Mets Follow Doctors' Orders with Church

NEW YORK -- RYAN CHURCH spent Tuesday afternoon resting at home, comfortably removed from the storm that continues to swirl around his head.

The Mets officially placed Church on the disabled list Tuesday, marking their most decisive step yet in what's already turned into a three-week issue.

Church, still suffering from what the Mets called post-concussion syndrome, has been in and out of the team's lineup since first injuring his head on May 20. And that's been the problem.

"We do things based upon medical doctor experts in this field, and their advice," general manager Omar Minaya said. "We acted upon the expert advice of those doctors, and I have a lot of confidence in our medical staff."

Despite suffering his second concussion in the span of three months on May 20, Church returned to the lineup as a pinch-hitter only two days later. He flew on a team plane from Atlanta to Colorado, made three more pinch-hitting appearances there -- he asked into the lineup -- and then made four starts for the Mets over the past week.

Yet after he was unexpectedly absent from the lineup over the weekend in San Diego, Church revealed that he had been feeling what he described as "a heartbeat in my head." He made a return visit to the neurologist, and the Mets put him on the 15-day DL, retroactive to June 6.
The move comes 21 days after he first suffered the concussion.

"I think what I've been told about concussions and these type of things," Minaya said, "when you have a concussion, these things come and go sometimes."

Minaya repeatedly compared Church's concussion to one that Carlos Beltran suffered in 2005. But Beltran, unlike Church, had not suffered a previous concussion that year, making their situations unparallel.

What's clear is that the Mets must now proceed without Church for at least the next 11 days, and could be without him even longer. He'll stay sidelined until a neurologist clears him to play, and the Mets will continue to rely solely on medical advice.

"They're experts in their field," Minaya said. "I have full confidence in our doctors. We have as good doctors as anyone in the world."
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com