Daniel Murphy

Jose Reyes-SS

2. Daniel Murphy-LF

3. Carlos Beltran-CF

4. David Wright-3B

5. Ryan Church-RF

6. Ramon Martinez-2B

7. Jeremy Reed-1B

8. Omir Santos-C

Notice the three highlighted players: Church, Martinez, and Reed. If you don't already know, Church got himself picked off of first base in the previous night's game, and then proceeded to miss third base after Angel Pagan's clutch shot to the right-center gap. 

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but I think someone like Nick Johnson would be a better option than Jeremy Reed, Fernando Tatis, or Daniel Murphy at first. With Delgado out at least two months, the Mets shouldn't settle for mediocre replacement level options when a quality hitter like Johnson is dangling out on the market. The Washington Nationals have an overload in the outfield, which means they'd like to move Adam Dunn to first base to open up time for guys like Justin Maxwell, Josh Willingham, Austin Kearns, and maybe even a return to Lastings Milledge. 

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pring Training, the Mets still have a few holes to fill.

Left Field: The plan for 2009 is to have Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis platoon the position. Murphy hit .313 in 131 ABs, while Tatis hit .297 in 273 ABs. Tatis was out of baseball for two years before 2008. While Murphy has a lot of promise, and  Tatis might continue to be a competent bat, there are just too many question marks to not even explore other options.

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ith Ryan Church in right field -- who was re-signed this past week -- and a lefty/righty platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis. Where's the pop? We're going to leave all the pressure on the shoulders of Carlos Beltran and David Wright? It wouldn't be logical to expect Carlos Delgado to hit 38 homers and be a contender in the MVP race this upcoming year. Plain and simply, he's old, and the holes in his swing are undeniable. He's still incredibly strong, just not as mechanically sound as he once was, and understandably so.

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deserve to play baseball in October anyway.

    It's been more than a month since Daniel Murphy was promoted from double-A Binghamton to the majors, and he's still hitting like a seasoned veteran.  Through 37 major league games Murphy is hitting .360 with a .448 on-base percentage and a .528 slugging percentage.  But the most impressive facet of his game is his patient approach at the plate.  In 105 plate appearances, Murphy has worked 25 full counts, and has seen six or more pitches 33 times.  We can't get too carried away with Murphy's batting average or his statistics, because it's unlikely that Murphy will hit .360 for his career, or for a season, or even for another week.  But his ability to work the pitcher so well in nearly a third of his plate appearances is phenomenal, and that skill is what could allow him to have a solid career at the major league level.  Whether or not Murphy is in the Mets' plans for next year as an outfielder remains to be seen, but he should fit into their lineup in some way.  He is a natural third baseman, but also played some second base in the minors, because he knew he's blocked at third at the major league level.  The more the boos rain down on Luis Castillo, the more Murphy at second base should be looked at as a possibility in 2009.

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hit, and stole second.  With first base open, Brad Lidge walked Ryan Church intentionally, but Daniel Murphy made him pay, doubling down the right field line to bring home Beltran with the go-ahead run.  The hit parade continued with Brian Schneider's flare to left, which put the icing on the cake.  New York's four-run eighth inning clinched a two-game split in Philadelphia, and catapulted the Mets back into first place by a half game.

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the season with the Mets, designs were for him to play left field every day.  But now rookies Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans are in a lefty-righty platoon.  And while Ryan Church was unable to play right field, Fernando Tatis impressed Jerry Manuel so much that he has been moved into a platoon now that Church has returned; Tatis got the start on Sunday against the lefty Randy Wolf.

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fter the eighth inning on Tuesday night, it was the Mets' second consecutive five-run inning.  Daniel Murphy had the big hit, a two-run single with the bases juiced.  The Mets have now hit safely in three straight bases loaded at-bats, after a 3-42 slump in those situations.  The left field platoon of Murphy and Nick Evans has been working well lately, and Fernando Tatis has remained productive in right.  The outfield will only get deeper going forward, as Manuel said before the game that Ryan Church is on schedule to return to the big leagues this weekend.

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ver after the 2006 season.  The offense scored 12 runs to complement the stellar pitching, and Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis each homered to lead the onslaught.  Jose and Argenis Reyes had two hits apiece, and Carlos Beltran drove in two, as New York scored eight runs in the third inning to put it away early.  Things are looking pretty good for the time being, but the real test will come the next time the Mets have a slim lead late in a game.

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han Pedro's performance, a good thing to take out of this game was the continued impressive play of Daniel Murphy.  Despite not having played the outfield at a professional level prior to this year, Murphy played his third straight solid game in left field, and he has looked excellent at the plate as well.  With three hits Wednesday night he is now hitting .455 (5-11).  But most importantly, he has drawn three walks and worked four counts of six pitches or more in 14 plate appearances.  That kind of patience and mature plate presence has made Murphy a fantastic fit for the number two hole, a spot in the batting order he has manned the last two nights.  He has taken outside pitches to the opposite field, and proved he can go the other way with authority, driving an RBI double to left center on Tuesday night.  In Ryan Church's absence for the time being, Murphy has stepped up and looks like a good complement to Fernando Tatis as a fellow super-back-up who is currently playing in the Mets' starting lineup.

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squad and may get some looks in the closer role over the next two weeks while Wagner is out.  Daniel Murphy, who was a third baseman in the minors but requested some work at second base and the outfield--a smart move, considering David Wright isn't going anywhere anytime soon--is getting the start in left field tonight agains the Padres.  The Mets really love the way he hits, so he could be a fixture at the major league level for the remainder of the season and perhaps into the future.  And rumor has it that the Mets are considering calling up Jon Niese to make a few starts in Maine's stead.

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    Between the two bullpen meltdowns and the former infielders, Nick Evans, Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis, manning the outfield in Houston, the three-game weekend series underlined the Mets’ two biggest needs, neither of which Omar Minaya addressed before last Thursday’s trade deadline:  a corner outfielder and a relief pitcher.  For weeks now I’ve been clamoring for the Mets to acquire a corner outfielder, saying that sooner or later the other shoe is going to drop and we’ll all be witnessing Fernando Tatis in the midst of an 0-25 slump.  I suppose the fact that Omar stood pat and did not splurge on an outfielder could be an indication that Mets’ brass is confident that Ryan Church will be capable of returning to action soon and playing regularly.  But although Church’s return will bolster the Mets’ suddenly stagnant offense, there are no guarantees when dealing with post-concussion syndrome, and the team would certainly be better served with a competent back-up plan.

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