As was reported here last night, Terry Collins opted to start Daniel Murphy for a second consecutive start at second base before last night’s rainout.
It is expected he will be at second base for tonight’s contest according to a few reports.
Collins cautioned that he is not yet ready to call this a platoon, but was simply rewarding Murphy for playing a solid second.base on Monday night.
David Lennon of Newsday writes that paience is in short supply and that using Murphy at second base came with an approving wink from Sandy Alderson.
For all the talk of Emaus’ potential and plate discipline, it didn’t take long for Collins — surely with an approving wink from GM Sandy Alderson — to ditch the Rule 5 pick for a player who might actually generate some offense. Patience is in short supply around the Mets these days — just ask Blaine Boyer — and the 4-6 start already has made everyone jumpy.
Here’s the way I see it… If Collins and Alderson both view second base as an offensive position, than it would make sense to play the better offensive player. Murphy has already proven he could hit at this level so his recent success is no surprise.
On the other hand, Brad Emaus was operating on the strength of a good season at AAA where park factors were in his favor according to Baseball Prospectus.
The real question is – if this trend continues, does the Rule 5 Pick just waste a spot on the bench as a backup second baseman who cannot play any other positions?
Or do they stick with Chin-lung Hu as the regular utility infielder and bring up a bat that can actually help this sometimes lethargic offense?
