Good thing he’s batting fourth for the Mets, then. But in all seriousness, the Amazingly Disabled have one HR in 3 games so far, and while it’s still early, the club is showing initial signs of being just as powerless as 2009’s edition. Re-acquired 1B Mike Jacobs was a spectator during Thursday’s loss to Nate Robertson and the Marlins, but that’s not enough to appease the New York Daily News’ Bill Madden, who suggests the benching indicates manager Jerry Manuel “has begun to rethink batting a player with a .312 career on-base percentage in the cleanup spot.”

For the first two games of the season, Jacobs, a nice enough fellow who on occasion has been known to hit some prodigious homers but otherwise has a hard time making contact and getting on base, was anointed by Mets manager Jerry Manuel to bat cleanup. It was a decision that drew quizzical looks from the small cordon of scouts covering this series, given that Jacobs had been released by the Kansas City Royals after last season and made the Mets’ Opening Day roster only because of the injury to Murphy and Manuel’s need for an experienced first baseman.

Manuel explained he wanted a lefty power bat between his preeminent righty hitters – David Wright and Bay – while implying he could live with Jacobs’ deficiencies in exchange for the pop in his bat. What he’s gotten so far is all of the former and none of the latter as Jacobs went 1-for-9 with no RBI, four strikeouts and four runners left on base in the first two games.

“(Jacobs) has mechanical things he needs to work on,” Manuel said. “He has to make some adjustments.”