With a solo blast in the top of the 12th inning of Tuesday night’s game, Scott Hairston gave the New York Mets a 6-5 lead before the wheels fell off in the bottom half of the frame. The home run was his eighth on the season and fifth in his last seven games, as Hairston is 9-for-17 (.529) with ten runs batted in, lifting his season average to .290 over that span:
Hairston has been great for the Mets thus far. Earlier in the season, the eight-year veteran became the tenth player in franchise history to hit for a cycle and his five pinch-hit home runs (two this season) are tied for fourth-most in team history. With Jason Bay returning to the club on Wednesday evening and Ike Davis continuing to struggle, Hairston could force manager Terry Collins hand in moving himself or Lucas Duda to first base to alleviate some of the outfield crowding.
The 32-year-old Hariston has assaulted left handed pitching thus far to the tune of 22 hits, seven home runs, 17 runs batted in, and an amazing 1.170 OPS over 61 at-bats:
As Adam Rubin pointed out in his post to ESPN New York:
So perhaps the date to watch is June 15, when the Mets host the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. If Davis isn’t performing by then, conceivably Duda begins chipping away at his playing time at first base so that Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Bay, Andres Torres and Scott Hairston can get enough at-bats in the outfield.”
Besides. Anyone who swings the bat that hard deserves to get his share of at-bats. Right?
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June 06, 2012
