It feels like with every passing game, this question continues to pop up: “What to do about Ike Davis?” And it is one that will really shape the way the 2013 Mets season turns out – if it already hasn’t.
Davis has been touted as the first-basemen of the future for the New York Mets, but has been far from that. Besides a short sample size in 2011 where Ike had a .302/.383/.543 line in a 36-game span before an ankle injury sidelined him for the entire season. Before the injury he had a .791 OPS in his rookie season and last year he rebounded from a miserable start to post 32 HR and 90 RBIs.
So, what does the future hold for Davis?
Many people attributed the slow start last year to exactly that, just a slow start. While this might be partially true, there is another reason I believe he under-performed in the first half of last year. It was announced during spring training that Davis had gotten Valley Fever, a fungal infection that plagued his ability to get ready for the start of the season.
Now, feeling healthier than ever, many thought that 2013 would be the year Davis developed into an impact middle-of-the order bat over an entire season. But as it has been seen, the struggles only continue for Davis. He is current sporting a .157/.245/.268 line with only 4 HRs and 9 RBIs. To put this all in comparison, in 44 fewer at-bats than Davis, former Met great Jason Bay has 10 RBIs.
So, 38 games into the season, we have to answer the same question we had last year. “What do the Mets do about Davis?” And to be really honest, I think the answer is quite simple.
The reason Davis was able to stay and work through his troubles last year was because the Mets were winning even with the struggles. Now, the Mets are struggling (sitting eight games below .500 this early in season, their worst mark since 2003) and so is Davis.
Terry Collins has assured the media and fans that the Mets still believe in Davis and plan to stick with him. He’s been moved around the batting order and has been sitting against lefties recently. Even with these changes, Davis continues to struggle. He has a 31.5 K%, a .110 ISO and a (-0.5) fWAR despite sporting a 2.3 UZR this early in the year.
What needs to be done is a complete shake up in this team. It needs to be expressed that playing poorly is going to get you less playing time and then a demotion. It does not matter if it is David Wright, Matt Harvey or Mike Baxter, if you aren’t playing well things need to change.
Davis needs to re-tool his swing. He is standing too far off the plate, legs are too spread out and he is just starting his swing too early.
By sending him down to the minors, the Mets aren’t giving up on Davis, they are trying to help him. It happened to Lucas Duda last year and Duda has come back and looked like a different hitter, in a good way.
Send Davis down and move Duda to first, his preferred position. Make sure Duda knows that this isn’t a permanent change, but the Mets should be happy to reward a guy who has been playing well by putting him in his normal position, even if it is just temporary.
For the Mets to move forward they need to send Davis down to the minors and see how he responds. If he makes the necessary changes and starts hitting again, then the Mets have found their first baseman of the future. If not, then the Mets may need to look elsewhere, depending on how Duda does. Recall how well Duda hit in 2011, when he posted a 137 OPS+, playing first base a majority of the time in Davis’ absence.
But the one thing they cannot do is sit around and wait for Davis to magically heal himself. Because if that happens, one of the building blocks that have been set up for the future may have to be rebuilt again.
I’m lost by what you mean that Duda is playing better. Better than Ike/ Yes. Good enough to stay on the ball club? Maybe? He’s struggling and his OBP and batting average have been dropping consistently the past few weeks. The team is in a funk and sending Ike down doesn’t send any message since this Met team isn’t very good to begin with.
Why reward Duda…for what?…send them both down. Bring up Satin for first and put Spin in left
So you want to bench the guy with the .828 OPS to play the guy with the .702 OPS? Even despite his recent struggles, Duda has a huge lead over Valdespin. Taking Duda out of the lineup would be crazy. And let’s not pretend that Valdespin is hitting the cover off the ball here lately, either. In his last 45 PA, JV has a .143/.200/.381 line for a .581 OPS.
The biggest problem with the Mets franchise is that the higher ups are totally lost in space.
Right now, just like last year, Ike Davis has NO BUSINESS BEING IN THE ML. It is a total insult to us Mets fans for them to try to sell us a 4th hitter with a 156 avg and 9 rbi’s.
Furthermore, for another lost soul and incompetent manager to actually say that he will keep Davis on the 4th slot of the batting order is beyond stupid. It is the real reason that the Mets fail as a team and as a frachise. It has way too many idiots on board.
Where is the accountability that was promised by the new regime? How can they charge money to watch these clowns? half of them are backups on other teams.
Mets fans can understand that the Mets are on a rebuilding mode. But why the hell do they insult our intelligence with a team like this? Why the double standard? If you play Ike Davis for his so called upside, why not play Valdespin for the same?
Send Davis down and bring up a player that has more than earned to be given a chance, bring up Satin to play 1B and yes, just like the comment above by pal88, play Valdespin at LF and lets find out once and for all if he is a bench player, a starter or trade bait.
Ike Davis should not be sent to the minors. The Mets don’t have a minor league outfielder good enough to take Duda’s position. Ike Davis also has righted a slow start and none of these OF could put up Ike’s numbers of last year.
Ike Davis should be a platoon player. If that is the case, do you want Turner who has a .740 OPS vs LHP and no power for a platoon mate? Is Turner a first base future option? I think no to both of these questions. Is there a RHB who plays first base in the minors that could possibly be average in the majors? Josh Satin or Zach Lutz. Andrew Brown and Collin Cowgill if they move Duda to first against LHP. All have put up nice career AAA numbers. Why not pick one as a platoon mate? It would be more consistant with the rebuilding plan.
Ike Davis also should not be batting 4th. That is just asinine. When he begins to hit then move him in there.
Ike Davis may rebound, and he may again be an average NL first baseman over the course of a full season. I hope so as a Met fan but also as a fan the next time Ike is “high” I would trade. The inconsistency is intolerable.
Why should he not get sent to the minors? You did say that they should move Lucas Duda to first against LHP. Why not be the everyday first baseman? They could play a Andrew Brown or Collin Cowgill out in left field, while Ike Davis gets it together. This is a team that has a problem offensively, so the best possible lineup needs to be out there at all times. At this point, the Mets are better served with Duda playing first and Cowgill/Brown in the outfield over Duda in the outfield and Davis at first.
Yeah … no.
This is not a K/FB pitching staff (other than the obvious two); its a GB team. You need a quality defensive 1B and SS; Citifield requires an above average CF.
It would be a very, very short distance to giving away runs at 1B defensively that wouldn’t begin to make up whatever meager gains Brown/Cowgill > Davis. The Mets are NOT better served by playing Duda at 1B, and neither is Lucas Duda. Bring up the better of Satin/Lutz and accelerate Boyd to AA, or do what you need to do.
The problem is his “uncoachability” and his ever changing batting stances that results.
I’m not batting coach, but my take is that when he drops his hands too low(usually below the numbers on the shirt), he’s an easy out. If he keeps his hands above the numbers, the swing is more compact and thus he is able to make more contact.
Even more preferably is if he would just cut out that dropping of hands in the first place but I know there’s no chance of that.
His swing and attitude both need a major overhaul.
Let him figure it out this team is not contending this yr anyway. Duda is hitting barely over 200, so it’s not like he’s earned playing time either, let alone at first where his defense is nothing compared to Ike. He’s warned the right to figure it out. If it was July and he was struggling, ok send him down. But it’s not even memorial day. He did last year.
I have no doubt, that eventually Ike will figure it out, but when? I can’t stand waiting for it to happen. There will be no one happier when Ike finally gets going–wherever that is.
BTW, welcome to the site Chris. Good work!
Thank you Dan. It is a pleasure to be able to write about the Mets for the site and be able to share my opinions and thoughts with everyone here.
It’s worrisome that Davis is off to another horrendous start, this time without the Valley Fever alibi to fall back on. But at this stage, that’s all it is: worrisome.
What is reasonable to expect from Ike Davis? My guess is that he’s a player who should bat around .250, hit 25 to 30 home runs and drive in 85+ runs per year, while being a fairly respectable defensive first baseman. If he did that with some consistency, I think most Mets fans would feel pretty good about it. Does anyone here think Ike Davis is supposed to be a superstar?
There are a couple of issues, though, that bother me concerning Davis…
Somewhere along the way he acquired (at least in some people’s minds) the status of a proven big league talent, and to my thinking he has not really earned that. He’s shown glimpses of being the guy I described above, but he’s also fallen flat on his face coming out of the gate 2 season’s in a row now. Ike Davis has yet to prove himself as a dependable player, yet I keep reading and hearing people (like his manager) defending him by saying that he has proven himself in the past. I want Ike to be good, but so far he’s only been good in stretches, part of the time.
The other thing that gets me is Terry Collins doggedly slotting Ike Davis into the cleanup position in the lineup. HE’S BATTING .160!!! Is there another team in the Major Leagues that features a .160 hitter in the 4-hole? Forget about dropping him to the minors, how about dropping him in the lineup? Why should any pitcher give David Wright anything decent to swing at when they know the next guy up is most likely going to strike out or hit into a double play?
I’m OK with giving Davis time to right himself. Lord knows when it comes to stinking up the joint Ike has plenty of competition on the team right now. If Buck, Duda and whoever is in center on any given day were contributing at a respectable level, then Davis’ struggles wouldn’t be quite as awful to live with. Let’s just make a little adjustment here – stop treating Ike Davis like he’s a 10-time All Star. Let’s put him somewhere in the lineup where you would normally bat a guy who’s hitting at a sub .200 level. Let’s give him a chance to prove himself, but let’s also explore other possibilities, like platooning, to see if the team can get more out of the first base position than it currently is.
Oh wait, forget it. I see Ike hit a single in today’s game… HE’S BACK!
AJ, well said. This is exactly how Ike Davis should be treated. My only concern is that at some point enough is enough and he needs to be sent down to fix this problem. He has been given plenty of time to attempt to fix his swing. His biggest problem is his attitude and the only time that is going to change is when the message is sent to him that this type of play is unacceptable. Terry needs to hold him responsible, we as the fans need to hold him responsible and ultimately Sandy needs to hold him responsible. Without that, the future at first base is one of mystery.
Davis was hitting around .300 for the past 9 games before TC moved Ike back into the 4-hole, so he has a justification there.
Also, the Mets were 9-8 when Ike was in the 4-hole and 5-11 when he wasn’t.
… it is sort of weird. Davis batting 4th *have* happened to coincide with the Mets winning. OTOH, Davis’ OPS of 458 in the 4 hole, and the fact that he’s happened to have hit 4th a lot when a guy named Harvey is pitching or happened to be on a day when Buck hit a homer, seem to make it discredit his batting spot being correlated to Mets wins.
It is the overall failure of the 4 spot (588 OPS), not Davis’ out-sized failures in that spot, that are relevant. I mean, you can blame TC on leaving Davis at #4 for too long … but its not for lack of a reasonable alternative.
Whatever. It looks like we’re recalling Andrew to play 1st anyways.
What does this all mean to Davis’ contract options?
[…] have already discussed the struggles of Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and John Buck, so it’s time we focus on another staple of the Mets’ lineup in Ruben […]
With reports circulating that Ike now has til the end of June to sort things out, to “turn the ship around,” I cant help but wonder the following: What exactly does turn the ship around mean? He presently stinks in all facets of the game whether that be mental and physical or offense and defense. Surely his present crash path, just on the laws of average alone will likely, will slow down, which should see some improvement of numbers. Would that qualify as the “turn around?” Im afraid that the team is looking for ANY sign of life as an excuse to keep him up. In my eyes, turn around means hes gotta really produce well above league average for several weeks. My patience is zero.