Once again Terry Collins went with his instincts and sat the beleaguered Ike Davis. This time Collins sat Davis in favor of rookie Zach Lutz in a wild and wacky game against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.
Now it should be mentioned that the Mets were facing a lefty in Drew Pomeranz, but it’s not like Pomeranz (who was making only his seventh career start) has the pedigree of a lights-out lefty like a Clayton Kershaw or Cliff Lee. Collins just simply didn’t have enough faith in Davis on this night.
That’s not to say that Collins has forever lost faith in Davis, far from it. But it does signify that the slump that Davis finds himself is weighing the team down for the time being with winning being the top priority for Collins and the Mets.
This is not to say anyone should go losing their faith in Davis, as he is a crucial centerpiece of the Mets’ future. Davis is, and will be, a cornerstone of the Mets and its guys lIke Davis, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy, and perhaps Kirk Nieuwenhuis(at least offensively) that the Mets will rely on to lead them through their next era.
However, Davis’ slump is disturbing.
Davis is simply not seeing the ball well right now and is far out in front on most occasions. As of Friday, Davis was batting only .132 through 68 at-bats. While he has gone deep three times, Davis has also whiffed an alarming 22 times this year and has only walked five times.
While Davis didn’t start out all that hot, he did hit a groove in the middle of the month, and at one point went 6-22 with three home runs and six runs batted in from April 14-18. But ever since he hit his last home run in Atlanta on April 18, Davis has gone two for his last 23.
Friday’s benching would not be the first time Collins didn’t have trust in Davis, as Davis was pulled for a pinch hitter (Justin Turner) against the Marlins’ lefty Randy Choate in a key situation earlier in the week.
For the time being, the Mets have been winning in spite of Davis struggling mightily. Who knows, maybe they needed Davis’ bat in last night’s whitewashing at the hands of the Rockies.
Collins has said the club has no intentions of demoting Davis to the minors so he can work out the kinks and he will finish the series by playing the last two games, including Sunday’s outing vs. ageless wonder and lefty Jamie Moyer.
Davis is also not showing any effects from either his bout with valley fever or his ankle injury from last year. No, Davis just appears to be lost at the plate. Hopefully, Friday’s day off can rejuvenate Davis’ swing as he continues to look for answers.
As Mets’ fans, I think we just have to grin and bear it as we all know how big a part of the future Davis is and we’ll have to just ride this roller-coaster for as long as it takes us.
Follow me on Twitter @Stacdemon
“it does signify that the slump that Davis finds himself is weighing the team down for the time being with winning being the top priority for Collins and the Mets.” Good point, Dan. Winning should always be the top priority ,with the team always coming first. Baseball is a business and there should be accountability to the final result. I am not for a permanent platoon for Davis, but why not do it until he gets his groove back against RHP? Turner (or Lutz while he is up) could use the extra at bats so the team can get some benefit from this negative. It is important to put your personnel in positions that they can succeed. Playing Davis everyday is counter to that philosophy.
The Mets are so lefty-heavy right now that it makes more sense than normal to give Davis time off versus southpaws while he’s struggling. Hopefully they play Lutz – I want to see some more of him while he’s up. Turner had that great AB in the comeback versus the Marlins, but I feel confident that we know what we have with him – a solid bench guy who can play all over the infield. But is that the ceiling for Lutz or can he be a bit better?
“Not playing him is not helping him,” Collins said.
I don’t agree but that is why TC gets the big bucks.
It looked as though Ike was locked in on the ball tonight as he was more selective and hit the ball square a couple of times. Hopefully he gets going.