Hairston Has Pulled His Weight Off The Bench

Don’t look now, but Scott Hairston leads the Mets with a .561 slugging percentage and a .901 OPS.

His seven homeruns are just one behind team leader David Wright who has eight.

In a word, Hairston has been sensational off the bench.

I thought for sure that Sandy Alderson would move him before the trade deadline, but I must admit I’m glad he’s still here.

Last Sunday, Hairston became only the second player in franchise history to come off the bench and deliver two homers. First he hit a pinch-hit homer against Sean Burnett in the seventh to bring the Mets within 2-1, and then he tied the game with two outs in the ninth with another solo shot against closer Drew Storen. Not too shabby.

The fact is that Hairston has been everything we could have hoped for as 4th outfielder and has exceeded all expectations. When you consider the bench the Mets have had in previous seasons, you have to tip your cap to the job Alderson did in putting this bench together.

It’s refreshing these days to see someone come out to the on-deck circle from the bench and you actually have hope that we can get a key hit or break the game wide open.

Of course there’s still a chance that Hairston could pas through waivers and still be traded, but if that doesn’t happen and we can bring him back on a similar one-year deal in 2011, I’m all for it.