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“Ryan Church will make his long-awaited return to the Mets tomorrow,” according to the Daily News.
Church who went 0-for-4 last night, while playing for Double-A Binghamton.
Manuel, talking to reporters about Church yesterday, said:
“When he does come back, we don’t have to rely on him playing every single day…It depends on how he feels…We feel very confident in the young players we have in left field, and also with Tatis in right…I feel very good with what they have done.”
This makes total sense, in that, a) it says to the team that you play if you produce, regardless of who may be coming back from the disabled list, and b) it allows the Mets to slow-play Church’s recovery, while still getting him in to the mix.
thats great news, finally
but who do u send down?
Evans has been on fire
Murphy is just the man
Reyes is great at spelling Easley
and the team is just hittin it’s stride
ugh…
Cancel would be my choice.
Cancel, and hold up Castillo until september 1st
Good call.
I would have to say that Nick Evans will have to be sent down. Only because Tatis still needs to get his AB’s. I think Evans needs to be told this is only until Sept 1 and that he did a great job. He really did show so much improvement from his first stint. Very good progress.
Church is coming back just in time for our invasion of Philly. Can’t wait.
Good call everyone above. Cancel should be sent down.
Evans is starting every game against LH pitching with a 412OBP 511 slg and 362 avg.
They would be crazy to send him down instead of Cancel
The most likely person to be sent down seems to be Cancel.
I agree with Jerry 100% on this. As much as I want Church in this lineup, he belongs on the bench…for now. If Chuch were to plug him in the lineup right away, it would go against everything Jerry talked about; you play well, you play. Tatis/Endy and Murph/Evans have done great and benching any one of them in favor of Chuch would make Jerry a hypocryte and will lose all credibilty with his players. Church should get spot starts every few days to ween him back to playing big league ball. It will also help his condition.
*If Jerry were to plug him into the linep.
YESSSsssssss!!! Welcome back Churchy!!
Agreed about how Jerry is running the team, great job.
Platoons bring out the competition in guys.
with pairs at C, 2B, LF and RF its no surprise the supporting guys are getting it done. Even Schneider and A. Reyes are hitting well over thier heads…
A. Reyes needs to stay because no one else can handle 2B when Pelfrey is on the mound.
You have to love the element that the young players bring to the mix. It’s a long overdue, breath of fresh air.
I can’t say enough good things about Murphy. Evans looks to be solid as well. They both learn very quickly and approach the game the right way.
A. Reyes is a good ball player. There are a lot of haters on here with him still … but he’s going to grow into a very solid ball player.
I’m witcha. A-Rey is by far the best defensive 2B we got.
Yes, I have been very impressed by how Jerry’s managing this team. When Willie was fired, I was really disappointed that Jerry was named interim manager. But he really seems to be exactly what this team needed.
Yes. Glove and power.
noice!
Lets just hope that Manuel makes the rule that Church is not allowed to slide into second base anymore this season. Unless it is in game 7 of the world series.
Dare I say this team is actually getting healthy? One positive to all this is that they should be fresh for the playoff run..hopefully…
Dont jinx, thanks.
And welcome back Church, we all missed you.
Luckily, I am far enough away from the team that I cannot jinx them. When a person is in a different time zone, the jinx is nullified.
Better not slide! If you look at the reply of Church sliding, which they’ve shown a million times since it’s happening, he made the mistake of not lifting up his right arm as protection, which is pretty much standard for sliding into second feet first when there is a double play in progress. I’m sure they’ll show the reply again when he returns tomorrow. If his right hand is up then he probably wouldn’t have gotten hit so hard.
With that said…It was a blessing in disguise because we are stronger now with more good players like Tatis, Daniel and Nick.
Go Mets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The question isnt so much who should be sent down for Church, but who should be sent down for Church, Castillo, and Al Reyes… Cancel would be one…
I guess they are hoping they can hold out Castillo until Sept 1st, that would be the easiest thing to do.
As for Al Reyes, he is the kind of player who would have to be on the 25 man roster before Sept 1st in order to be post season elidgable. I hate the idea of being without A. Reyes for 10 days (unless Pelfrey wont be starting…) so maybe Stokes will leave for Reyes on Aug 31st. and A. Burgos will come up on Sept 1st….
The problem with holding out Castillo is that his 20 day minor league rehab stint is up. Now, they have to stage simulated games to keep from calling him up.
Somehow, I get the feeling his knees are still barking at him.
One can only hope…
Actually, Castillo is still stuck in the bathroom. haha
But yeah, it’s a safe bet to take that his knees are giving him problems. It’s not something that the Mets are going to announce publicly … but if you read between the lines it makes sense.
The sense I get is that Castillo wants back but the Mets dont really have room for him.
I dont know that simulated games are the best way to get someone back, but his hitting in the minors tells me something isnt right.
Not true about Al Reyes. He would be eligible for the post season via replacing an injured pitcher and can be called up after 9/1. He simply has to be in the organization by the 1st… not the big leagues.
It just gets better and better. All is starting to come together for this team. Only glitch is the loss of our closer…..
The same closer who everyone on this website bashed when he was healthy. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Well, not ‘everyone’….I never did. Billy is Billy – I know he had some blown saves but he still was our best bet for that closer roll in that BP…..
Make that two of us.
I hope I wasn’t premature in adding Al Reyes to my roster. Closer in Arizona was killing me lately, and the Dodgers are going to win that division going away, so I dropped him.
Liriano is blazing in Minny if he’s available in your league. 4-0 with a 1.something ERA since August 1st.
Almost picked up Daniel Murphy, but too many leftys next week, so he won’t be getting the AB.
Are we gonna see a Tatis-Evans-Easley-Castro/Murphy-Church-Reyes-Schneider platoon? I love the matchups.
Can somebody give Delgado a day off? Evans at 1B would work for me against Hampton. Senior’s need a day off to refresh.
With regard to Al Reyes, smart money would have J.Smith being sent down since he still has options and apparently needs a rest. Have him throw only once in the week or so that he’s down there and then bring him back up when rosters expand. With regards to Church, Cancel is the obvious choice as the bat-boy has seen more action than him in the last week and a half.
I would have to say that Stokes goes down for Al Reyes, who will close, and Heilman will slip into the long man role. When Castillo comes back up, it will hopefully be after Sept. 1, so that Argenis can stick around. And to make room for Church, option (or DFA?) Cancel, while giving him a high five for playing well and thanking him for his service.
I doubt Stokes has options left, they would have to DFA him if they chose to demote him. not the best move.
Cancel or Smith should be first choice. If Stokes has some options then he might be another one. As long as the young guys (Murphy, Evans, Reyes) stay up I’m fine with it.
It’s already Aug 21; by the time we “call up” Al Reyes from his warming up in AA, we will only be missing Ar. Reyes or Evans (I don’t think they’ll touch Murphy) for like 5 days. I don’t think its worth putting Stokes through waivers when the above is a possibility.
w/r/t Church, yeah I agree with optioning (?) Cancel.
Cancel goes down for Castillo and since Castillo will be back Easley can play Evans RH AB’s in LF, so Evans will go down until 9/1 for Church.
If youd rather have 8 days of Evans over Church…well…just explain yourself cause that theory dumfounds me.
And with Al Reyes….if Claudio Vargas didnt get pitcked up as a DFA earlier there is no way Brian Stokes does…and we need Al Reyes ASAP….or maybe even DL Sanchez, maybe 15 days off for him will be good in September.
You can’t just DL Sanchez just to make room for A. Reyes. You can’t DL any player who doesn’t have an injury to make room for someone else.
Don’t expect to see A. Reyes much before 1 Sep – according to Omar yesterday.
but can’t you DL a pitcher for having “dead arm” or whatever? i’m thinking he could use two weeks off at this point.
Sanchez firmly stated he does not have a dead arm, there is nothing wrong with his arm, he feels good all over, no pain – he’s just not making his pitches.
Without a documented injury, you can’t DL a player.
Oh, my prayers have been answered: the Church is finally rebuilt! :)
So will Tatis retire now that he finally has his Church??
Just a thought, what about Sanchez. Could he be sent down? Or DL’d? He needs some time off anyway and can’t get any outs to save his life.
May our Church be Awesome!
I love Church as much as the next guy, and am anxious to see him back, but is anyone but me a little anxious about the numbers he’s been posting down on the farm? I have no doubt he’ll be back in full form in time, but I wonder if that time is now or not. He’s batting, what, about .125 down there or something? I just wonder if he’s ready yet or not…
They should go slow with Church. If he hits like he was before he got hurt, they won’t be using him off the bench for that long. They should go slow with him. See what kind of hitting he is off the bench. And maybe in a week or two, he’ll be ready to play a lot. It all depends on how he does. Even though Murphy, Evans and Tatis are all doing good – let’s not forget that Church was on fire before getting hurt too.
They don’t need to play him every day though. Church could play RF, with Tatis playing LF. Work Murphy in there a couple days a week for Tatis and work Evans in there a couple days for Church.
Who’s going down? It’s either going to be Robinson Cancel or Brian Stokes. My guess is they’ll hold Stokes because I can’t remember the last time they held less than 12 pitcher’s. He’s done good enough to hold his spot. They probably won’t option Heilman or Smith either. The guy who’s got to go down is Cancel. They can call him back up on September 1st.
As for Luis Castillo, if they are allowed to wait until Sept 1 – than do that. It doesn’t make any sense to activate him before that. Argenis has done well. They’re not going to option him. After optioning Cancel, the only other possibility would be to option Stokes. They could do that, but why? How often is Castillo really going to play? Argenis has done well. He’s faster and plays better defense. Damion’s doing well. They have a lot of options.
The one guy who seems to be out of the loop is Marlon Anderson. What room do they have for him? He hasn’t hit well. He’s below average defensively. He’s still an okay pinch hitter. He’ll probably come back in September, but I can’t see him being on a potential playoff roster. He is signed through next year so I’m sure he’ll get a shot again next year to be more effective.
If Church comes back, that’ll really slash Endy’s playing time too. Endy’s the 4th OF. With Church, he’ll be knocked down further on the depth chart. It’s a shame because he actually has played well, but all the other guys are on fire. We’d have six OF’s. Evans could still play for Delgado at 1B when he needs his rest, just as Tatis could move to 3B for Wright and even 2B if necessary. Murphy can too. And sooner or later Carlos might need a day or two off, so Endy will get a couple starts out there.
Giving Sanchez a little time off would be a good idea. No injury in particular has really posed a setback, but he just has a tired arm. It’s obvious. He’s burnt out a little bit mentally too. I think Joe Smith’s in the same boat too. As in Heilman. I’d like to see Al Reyes get a shot though. He had 26 saves for the Rays last year which is good because they sucked. He closed out 87 percent of his opportunities, where as Wagner only did for less than 80. Percival came into the Rays to replace him after having a good year. Give him a shot and you never know.