The Boy Has Skills

David Wright crushed a big two run homer last night. Carlos Delgado continued his power resurgence by adding another homer. And yet neither was the at bat that stood out to the monkeys.

Young Daniel Murphy batting for the first time in the majors against a lefty came back from a 1-2 count to work out a walk. Murphy continues to make pitchers work against him. He hits to all fields. He has made the best first impression of any Mets callup since David Wright.

The Yankees and Red Sox in recent years have had offenses that worked the count and ran up pitch counts of the opposing starting pitchers. The Mets have been less successful in doing that in recent years. Besides David Wright, the only guy in the last two years who consistently worked counts was the since departed Ruben Gotay who obviously didn't have the potential upside of Daniel Murphy.

The Mets have really gotten some energy from the minors this year. Even the older Fernando Tatis subtly helped turn the culture around by being the first player to really bust it to first 4 times a game. While some fans screamed the Mets needed to pick up a veteran outfielder, the Mets have so far been able to keep above water with in-house options.

Now the monkeys do not expect Murphy to keep up this torrid pace. And his defensive reputation means there could be a play down the road that costs the Mets in a key spot. Still, he is a very welcome addition and one who could be a big part of the Mets future.

STOKES

The monkeys were initially baffled by the Brian Stokes choice for today, but now actually buy the explanation. There is no point in adding Niese to the roster for one start and having to protect him on the 40 man roster. And with Vargas injured, Stokes is a reasonable choice. He has had some very good starts and some very bad starts at AAA. Honestly, there is no way to guess which Stokes shows up today.