I recently detailed why I don’t think Daniel Murphy should be playing first base for the Mets major league squad right now.
“But Rich, you can’t just point out a problem without suggesting a solution.”
Well first of all, disembodied voice, yes I can. But first and a half of all, I’ve got your solution right here: Gary Sheffield.
Sheff, (or Garoid, as I like to call him) has been one of the lone bright spots for this team. In only 164 at bats, Sheffield leads the team in homeruns with 9. But unfortunately, the 40 year old is not in a condition where he can play the outfield every day. As we saw on Saturday, we cannot expect his tired legs to pursue every fly ball, even some that land in fair territory.
But his gimpy knees have had little effect on his hitting. He still has the fastest bat in the game, and his .895 OPS is only .014 points below his career average. He has an impressive 30 walks and a .395 OPB that is third on the team. The Mets just cannot afford to be without his bat until the walking wounded return.
Sheffield in his current form is built to be a DH. In fact, in 25 at bats as a DH this season, Sheffield is batting .400 with 3 homeruns; good for a 1.223 OPS.
Obviously, there is no DH in the NL. But the next best thing is first base. At first base, Sheffield will not have to sprint for fly balls so there shouldn’t be as much wear and tear on his knees. This would hopefully prevent the need for him to sit out as many games as he has been.
He has only played 9 games at first in his career, but how much worse can he be than Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans (who already have the best blooper reel of any platoon in the league)? The Mets can make up for whatever defense they lose from putting Sheffield at first by putting Jeremy Reed in left field (who is hitting better than Daniel Murphy anyway).
Gary Sheffield’s bat needs to be in the lineup as much as possible for the Mets to stay afloat. With all of the injuries and the already existing power outage, the Mets simply cannot compete with a lineup consisting of David Wright, Luis Castillo, Ryan Church and a revolving door of backups and minor leaguers.
If getting Sheffield’s bat into the lineup 5 times a week means getting creative, then so be it.
Pete Lappin (3)
