Good day to everyone! I’m feeling especially great today after watching the depleted Mets win back to back games for the first time in a little while. It’s amazing how two wins, incredibly different in makeup, can change the opinion of a fanbase in a hurry. One win, fueled by the strong pitching of our ace Santana, and another fueled by the Mets offense. Yes folks, the Mets offense does exist. It’s out there. I’m hoping that the wins helped the team morale going into the all-star break, and with (hopefully), the return of some of our stars eventually, there’s no reason for anyone to give in yet, or ever for that matter. So on to the award!
My choice for MetsMerized Player Of The Week is…Daniel Murphy! (And this week’s was a hard one!)
This week was the hardest of all, because I had four guys on offense (Sheffield, Castillo, Wright, and Murphy) who all put up similar numbers in AVG, hits, and RBIs. Throw in a spectacular start from Johan Santana and this makes the choice all the more difficult.
I chose Daniel because I think he really needed just a solid week, especially before the All-star break, to make him feel a little more confident at the plate, and he had one. Alot of people were calling for Murphy’s demotion to AAA, so I felt that he was under a little of pressure and he produced.
He batted .316 (6-19), with his 6 hits being second on the team to Wright/Castillo’s seven. Posting a .474 slugging percentage, Murphy had 3 doubles, which led the team over the span of this week. He led the Mets in total bases with 9.
Whatever XBH power this team can get, we’ll take it. No one had more than one 2B, or two XBH overall. He drove in 2 runs, scored twice, and drew one walk. Notably, Murphy pulled off one of the slickest fielding plays I’ve ever seen, contributing to his error-less week on defense. So Kudos to Daniel Murphy!
Honorable Mentions :
Johan Santana : 1 GS, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 5 K, 0.00 ERA, QS.
Gary Sheffield : .300 (6-20), 4 RBI(led team), 7 TB
David Wright : .304 (7-23), 7 H (tied for team lead), 2 RBI, 5 R
Luis Castillo : .412 (7-17, led team), 7 H (tied for team lead), 2 RBI, 4 R, 5 BB – .545 OBP (both team leading.)
Award Winners :
One Hit Wonders : Luis Castillo, Ryan Church, Daniel Murphy
Of Note 7/5-7/12
The Mets had 2 home runs last week (Schneider, Tatis) and they came in a five minute span. Somehow, that’s not encouraging to me.
Luis Castillo came incredibly close to being the award winner this week, but I chose slick-fielding Murphy. (For the record, words cannot describe how out of the blue and impressive Murphy’s play was.)
Luis Castillo has been pretty good this entire season for the Mets (barring one error), and he no longer deserves the ire of Mets fans.
Johan Santana was brilliant in his start against the Reds, and Pelfrey followed suit with a QS allowing only 3 runs over 7 IP.
The Mets traded Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur this week, in what was possibly a swap of players needing a change of scenery. Just for laughs, Church was batting .091 this week before being traded with the Mets, while Frenchy holds a .444 batting average with the Mets so far. But Ryan, you will be missed.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
I totally agree with you Satish. Murphy actually had two memorable plays on defense, the one where he almost flipped over the railing on the firtbase line was a nice play too. He is definitely under pressure to perform as the mets are faced with a big decision once Delgado and Reyes get back as to who goes down to AAA.
“Murphy actually had two memorable plays on defense, the one where he almost flipped over the railing on the firtbase line was a nice play too.”
Good point! I almost forgot about that. Eat your heart out, Keith Hernandez? LOL.
Right now, i’d rather have him in the lineup than Tatis, even if Tatis hit a pinch hit HR yesterday.
Again I find myself agreeing with you. I think Murphy has become more valuable than Tatis now that we have three RH in Tatis, Francoeur and Sheffield. We need Murph’s lefthanded bat more now that Church is gone.
Exactly. And in that regard, I hope that Sheffield finds a way to be consistent against RH pitching. Until Delgado returns, there’s no solid power bat in there or someone who hits RH pitching exceptionally well and Delgado may not even return with the power he usually has, so Sheff’s role is going to be increased in a little. Of course, if Francoeur hits well against RH pitching, then that solves that dilemma.
“Luis Castillo has been pretty good this entire season for the Mets (barring one error), and he no longer deserves the ire of Mets fans”
I agree with this completely – although I’ve been known to be guilty of being TOO much of a cheerleader for him. I was there Saturday night and again, his first ab the “unfaithful” are still boo’ing him. What is that about? Do you want to show the rest of the world your ignornance? ENOUGH…….the guy plays friggen hard all the time. If you don’t like his long contract FINE, boo Omar, not the guy who day in and day out is proving you boo birds wrong.
PS sorry to go sorta OT – YES Daniel Murphy deserves it and I think he “potentially” could be a good 1st baseman.
Dan Murphy has definitely shown improvement and it is evident his confidence is improving. The problem is what do the Mets do with him when Delgado is back? Will he just PH for the balance of the season? Following this year, is he the 1B of the future? Probably not as you would like to have more power at that position. So he appears to be a fiil-in player for the present, but what with him happens after that?
What will they do with Murphy when Delgado comes back? Thats easy, ask yourself this. Who makes more money?