SAN DIEGO – Two new Padres, Mike Piazza and Mike Cameron, will have their ex-team in town for the next few days. But even though it’s less trumpeted, there should be another reunion this weekend, too.
Xavier Nady is back in San Diego. And the former Padre comes to California having embarked on a terrific start to his Mets career.
Nady, the Mets right fielder, has been one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup so far this season. Entering last night’s action, he had started all 14 games for the Mets and had gotten at least one hit in 11 of them.
Overall, Nady was hitting .373, which ranked sixth in the National League heading into yesterday, while smacking four homers, driving in eight runs and rapping four doubles. He was tied with David Wright for the club lead with eight extra-base hits, and his 1.075 OPS was a team-high.
“I just enjoy having an opportunity to play,” Nady said about playing for the Mets. “Just to have your name thrown in that lineup every day and, obviously, in front of this city and the fans, it’s pretty special.
“I knew coming over here there was an opportunity to play on an everyday basis. I kind of followed their off-season moves to see who they got. I was kind of a little fan myself.”
As the season began, Nady – acquired in the offseason for Cameron, on the DL with an oblique strain – seized his shot, going 4-for-4 with two doubles against the Nationals on Opening Day at Shea. He homered in the season’s second game and had two hits in each of the two games after that. And in the first game the Mets played against the Braves earlier this week, the 27-year-old Nady went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs, hitting his third homer in four games.
“He’s getting a chance to play every day,” hitting coach Rick Down said. “He’s playing relaxed. He’s swinging at good pitches. The only thing that I’ve ever told him to do is get his foot down and get his backside involved.”
Down called that simply “a reminder” and said it increases Nady’s power. Nady debuted with the Padres in 2000 (one game, one at-bat), then didn’t return to the majors until 2003, when he played 110 games in San Diego, hitting .267 with nine homers. He played 34 games for the Padres the next season before hitting .261 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 124 games in San Diego last year.
“Last year I didn’t know. It was tough,” Nady said. “You want to play every day. I felt like when I did get an opportunity to play, I had to get two hits to be in the lineup the next day. That’s tough.”
Before the Mets touched down in San Diego, Nady said he was eager to revisit some of his old stomping grounds.
“I’m just looking forward to going home and spending a couple of nights in my house,” he said Wednesday, “going back and seeing my friends.
“I’m a Met and I enjoy being over here and being a part of this team.”
