Bay gets night off to ponder the situation

Jason Bay went from cleanup hitter Friday night to No. 6 hitter Saturday night to the bench Sunday night. Nothing much has worked to get him out of the funk he's been in since he signed a four-year, $66-million contract with the Mets before the 2010 season, so Terry Collins tried a little break to see if that helps.

"Today, combined with [the day off] tomorrow, just gives him a chance to take a deep breath," Collins said before Sunday night's 6-4 win over Atlanta.

The Mets are off Monday before starting a 10-game road trip Tuesday in Milwaukee, where Collins said Bay will play.

Bay is in a 1-for-18 slump to drop his average to .216 and his OPS to a season-low .601. He has been doing all the little extras to try to get his swing in order -- early batting practice, more sessions with hitting coach Dave Hudgens -- but Sunday was a day to try and steer clear.

"I've been out there early hitting every day this week and doing this and that," Bay said. "I talked to Hudge and it was, 'What do you want to do today?' How about we try and relax until the game comes."

Collins is positive that Bay can contribute, even though he'll stay in the No. 6 spot when he returns Tuesday. He has 10 RBIs this season, only seven in his last 144 plate appearances.

"I watch the batting practices, and I still see the ball jump off the bat head tremendously," Collins said. "I threw him BP one day -- I throw pretty hard BP, and this guy's hands through the strike zone are lightning. When you talk about the physical side, yeah, I see it still being there."

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So does Bay, which is what makes his year-plus slump so puzzling to him. He's played 132 games as a Met and has only 57 RBIs in that stretch, not to mention only eight home runs. "That's the frustrating part," he said. "If I didn't feel like it wasn't in there, I wouldn't be frustrated because I'd feel like I couldn't do it. It's BP, but I'm still that guy. We need to try to find a way to get that translated to the game.''

He added, "I just need to hit the ball. I've been hitting the ball, I feel like. Usually when I'm not seeing the ball and go through a bad stretch, I strike out a lot. I strike out 150 times a year in a good year; that's part of my game. But I feel like I'm putting the bat on the ball. It's just not finding holes."

Will sitting help? "I don't think it can hurt," he said. "I understand the theory in a lot of things, and sometimes you just have to try it out, see what happens. I'm not sure, I don't think anyone's sure, but we'll try it out."