Sometimes Willie Randolph just makes no sense with his pinch hitting decisions.

When Moises Alou went on the disabled list, Raul Casanova was called up. Now this might be an indictment on the Mets’ Triple-A roster and the team’s lack of depth. But it also stood to reason that the big club wanted to use Ramon Castro more, particularly in a pinch hitting role, and Casanova would then serve as the backup catcher on the bench.

While it is true that Castro has recently got a chance to get into the starting lineup more often, he hasn’t started often enough to explain all of Casanova’s opportunities off the bench. Of the 11 games played since Casanova joined the big league club, Castro has started four of them, albeit including a nasty HBP to cap off Friday’s Dodgers game.

It is evident that since Castro did not pinch hit in the games he didn’t start, Casanova was actually not called in as a backup catcher but rather for his pinch hitting prowess. In a week where Ryan Church was still woozy from his collision with Yunel Escobar, the team was also working with a four-man bench. So the last thing the team needed was three catchers.

In six pinch hitting opportunities, Casanova has one walk and one hit, translating to a .200 average. That’s too small a sample size to truly judge, but I am willing to bet his 2008 pinch hitting average would skew lower over the course of a whole season.

The previously injured Castro has actually received no pinch hitting opportunities in 2008. And understandably, as a backup catcher, Castro has received very few chances as a pinch hitter, but that’s because he was needed. This whole argument will most likely become moot when Alou comes off the disabled list this week, but as long as Casanova is on the ball club, Castro should be used as a pinch hitter.