Browsing through the many Washington Nationals forums and boards, you would think that there are actually people out there that worship Ryan Church. As a matter of fact, he is even known to post in the Nationals message board on mlb.com commonly defending himself against the media. The fact is, the fans love the guy. The media, and from the way the nats treat him, hate him.
Ryan Church has a lot of potential. Lets just look at his Major League stats. Lets ignore his Minor League stats for now. This guy has a good amount of power. In 196 at bats, he knocked in 35 RBI and 10 HR. For a team that could never get on base last year, 35 rbi is an amazing feat in 196 at bats. In 2005 his power wasn’t quite as big, but it was still there as potential. Church also has the makings for a double machine, although those numbers could be inflated due to RFK.
I am not a Ryan Church fan. I will come out and say that. Why do I say that when his numbers look fantastic? Watch him play. He never seems like he cares. Whenever I see a ball go to him in the outfield (whichever position out in the sticks he is playing in) and it looks like it will be close, he will never take the risk of going for the ball. He just seems to look and act like he is more deserving of what he has. That might be the case! I am pretty sure the Frank Robinson did not like Ryan. Of all the flaws of Frank Robinson, one thing he was good at, was his expectation of playing as hard as you could, every day. Ryan Church simply did not do that defensively.
What Church needs is a change of scenery. Frankly, I am especially surprised that the Cubs did not go after him. He would have been a much cheaper Soriano, and I would expect him to put up some great numbers in Wrigley. The good news is that the Nationals have a new manager in Manny Acta. This might just be the 2nd chance that Church needs with the media and the fans. He even opted to report to spring training early ahead of the pitchers and catchers! For the National’s sake, I hope that this is the change of scenery he needs for a change of attitude.
If he goes back to 2005/2006 Church, expect him to be traded by the deadline.
