Who knows if Nick Evans will be the spark the Mets needs. Will he be the unlikely hero to help the Mets overcome an injury decimated roster? Consider the following...

Here was a guy, Evans, who came up last year and performed very well at the major league level. Was he an all star? No. Was he rookie of the year? No again. But he came up, got key hits, played good in the field. If anything, Nick looked as if he could be a young fourth outfielder or even a starting outfielder this season. So what happened?

In spring training, Evans played great. He hit home runs and drove runners in consistently. It looked for sure Nick had made the major league club. But at the end of spring he was demoted to triple A Buffalo where he struggled. Perhaps it was the disappointment of not making the Mets or the surroundings of playing for a dreadful Bisons team. But what ever the reason, Evans struggled mightily at triple A. His struggles were so pronounced he was demoted to AA Binghamton. At the point of his demotion, Evans was batting .093 with 27 strike outs in 75 at bats.

At Binghamton, Evans started off slowly. But then he started to get it together and for the last couple of weeks he tore the cover off the ball. He was hitting so well, he finally got called back up to the big club, bypassing Buffalo, a few days ago. He hit 3 home runs with the B-Mets and drove in 9 in 25 games. His average was a much more respectable .276.

In last night's game against the Cardinals, Evans had no difficulty in proving home runs can be hit at Citi Field, driving one into the left field reserved seats several rows back with one on and two out.

It's too early to predict that Evans will become the diamond in the rough that was hinted at last year. But one thing is for sure. He deserved to make the team at the end of spring but he became a victim of the numbers game. I'm just glad Omar Minaya didn't do anything silly like trading him for another fading player. Evans can be a good hitter at the major league level. And if you have been paying attention, the Mets are a bit short on good hitters right now.