Jason Bay, Benchwarmer

According to Adam Rubin, Jason Bay will not start in tonight's series finale against the Brewers and tomorrow's game against the Pirates. The decision was made by Terry Collins prior to tonight's game in an effort to give Bay time to regroup after his horrendous start. Jason Pridie will be taking over for Bay in left field until Collins sees fit to re-insert the former slugger into the lineup.

Bay is currently going through the longest slump of his career, not collecting a hit in his last 23 at-bats. As a result, his batting average has dropped to a Mario Mendoza-like .207. Since going 3-for-4 against the Washington Nationals on May 19, Bay has batted .161 with no extra-base hits and 15 strikeouts.

Although the temporary benching is for "at least two games", Bay is expected to be back in the lineup for Saturday's game in Pittsburgh against right-hander James McDonald. In four plate appearances against McDonald, Bay is 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

It's clear that Jason Bay has been a shadow of his former self since coming back from the disabled list in late April. It's also clear that he has been hurting the team by not producing out of the cleanup spot. Although a trip to the minors helped established veterans Bobby Jones and Steve Trachsel salvage their careers with the Mets, a demotion was not in the cards for Bay, as Collins did not think that would be beneficial for the leftfielder.

Jason Bay is a nice guy and was a fine player for many years. Whether or not he can continue to be that fine player remains to be seen. For now, he'll be riding the pine for at least two games, hoping that when he does make his return to the starting lineup, he can bring the offensive skills with him that have been missing ever since he became a Met.