Apr
7
2012

Kirk Nieuwenhuis Will Platoon CF With Scott Hairston

An article by Clayton Collier Comments

Newly promoted Mets outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis will platoon with veteran Scott Hairston says Mike Mazzeo of ESPN via twitter. Hairston will start against left handed pitching while Nieuwenhuis will be penciled in against the righties while Andres Torres recovers from his strained calf that he re-injured in the 7th inning of the Mets Opening Day game Thursday.

That creates a short term schedule of Kirk today, Monday and Wednesday, and Hairston filling in Sunday and Tuesday. A pretty even platoon for now, but of course Kirk will get the majority of the time since he’ll face the more-abundant right handed pitching.

This was a smart move by Collins giving Hairston the lefties. He not only has a .815 OPS in his career against southpaws, but also takes some of the pressure off Captain Kirk. Not only mentally, but physically as he is fresh off a season-ending shoulder injury in 2011 and an oblique strain in Spring Training.

Nieuwenhuis will wear number 9 and will bat 8th in today’s matinee against Jair Jurrjens and the Braves.

About the Author: Clayton Collier

Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com

1 Comment + Add Comment

Metsie April 7, 2012 at 11:55 am

If it wasn’t for the fact that Kirk is coming off of the more severe injury I might have disagreed with this move.

But since he is I think it is fine for now but he needs to face lefties at some point.

He is a Prospect and Prospects need to be able to hit against both!

NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	25	18	.581	-
Nationals	23	21	.523	2.5
Phillies	21	23	.477	4.5
Mets	17	24	.415	7.0
Marlins	12	32	.273	13.5

Last updated: 05/19/2013

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