Church sounding off on...

[CALSGR8]

I read that Brian had some kind of infection that he had to go to the hospital for. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503703.html

[Dave B]

If his remarkable improvement in hitting lefities continues Church's credibility goes up. I'm starting to consider joining the mob with pitch forks who are after Lenny Harris.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/04/14/2008-04-14_ryan_church_brian_schneider_fitting_in_f.html

EDIT: BTW I posted on this old thread because it would be a PIA to find the article and repost. Not blame throwing.

It's April, the guy is getting lucky hitting singles.  His OPS is lower than it was when he was with us at this point last year.  If he had a couple more HRs or doubles I'd feel otgerwise.  Remember he was on some kind of record pace for doubles last year?  Its not like we havent seen him get hot for 4 weeks ourselves

[MrMadison]

It's April, the guy is getting lucky hitting singles.  His OPS is lower than it was when he was with us at this point last year.  If he had a couple more HRs or doubles I'd feel otgerwise.  Remember he was on some kind of record pace for doubles last year?  Its not like we havent seen him get hot for 4 weeks ourselves

exactly.  Church is not really *this* good, and we have seen that for ourselves over the last few years.  he'll come back down to Earth soon enough.

[PANatsFan]

Talky talky, too much talky.

When Church talks I hear blabbity blabbity blah blah blah.

[Obed_Marsh]

exactly.  Church is not really *this* good, and we have seen that for ourselves over the last few years.  he'll come back down to Earth soon enough.

I expect him to fall back to his career level numbers myself but if he continues to hit against lefties it will show something has changed. Church claims that he had poor instruction from the hitting coaches in the Nationals organization. If he's right about that and other players could benefit from a change in coaching that message becomes important to the Nationals regardless of the source.

I didn't pay much attention to his whining until we went in this crazy offensive slump. It has me wondering if he's right and Harris just is not a good coach.

[natsfan1a]

I saw that, too. Haven't read any updates lately.

I read that Brian had some kind of infection that he had to go to the hospital for.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042503703.html

[Obed_Marsh]

I hope Brian is ok. The talk of a staph infection is disconcerting.

Here's a minor update.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080427&content_id=2597875&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

As recently as Friday afternoon, the club had said a slight chance existed that Alou and Brian Schneider would return to the lineup on Monday. But Schneider now is to remain hospitalized until Monday because of an infection in his left thumb, an infection of unknown origin the Mets have said. The club has not said what kind of infection it is, but it didn't agree when Willie Randolph identified it as a staph infection.

[natsfan1a]

Thanks. I seem to remember reading about someone having picked up a staph infection in our clubhouse last year but don't recall specifics. Doesn't sound good, whatever Schneider's situation is.

[MrMadison]

Thanks. I seem to remember reading about someone having picked up a staph infection in our clubhouse last year but don't recall specifics. Doesn't sound good, whatever Schneider's situation is.

I remember this as well, but I am not sure it was last season.

[natsfan1a]

Maybe it was the year before. I'm not sure on the timing either.

[tomterp]

Church made a nice catch bumping the wall yesterday, all while being tripped by Beltran with whom he nearly had a nasty collision.  It made ESPN's top 10 plays, 4th or 3rd (can't remember exactly which)

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200804272598966

[Minty Fresh]

Overall Church has picked up his play now that a team finally gave him the shot he deserves.  Plus, hitting in the Mets lineup must feel a bit better than the Nats lineup at this point.  I get the priviledge of watching him frequently and as much as I hate to root for the Mets, I really find myself rooting for Ryan quite a bit.

[The Chief]

Overall Church has picked up his play now that a team finally gave him the shot he deserves.  Plus, hitting in the Mets lineup must feel a bit better than the Nats lineup at this point.  I get the priviledge of watching him frequently and as much as I hate to root for the Mets, I really find myself rooting for Ryan quite a bit.

You're implying that we didn't give him a shot last year?

Undoubtedly batting behind Beltran is helping him, but that is a product of circumstance, not of his natural ability.  He's batting .322 right now and yet still has a lower OBP than Nick Johnson, who is batting between a pair of .200 hitters and barely hitting .200 himself.

If Church doesn't get pitches he likes, he starts swinging at junk.  This has been the book on him since 2006, and nothing has really changed.  Even batting behind Beltran he leads the Mets in strikeouts.

[Minty Fresh]

Numbers don't always tell the story.  Ryan seems to hustle more playing for the Mets, he seems to want to perform for them more than he did for us. 

What I am saying is, whether true or not, I think Ryan felt the Expos/Nats never gave him a fair shake - the Mets have.  As a result, he's picked up his play and it's paying dividends for both Church and the Mets.

[blue911]

To be fair, Church was hosed by the Nats. Nook Logan should have been sat when the Nats aquired Pena.

[natsfan1a]

Another update from the Mets site:

Also delayed Monday was the expected release from the hospital of Mets catcher Brian Schneider. The plan now is for him to be released Tuesday.

Schneider's left thumb is infected, and though the Mets continue to say his condition is improving, his hospitalization was extended for a second time. General manager Omar Minaya said, for the first time, the origin of the infection probably was a blister. He also said the swelling is down significantly since Thursday, the day he was admitted into the hospital for special surgery in Manhattan.

A teammate who had been in contact with Schneider via text messaging said the catcher was to get some sort of new treatment Tuesday.

I hope Brian is ok. The talk of a staph infection is disconcerting.

Here's a minor update.

[tomterp]

He's probably got the MRSA, a resistant strain that is easily picked up in the unsanitary conditions of a clubhouse.