The more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyone looking for proof of this cliché needs to look no further than Ike Davis’ approach when he gets to two strikes. Last August I wrote that the Mets should give Davis the take sign when he gets to 0-2 and only allow him to swing at fastballs when the count was 1-2 because all he was doing in those counts was chasing breaking pitches out of the strike zone.
Here are Davis’ breakdowns this year when the at-bat ends with the pitch from the following count:
0-2: 0-3, 3 Ks
1-2: 0-13, 12 Ks
2-2: 0-9, 5 Ks
Admittedly, these are the worst hitters’ counts there are, but 0-25 with 20 strikeouts is a special kind of inept and it goes a long way towards explaining the frustration that the fan base feels with Davis.
At the end of March, Terry Collins announced that Collin Cowgill was going to be an everyday player for the Mets. This lasted around 10 days before we saw less Cowgill. But Davis is some kind of sacred cow. Last year the Mets refused to send him to the minors, even though he might have been the worst hitter in baseball the first nine weeks or so of the season.
Cowgill gets a seat on the bench after opening the year with a .565 OPS after seven games. In his last nine games, Davis has a .133/.250/.267 line for a .517 OPS. And let’s not pretend it was super before then, either. In his first 14 games Davis had a .617 OPS. For the season he has a .580 OPS after 95 PA.
Collins has dropped Davis lower in the order, so that’s something, I guess. But how long do we have to watch futile at-bat after futile at-bat? In his last nine games, Davis has a 38.9 K% which is Nieuwenhuisian in its awfulness. That’s 10 percentage points above what Matt den Dekker posted last year in Triple-A which left people convinced he couldn’t hit in the majors.
In a way, it’s understandable why Collins writes Davis’ name in the lineup every game. On a team starved for offense, he has the ability to take any pitcher deep, which makes everyone want to believe that the breakthrough or regression or whatever you want to call it – is coming today. But there’s nothing right now that gives me any confidence that this is true.
Last year management told us that Davis was not sent to the minors because the Mets were winning when he was struggling, which allowed them to carry his anemic bat in April and May. But if you look at the standings now, the Mets aren’t winning. What’s the rationale for playing him everyday in the majors now? We don’t want to hurt his feelings?
It is my belief that Davis needs to be sent to the minors. Let him work out his problems there and bring him up when he starts hitting and his K% remains under 20 percent. But don’t send him to Las Vegas, where he might enjoy himself. Send him to Binghamton. Publicly say that it’s so he can get to the Mets quickly when he gets recalled, like they did with Josh Edgin. But privately, tell Davis that sending him to Binghamton is a punishment for how lousy he’s been at the plate.
Getting Davis to work out his problems in the minors allows the Mets to move Lucas Duda to first base. Earlier, Collins said he didn’t want to move Duda to first base when Davis gets a day off because he got too excited previously when he got to play his preferred position. Heaven forbid that we make the guy with the .950 OPS happy. It’s much better that we kowtow to Davis, the guy doing a Jason Bay imitation at the plate.
The Mets need a productive Davis if they are going to play competitive baseball in 2013. In his awful stretch the past nine games, the Mets are 2-7. At the very least, Davis needs an extended seat on the bench. But my belief is that Davis and his “too cool for school” attitude needs a reality check and that a fortnight in Binghamton with detailed instructions about pitch recognition would do wonders.
Amen, Brother Brian.
I was going to make some explanation about a low BAPIP, but then realized that Davis would actually need to hit the baseball in order to have a ball in play recorded. It’s getting ugly in an Oliver Perez kind of way.
Good idea, Brian. Let him get out of Dodge and maybe get his head adjusted…
At this point, games aren’t seemingly helping him. What he needs to do is fix that everchanging swing and stance and go to extended spring training to fix that.
I’m not sure what the infatuation with Ike Davis is. If they had sent him down last year, they could have avoided him earning Super 2 status. But from this point on, I would continue to go year to year with Ike Davis because there’s no telling if he can ever be consistent enough productively and have the right mental attitude to warrant big bucks.
>> But my belief is that Davis and his “too cool for school” attitude needs a reality check and that a fortnight in Binghamton with detailed instructions about pitch recognition would do wonders. >>
Maybe you’re right that ID’s body language is a sign of insouciance and not just a defensive mask. But you’re too astute if a guy, Brian, to fall into that blog-o-babble rant of Met players (manager, FO, etc.) just not “wanting to win” (i.e. if they did, they would do things differently).
If punishment is really the cure, sure, out to Bingoville. If it’s a technical problem (more likely IMO), how about some innovative rehab? Maybe the standard cage-work and HR Derby style BP is not a venue for the technical corrections Ike needs. How about killing a couple birds with one stone and have Francisco, Feliciano (& maybe some farm hands) pitch simulated games to a teams of Ikes? They are all in FLA (& Atlanta) for the week.
Hey Hobie – thanks for reading and commenting!
I believe with all my heart that Ike Davis wants to win. My impression is that Davis wants to do it on his terms – which is, to me, where the problem lies.
As outsiders, none of us have any idea what the organization has told Davis, what they want him to work on and what Davis does with the information they give him. All we have to judge are the results.
I’m frustrated that he had a stance that worked well last year and abandoned it. I’m frustrated that he consistently swings at pitches outside the zone with two strikes. I’m frustrated that he has so much trouble handling pitches on the outside 1/3 of the plate.
My opinion is that some more flexibility on Davis’ part might go a long way in solving these problems. Something needs to change. I’m fine with the suggestion that Name made and that you seconded with having him go to extended ST. The question is if the organization has the stones to do that. Davis is not the only one that has to change.
When a team is going bad everthing looks worse than it really is. Davis has some really ugly numbers but he did the same thing last year and ended up as a NL average 1st baseman in rbi’s and ops and plus in HR’s. Sure Duda should swing over to 1B based on 2013 but then there is no salvation of Ike’s value. Last August Duda lost all value when they sent him to the minors. I think Davis is the better player but I’m not convinced that he will excel in NY. Last night you said Redick is having a real poor year also. Last August in a chat, I brought up Davis for Reddick. Circumstances allow that trade to still be viable and one I would make in a heartbeat. It is time to change the scenery but I don’t think Oakland will do it.
Since we don’t need to trade Davis in the next two weeks, I’m not concerned with what his trade value is today. My main concern is that his presence in the lineup right now is hurting the team. Sit him at the end of the bench, send him to the minors, assign him to extended Spring Training — just do something besides writing his name in the lineup and watch him post sub-replacement numbers.
Duda — 117 OPS+ in 989 PA
Davis – 114 OPS+ in 1,429 PA
Ike has two full seasons under his belt (2010 and 2012) and his numbers were very similar — 115 and 111 OPS+, respectively. Maybe this is who he really is and all along we’ve been reading too much into his hot start in 2011.
I now believe Duda has more offensive upside than Davis. Duda loses something on defense but since we’ve never seen him play a full season at 1B, it’s hard to say how much value he would give back. My guess is that he’s a league average defender at 1B. If Duda is a 137 OPS+ player – what he did in 2011 and 32 points below where he’s at today – then it’s a coin flip.
For sure with the chips down, every mistake looks even worse. But as far as Ike goes, he simply is not performing well, or in sync, with his teammates. He ended up “average” but was ultimately of little team value for his work. Id far rather have someone with decent consistency, well I mean at least decently good consistency (Ike is a bad kind of consistent!).
Ike’s personal struggles tend to mirror the Mets as a whole…all or nothing. Want some offence? Heres 17 runs. Then again, heres 1 on 3 hits. All or nothing. It makes our run differential (which is trimming back) nearly meaningless. That happened a lot last year too. Our offense scores a couple early, and the pitchers respond, then the bats keep coming. We fall behind, then the wheels come off the cart everywhere.
This is a hugely inconsistent team that plays worse more often than great. The windows of “great” are sooooo tempting, almost enough to “believe”, but the taste of reality shows we are some way off.
Did anyone catch if Stanton rolled off 1B funny when he pulled his hammy? Just a full burst of speed blowout?
Looked to me like he was busting it down the line and pulled it a couple of steps before he hit first base.
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I know this is probably just coincidence, but the Mets are 9-7 with Ike as the cleanup hitter and 1-7 without Ike as the cleanup hitter. Some things in this game are just unexplainable.
You do realize Binghamton is AA? If Ike was demoted he would be sent to Vegas.
RTFA because it clearly states:
“But don’t send him to Las Vegas, where he might enjoy himself. Send him to Binghamton. Publicly say that it’s so he can get to the Mets quickly when he gets recalled, like they did with Josh Edgin. But privately, tell Davis that sending him to Binghamton is a punishment for how lousy he’s been at the plate.”
You’re much more kind that I am.
I would send him to Bingo town and privately and publicly say that he’s lucky that he wasn’t sent to extended spring training
I’d give him a week in Bingo, with a ticket punched to Lucie if he’s not batting .300 and a few jacks. And yes, we realize that Bingo is AA and Lucie ain’t even that. We need to find where he floats. Then get him back on track.
TC is just weird.I wondered why they stick Duda in the OF even when Davis gets a day off,had not seen that ridiculous comment.
Thank you.
Well put Brian.
Who takes Ike’s place on the roster if he gets sent down?
Is the bat boy available for road games?
Seriously though, you could promote Josh Satin – he’s been hitting pretty well and playing 1B for LV. Or Andrew Brown, and move Duda to 1B.
And in that case, who gets the boot from the 40 man?
Gonzalez Germen is a 25 year old pitching in middle relief in Triple-A with a 5.29 ERA. I wouldn’t lose any sleep if the Mets removed him from the 40-man.
Send Ike packing and put Duda at first where he belongs. I would not be upset in the least if he was traded.