Daniel Murphy gets vote of confidence

Joel Sherman, who is almost always down on anything the Mets do, is giving his vote of confidence to Daniel Murphy.

From Sherman's Hardball blog:

I do believe Daniel Murphy is ready right now to hit in the majors. Eighteen plate appearances is an incredibly small sample size, but he has two qualities that stand out that project positively: 1) He is not afraid to work deep into counts. He is seeing 4.44 pitches per plate appearance, so far, and he seems to have that Kevin Youkilis thing in at-bats in which he treats each one with fervor and diligence. 2) He is not pull conscious and he can hit the ball with authority the opposite way. With Ryan Church appearing more dubious to ever return this season, Murphy does need to be a real hitter -- and I think he is.

I love the way this kid approaches at bats. He hangs that bat low on his shoulder, almost with a swagger. He also watches every single pitch hit the catchers glove if he doesn't take a hack.

Taking pitches is a huge part of the game in my mind. Just wait for the pitcher to make a mistake and groove one for you, a trait Jose Reyes does not have. Murphy seems ready to go, and I think he'll be sticking around for a while if he can keep it up.

Sure, it's only 15 AB's (18 PA with the three walks), but he is hitting .467 with an OBP of .556.

Nasty.

I'm totally stoked, dude: Brian Stokes to start on Saturday

Ex-Tampa Bay Ray Brian Stokes will be called upon on Saturday for a spot start.

Stokes is 10-8 with New Orleans, sporting a 4.41 ERA. In 130 2-3 innings, he's struck out 97 batters, something the Mets expected him to do on a regular basis in spring training.

If Stokes could turn in a solid performance, say six innings, six hits and three runs, I could see him staying with the club and getting slotted into the bullpen in any way, shape, or form that they could fit him. The team needs bullpen help, and if he proves himself worth, they'll use him.

Early Morning Madness: The final edition

Jack Curry of the New York Times presents a very sobering statistic this morning: The ERA of five members of the bullpen since the All Star Break...

Scott Schoeneweis, 5.14.
Duaner Sanchez, 5.40.
Pedro Feliciano, 8.10.
Joe Smith, 9.53.
Aaron Heilman, 11.32.

Wow. 11.32?! And he's still in the majors? I thought it was bad, but I didn't think it was this bad. Something needs to be done.

** * **

Church service ran long yesterday. A day after I discussed the idea of not getting Ryan Church back at all this season, the concussed spent nearly four hours under examination.

The Mets should learn the results of the tests today.

** * **

This is the final edition of Early Morning Madness. My internship runs up today.

I know some folks from work stop by once in a while, so I'd just like to thank them for everything this summer. It's been an amazing experience.

What this means for the blog: Real game recaps will return, with a slight twist. They should debut on Monday. Also, posting time will be shifted back a bit. I'll be posting more in the late morning to late at night.

Photo of the Day: David Wright

The image speaks for itself.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

TSTDIA: Mets 5 -- Padres 3

Redemption.

On a day I was calling for David Wright to ride the pine, he hits his first career walk-off home run to salvage the series against the Padres.

After the bullpen blew a terrific start from Johan Santana, Wright went deep in the bottom of the ninth inning off of ex-Met Heath Bell. He crushed a two-out slider to deep left field, off the retired numbers sign to make a winner out of Aaron Heilman.

I only have one thing to say...

David, I'm so sorry.

Poor Johan Santana

This is the sixth game the Mets bullpen has blown for Johan Santana.

He could be 15-7 right now.

Unbelievable.

Double play!

That was a tense 8th inning if I've ever seen one.

Bases loaded, none out, and the Mets manage to hole the team to only one run and maintain their lead? What alternate universe have I fallen into?

A great inning ending double was turned by Argenis Reyes, Jose Reyes, and Nick Evans. Joe Smith induced a ground ball that A-Rey had to lay out to field, then flipped the ball up to J-Rey at second. J-Rey's throw to first pulled Evans to his right, where he had to literally lay out to field the ball. He did, and the Mets escaped the inning with limited damage.

Johan Santana was very grateful.

But, the Mets still have to get three more outs before this game is sealed up.

Listen here

2:00pm. Enjoy.

Podcast @ 2pm

Tune in for another podcast from yours truly today at 2:00pm.

Joining me this time around is Brian from PhilliesNation.com and David from MetsLifers.com.

I hope I can keep their names straight. (Ed. note: Had the wrong writer from Mets Lifers. It will be David Marine.)

Check here for last weeks podcast.

Ryan Church might be out for the year

Oh, great.

Everyone and their mother seems to be hinging the rest of the Mets season on whether or not when Ryan Church returns if he's healthy and able. Now it seems he may not return at all.

From the NY Daily News:

He has been evaluated several times, but doctors haven't cleared him to play. He will be evaluated again today or tomorrow. "I'm not optimistic about that," manager Jerry Manuel said of getting him back.

Looks like the Mets are going to have to trudge through the rest of this season with Fernando Tatis and Daniel Murphy manning the corner spots.

Still, that seems like the safest bet. Head injuries are a curious thing and no one really knows when it's totally safe to go. I'd rather the Mets shut him down outright if they don't think he's going to play this year. No need keeping him on his toes and anticipating coming back if there's little to no chance. That's not fair to him, or the fans.

Get well soon, Church.

By the way, I'm buying this shirt...