen. I understand people are pitching around him and I’m sure he knows it too, but he needs to stay aggressive.
Well, what we need to remember is Church only has 300 career hits. He doesn’t exactly have a track record as a .250 hitter or anything like that, he seems to be a solid player and I have no reason to suspect he’s going to play like he was with the Nationals, but that he’ll fit into this lineup (whereever we put him) and contribute.
For the stats-inclined, Church has a very high batting average on balls in play right now — close to .400 — which means he’s getting a bit lucky in terms of balls dropping in for hits. We can probably expect that to decline back near the major league average of .300, though Church’s BABIP has always been a bit higher than average, presumably because he’s a line-drive hitter and BABIP, for hitters, is not all luck but has to do in part with one’s propensity to hit line drives. But we should expect a little regression to the mean. That said, I’m certainly enjoying Church’s play right now.
I said it in a post a few months ago that we would all be really surprised with Church and Schnieder this year. I was a little dismayed at the trade to begin with, but after some thought I had a feeling that it was going to be in the Mets’ best interest. Glad to see that so far I was correct!
Lets go Mets!
I am starting to think about line ups when Alou comes back. where does Church fit in? Stay in the #5 hole? I don’t want him to go to #2 because I think he can be a productive RBI bat and you want to split up Delgado and Church with Alou.
I always saw Church as a very solid player and I think he has just progressed by being in a better offensive lineup. He will have hot and cold streaks but I think he is a very legitimate player and an extremely nice pick up for the Mets.
I’m also a huge church fan. I liked this trade from the get-go, and so far it looks great. Obviously there’s a long time before we can say for sure, but I think Church & Schneider are the real deal. Church for Milledge straight up at this point looks good, add in Schneider and it’s a steal. A big “me too” to the praise of Church’s defense. It’s a nice feeling when a ball goes up in right knowing he’ll be there. He has great instincts, gets great jumps, and is very sure handed. Add that arm in there and you have a great right fielder. Huge with our staff of flyball pitchers.
Its funny, because Omar continually brought up defense when this trade was made, and even though I liked it from the start, I kind of thought he was just talking to calm people down a little bit, but he wasnt kidding. Church and Schneider are both outstanding defenders, and I really believe that was a big part of Omars reasoning in making this deal. How many balls have we seen Church reel in with ease that Milledge or Green would have had to come in full blast and dive for? Another thing I love about Church is that he got the call to the majors late, meaning we have him under our team control when he is entering his would be prime years, so if he puts it together and puts up nice numbers for us, we have him locked up somewhat cheaply for his most productive years.
Cerrone I had a feeling Church would be much better not only because he was out of RFK, But because he is in a much better lineup now as opposed to when he was with the nationals and had 15 hr 70 rbi. This is a guy who had over 40 doubles last year….But when it comes down to it I was more excited about having a guy who will play a good right field. Didn’t trust shawn green out there
I thought that a big part of the trade for Church was also his passion and “scrappiness” as a player that I don’t think I fully appreciated. I did not see it firsthand, but my brother was at the game on Saturday and after Church got an out in a big situation he threw his bat, threw his helmet, threw his batting gloves and refused to go back in the dugout with the rest of the guys. According to my brother, he looks absolutely disgusted. It’s that type of attitude that we need more of and I think a tremendous part of what Church brings to the team.
Church stinks. He is a 4th OF who cant hit lefties. Scheider is just horrible, he cant catch the ball and he only hits 240. Lastings is Willie Mays. Fire Omar. I told you guys, this was a good one for both sides, and I dont think I am going to hear any more arguments that Milledge is more suited to be the RF for a contending team right now. He just isnt as polished as Church is yet. Good deal by both sides.
i think when Alou comes back it HAS to be this..
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Church
Alou
Delgado
Schneider
Mostly cause if you put church in the 2 hole you will have all lefties 6-8 (delgado, schneider, castillo(switch). Also if you put him 6th behind Alou..you still have 3 straight lefties so that makes the most sense to break up the lefties.
So where are all the Milledge lovers? Even if he turns into a star, who cares? He has a bad attitude and Church and Schneider have each been way more than I think most people, including myself, expected.
So, I know its comparing Apples and Oranges, but which one are we happier about?
Church – for his great defense and his soild bat?
Or
Scheider – for his great handling of the pitching staff and his solid D (ok not including the passed balls)?
Well, it looks like he’s going to give the Mets at least as good a season as Nady did for the 4 months he was with the team, maybe better. In any event, he’s a significant upgrade over Shawn Green. The only downside is that Nady and Green could play 1B, so you lose a little bit of depth.
Milledge probably would have been the every day RF if the trade had not been made, but Church is ready NOW, and Milledge clearly isn’t. Plus, Brian Schneider is already showing himself to be a positive influence on the pitching staff, which has posted a full ER a game fewer when Schneider is behind the plate.
I’m sure we were all wondering why Omar didn’t get more for Milledge at the time, but seeing that he still doesn’t know how to tell time or lay off fastballs out of the zone, we did remarkably well in trading him.
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