29
2012
Is Ike Davis The Mets First Baseman Of The Future?
An article by 
On Saturday night, Ike Davis equaled a franchise record and became the ninth player in team history to hit three home runs in a game. The feat was last accomplished by Carlos Beltran on May 12, 2011 at Colorado.
The Arizona native, has four home runs in his last two games and will attempt to tie the club record for home runs in three straight games set by Frank Thomas who hit six in that span between August 1-3 during the 1962 season. Davis now has 20 home runs, a new career high that topped his 19 home runs rookie season in 2010. His 20 home runs are the most in the majors by a first baseman.
Before the start of the Arizona series, I asked some of our writers the following question:
Is Ike Davis still the first baseman
of the future for the Mets?
Dan – Yes Ike still has the potential to be our first baseman of the future. He is still extremely young and has a ton of power to go along with a great glove. He had a first half sophomore slump, just look at a guy like Hosmer as an example of someone who is struggling in his second season. Hosmer’s numbers were ridiculous last season, but he’s been a shell of that this season. This just goes to show you that Ike is not the only one struggling to adjust to the book that is now out on them.
Joe S – I don’t see why he wouldn’t be although I’m still trying to understand the reasoning with allowing Ike to “work out” his problems at the major league level but sending Duda down who’s slump wasn’t even nearly as bad makes me wonder if the real elephant in the room was Jason Bay’s bloated contract and Alderson’s refusal to admit he needs to be cut.
Gregg – I’m going to get beat up here, but I don’t think Ike Davis is the future first baseman of the New York Mets. It’s great Ike can hit home runs, but its been 49 games since he’s had multiple hits at home! He’s a good defensive first baseman, but the mets need him to produce, and so far this season that hasn’t happened. Dare I say he’s yet another overrated, overvalued prospect that didn’t pan out?
Fonzie – Yes I do because of his stellar defense and ability to hit for power. His defense alone makes him worth having on this team and by looking into future seems Davis will hit over 20 home runs this year and I believe average will definitely increase next.
Robert P – At this point the jury is still out on that one. The first half off 2012 was terrible for Ike and really placed him in a point of no return. Next year will be very important for Ike. He will need to rebound for sure, but the Mets must also find a fifth hitter who can protect him in the lineup. Another .200 season is not an option for Davis, and even though hes probably not that perrenial all star we had holed for, I honestly expect that he’s better than what we’ve seen this year. Ike needs to learn from this, get better and come back ready to fight for the job.
Jessep – Man, I really don’t know. At this point, he has until mid-2013 to prove otherwise. But, I don’t care how many HR or RBI he has. You cannot play 1B, and make an out over 70% of the time. I’m sorry, the days of Dave Kingman being a value are long gone. It’s a different game, and the Mets need Ike Davis to be on a path to stardom. Otherwise, it’s time to look elsewhere.
Remember, the question was posed before his two-day, four-homer barrage. What are your thoughts, whatever happens the rest of this season, are you of the mindset that Ike davis is our first baseman for the rest of this decade?
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About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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I knew this guy was the Mets future 1Bman 2 years ago.
And he’s still going to hit 30 or more HRs as I predicted – even when asked by alex back when Ike was hitting around .150 if i still thought he was going to hit 30 HRs, i said yes and alex said “really?”
And i said yes, really.
Bayonne,
So far you’re on track… The man has been on fire as of late, he has 20 HR’s so far and well on his way to 30+. IT usually take a good time for some players to get back to baseball form, Beltran in 2010 was just terrible, and he got back to his former self in september of that year.
Since june 12 the man has been hitting 272 15 HR’s and 40 RBI along with a 658 Slug %.
I have a question for you jesseP about your comment “i don’t care how many HR or RBI he has. You cannot play 1B, and make an out over 70% of the time. I’m sorry.”
In 2008 we had a 1B hit 38 Hr’s and drove in 115 RBI, yet only hit 271. you’re telling me that just because that player didn’t hit 300 he couldn’t play 1B???
That is a really stupid statement. I think you just hating on ike because bayonne likes him… There’s no other reason why not to like IKE…
Alex – Again, a lesson for you. Before you call somebody stupid or their comment stupid, perhaps actually reading what they say will be beneficial.
In 2008, Carlos Delgado had an on base of .353. That’s about 64% out ratio. The difference between getting out 64% and 72% of the time is enormous in MLB.
I didn’t say Ike’s batting average was the problem. I said the fact he makes an OUT over 70% of the time. There’s more to being a good hitter than HR and RBI and Ike is proving that point perfectly.
20HR, 60 RBI is wonderful. But when he doesn’t hit a HR his batting average is .162.
He could snap out of it, but showing occasional power isn’t his only job here.
The point is still very valid and next time you wanna call something stupid, actually read it first.
You hate the guy for no reason, he’s proven you wrong, you hate that, is a fact…
The mets didn’t send him down as you wanted, he’s a power hitter, he’s working his way to be a good hitter, the guy is a stud and you wanna knock him down why??? As bad as he’s been he has a shot to lead the league in HR. Be happy for once about a MET player, you go goo goo gaga over other player’s from other teams, how about for once, JUST FOR ONCE you show some enthusiasm for a met player? It’s a bit strange if you ask me how you never seem to like a met player me, bayonne or maniac like… Reyes, Ike Davis… Dillon Gee…
Alex – I’m sorry that you called me stupid and I proved you didn’t know what you were talking about. Next time, maybe respond with “sorry I mis-read” Instead you come up with a reason to continue some obsession with me.
Who said I hate the guy? He’s proven me wrong how? By hitting 20 HR? Great. There’s more to being a #4 hitter than hitting HR. He’s coming along nicely, but May and June still happened… which is when I said he should be sent down. And oh by the way, my view was backed up by Rusty Staub remember? It wasn’t like I was the only guy who said send Ike down.
The guy needs to prove a lot more before anybody comes here calling him a “stud.” I’m sorry, I’m rooting for Ike big time, if he flops the Mets are in big, big trouble. But a stud? He’s a career .252 hitter right now. You got all over me for saying Freeman to Ike is a fair comparison remember? Go compare them now, tell me how that works for ya. Unless Freeman is now a stud too?
“It’s a bit strange if you ask me how you never seem to like a met player me, bayonne or maniac like… Reyes, Ike Davis… Dillon Gee…”
It’s also a bit strange that you think 3 people i’ve never met in my life have such an impact on who and what I root for.
I root for Ike plenty. I simply hold him to a higher standard than you do apparently because his HR/RBI are very nice, but he’s still hurting the team more than he’s helping offensively.
As red hot as he’s been in July, he’s made an out 72% of the time.
That’s a problem.
Alex,
Apparently kids who are in development is something these clowns don’t take into consideration anymore. Vinny B wrote a nice piece the other day about how some fans don’t have patience anymore and that they forget these are still kids who are learning at the big league level.
Of course that clown dislikes Ike for ulterior reasons otherwise most SANE people who understand how baseball works KNOW that the kid got hurt last year, had Valley Fever in ST this year and it takes time to get your act together after missing a considerable amount of time (like Reyes & Beltran did). Add to the fact that maybe he was being stubborn and/or the league had caught up to him and he has to learn all over.
Ike is going to be fine. He will hit .270 – .300 in his career as well. He’s young and he is still developing but those those people like the slimeball live by numbers. That’s why their baseball knowledge is very limited because the guy lives by numbers and has absolutely NO EYE for talent and couldn’t judge a player on eyes alone if his life depended on it.
How long does it take a player to not make an out 70% of the time? Just curious.
Nobody here said he shouldn’t be good enough. Nobody’s saying give up on him. You’re just turning our words into that so you can brag about your babe ruth league experience again.
Ike Davis isn’t getting singles, and just missing HR’s, He’s hitting a quality amount of HR and then making outs.
You don’t think that’s odd being 97 games into his season? We are constantly over valuing our young players. There were some here you labeled Ike the 2nd best NL 1B after Prince and Pujols left.
It does take time. Which is what I was saying. He needs to PROVE this year was about more than just a lot of X factors (injury, “illness” etc).
As of now he’s Dave Kingman, and in 2012 baseball, Dave Kingman isn’t a future 1B to build with.
I think comparing him Kingman just because of a bad slump after a season where he spent almost the whole year on the DL, suffered from valley fever in ST, and when he’s only 2nd year starting is very unfair.
I mean like before this year it’s not like he made a lot of outs. In Ike’s rookie season his OBP was .351. Ike was getting on base just fine before all the injuries and valley fever. And now that he’s past all of that, he is getting on more, and is now very productive – Most HR’s at his position in the league, and 2nd most HR’s in the league since june 12th.
Ike Davis is the 1stbaseman of the future – It shouldn’t even be a question.
Well how many actually hit over .300 there Jesse?
I mean a .300 hitter is a guy who makes an out 70% of the time!
Ike is currently only .025 points away from .300 since the slump.
So your really just doing to Ike what you bitched about everyone else dooing to yourt Good Day Bullpen…
With one key Difference…
Ike isn’t STILL sucking and they are!
Metsie – I’m not sure what you’re getting at? Are you trying to argue that an OBP under .300 is no big deal?
I’m not a big OBP guy as much as those you clump me in with as you know I prefer SLG – but… you can’t be the #4 type hitter the Mets need you to be if you’re getting on base 27-30 percent of the time.
You need to do more than some solo HR’s in a rout to be a valuable piece. There are other ways to be effective than a solo HR and RBI.
He plays a position where you need to be a good hitter. 1B isn’t a place you give up offense for a glove.
Of the 16 NL 1B with at least 225 PA, everybody in the Top 10 has an OBP above .330.
.330 OBP compare to .276 is a DRASTIC difference. You can spin it and say it’s only X percentage points. But you’re just saying that to feel better about it.
Ike has the most HR and RBI of any NL 1B right now, but if you’re telling me because of that you’d take him over the majority of NL 1B then we agree to disagree.
To be the hitter we ALL need him to be, he has to do more than hit HR and RBI. Your #4 hitter cannot be worse at getting on base than your 6 7 8 hitters. Can’t do it.
Only 4 players in the entire NL with 225 PA have a worse On Base than Ike. That’s out of 123 players. That is atrocious.
My point isn’t that he is not or can’t be the 1b of the future, my point is he better start having a more complete game at the plate otherwise he’s creating a hole in the lineup that everybody assumed was all set.
A HR hitters OBP is very much a product of who hits in front of and behind you!
If the guy who hits behind you is as much of a HR threat as you are then they are going to take thier chances trying to get you out as opposed to putting another runner on base to face the next HR hitter.
And most of the season that guy behind him has been Duda or Hairston.
and what you refuse to admit is most of Ike’s OBP is the product of his slow start!
Basically all your really doing is lambasting Ike for not walking more!
While he should work on being more selective… if the guy hits 30 HRs before the year is out you will get all those walks you want next year!
He missed a year of playing time…Thats an excuse none of your Bullpen guys had when you tried to say it was just the early struggle/Short Sample excuse you used to defend them!
When he gets his BA back up to his normal .270 – .300 then that OBP won’t be under .300
“and what you refuse to admit is most of Ike’s OBP is the product of his slow start! Basically all your really doing is lambasting Ike for not walking more!”
No… I’m worried about Ike because he’s not HITTING more. And a product of his slow start? His July Avg and OBP are LOWER than his June.
At what point does the excuse of a slow start get wiped away and we realize it’s AUGUST tomorrow?
Ike has 21 hits in July, 9 of them are HR. So in 22 starts he’s gotten 12 hits that didn’t go over the wall.
That’s not that good. I don’t care how you want to spin it, how you want to bring up a bullpen that literally has nothing to do with Ike Davis.
Ike Davis could and should be the 1B of the future… but THIS Ike Davis, cannot be. I don’t care if he hits 30 HR, if he’s either making an out or hitting a HR he is NOT the player the Mets need him to be.
You can’t have a .211, .276 OBP #3-4-5 hitter in the NL.
Stop making excuses for him with this slow start. It’s August tomorrow. Slow starts are April and maybe May.
Since June 1 he’s a .247 hitter. If you’re telling me that is who Ike is, then that is fine. But that means the Mets have another hole to fill because everybody assumed he’d be a .300 30 100+ hitter.
the entire team’s performance is down in July!
Thats what happens when you lose a few games after the All star break and the GM sucks whatever life you have left out of you by declaring the season over!
Ike Davis is not a .200 hitter his first 2 years he hit pretty well. He had a horrible first half yes but since the all star game he hitting .283 and tied in first in homeruns with 8. I wont be surprised if he lead the NL in homeruns by time the end of the season. Next year he going to hit .298 with 40 homeruns, I said it first.
I attribute his awful start to his missing nearly a year of baseball because of last year’s dumb injury. Ike has also worked on making his Rube Goldberg swing more compact. Since they do not seem tohave another one in their pipeline, I would say he is, unless theygo for a big name free agent for 1B if one becomes available.
Young, cheap, very good defensively and has pop in his bat… Hard to imagine otherwise.
idk how you could even question that, its kind of ridicolous to think he isnt. look at his numbers last year before he got hurt, he was on pace for a monster season,
This guy is the present and the future. Who on the horizon organizationally even compares? And, with the way this team throws nickels around like they are manhole covers, I’d say that they’ll be no Free Agent on the horizon this FO and Ownership group would be willing to pay big bucks to. Defensively, he’s good to very good, I’ll take 25-30 HR and .260-.270 batting from the guy.
*(Sorry, not trying to criticize but somebody above wrote that he makes an out OVER 70% of the time. Ahh If you make an out ONLY 70% of the time, and play 15-20 years you are a HOF type hitter. Baseball’s the only sport where if you fail 70% of the time you are a great player–Now if you say he’s going to be failing 78 percent from now on…all bets are off…
If Ike can hit between .250-.270 with his power and defense, he’s a good enough player. Give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s still young and will only get better. Rust from a lost season is all it was in my view.
Actually remember there are things that you can do to not make an out besides get a hit. Thus if he is getting out over 70% of the time that means he is getting on base under 30% of the time. I don’t know too many HOF or even good hitters that get on base at less than a 30% clip.
That being said, at this point of course Ike is the 1B of the future because he is cheap, plays good defense and has potential to be very good offensively as well.
I hear you trs, I understand what your saying, and I wasn’t trying to criticize, not thinking about OBP or anything else, just thinking out loud about when our standards as fans are too high-as well as our expectations. Failing 70% of the time meaning batting avg. wise, that’s how interpreted the statement. It was rather ambiguous…my criticism wasn’t directed at the gentleman who made the statement it was more of a musing about how high our expectations are for a guy who really only has a full year and a half in the bigs.
Being a Met fan, if Ike hit HR like Kingman all while hitting .260 or .270 I’d take those numbers with his defense.
Yeah, just saying that if he is getting out over 70% of the time, that’s real bad even with the HR. However, that being said there is still a market for guys like Carlos Pena. Only thing is that he is still able to keep an OBP over .300.
classic jessup…”I don’t know….” but… Well, jessup you always start off being correct… You don’t know so its time to follow that up with nothing. that way you won’t look so ridiculous.
You can live with the low avg if he is a perennial 30 bombs a year guy.Plus, we have no one in the pipeline to replace him with and he has a cheap contract.The Wilpons don’t move guys like this.Of course if he improves and hits for power and average down the road than the Wilponzis will get rid of him
Yes ike will be around for the future, but with all reports going on the mets brass once again ruins things for our mets, we could have traded for a catcher, three different players, but blew it again cus they said it would cost them too much, really really, we need production from that position, so why u jerks. This is what i mean, the wilpons suck and suck our money and do nothing about it. ,See what i mean. Thanks jerks.
He’s young, and costs nothing. He has a ton of power. He saves runs with his glove. He’s a fan favorite.
So I guess my answer would be NO!
Getting rid of all of those attributes is exactly the kind of stupid mistake that the Coupons will make.
Ike will be the first baseman at least through the end of next year. I’m not too sure after that when he becomes eligible for arbitration, knowing this front office…..
They’ll extend him like they dd Niese?
And the hits just keep coming… LOL. What arbitration eligible player moves do you have to go on Joey? I can think of one and NJ already brought it up. So if we are going on “certain precedent set by the front office” then I guess it’s a lock he will be re-signed just as you guys say it’s a lock he will let Wright walk.
It is wanting to see bad news. Nothing more.
Good question about whether Ike will be the first baseman of the future. And the real answer is that no one will know until three years from now.
My take on it is pretty simple – during the last off season, when many people here were anointing Ike as a future hall of famer – I wrote that the jury was still very much out on Ike because of that hole in his swing. At times, there was so much daylight between his bat and the ball that you could drive a truck through it. My attitude was – let’s see him do it, then anoint.
Power hitters drive Cadillacs – as Ralph Kiner always said – and their fun to watch. But unless they have a high batting average to go with the power – the every at bat becomes do or die. I was speaking to my brother – Tommy 2 Cat – the other day and pointed out that Dave Kingman was that type of hitter. Fun to watch but when you have a rally killing bat in your line up your team will never really contend. And if you look at the teams that Kingman was on you probably see my point.
Take the three home run game. Ike hits two Ruthian shots and another on a hanger and the Mets lose 6 – 3. One could argue that the reason he got the second and third home run is because Arizona had the lead and could afford to give up single home runs and still win the game.
That’s the bigger picture with sluggers. With a .210 batting average he will end a lot of potential rallies.
The fact is in most cases line drive hitters win championships.
Ike’s young, he is an excellent fielder and he has 20 dingers. And he’s cheap right now. I say see if there is a market for him and if we can get back legitimate minor leaguers – like a good catcher – then trade him and move line drive hitting Murphy to first.
That’s my take right now – but if he gets off to a hot start next year – closes that hole in his bat – hits .285 with an on base of .330 then I will deny every writing this.
Yes Ike is, he has shown before injury that he could hit for avg and thought the power has returned it will take many singles/doubles to get the avg up and OBP to a level that is necessary for him, hey if they can give Bay 3 years to deliver then a cheaper, better defensive, power hitting 1B like Ike is here for the long haul, hopefully TC is a players mgr w/Ike as he is with Bay, though he did not get sent down.
Lets Go Ike!
God knows we all want him as the future 1Bman, and he shows several key reasons to remain so, but I do expect him to hit between .260. and .270, get on base more often and start to have more productive ABs. What I see is that too many pitchers still consider him a very easy K, and that is something that ID has to overcome.
His defensive prowess is really good and I am confident will keep getting better.
Davis should be tethered to first in the Mets lineup at least through 2013.
LGM!
This is in reality his 2nd season in the majors. Hopefully he is learning and able to learn to take bad pitches and get on base. HR’s and RBI’s will come and he should hit higher than .270. We should know what kind of player he is by 4th full year.
I started watching baseball even before the New York Mets were born and remember hearing about “the sophomore jinx”. If ever there was one, it has been Ike Davis’ first half of 2012. The truth is that Ike’s injury in 2011 was a major one and kept him idle far too long. The other problem for Ike was that the pitchers in baseball made some adjustments and kept Ike off balance. The only thing that solves these problems is lots of batting practice and lots of actual game at bats for a slumping hitter. With 60 games to go he had 16 homers. After the weekend series in Arizona he has 20. Is there any reason other than injury that he won’t hit 10 more homers and end up with 85 or more RBI?
Fans will have to accept the horrible first half for Ike and that his 2012 BA will be low. I can see him end up with 30 plus homers…..90 RBI…..but a .240-,250 BA.
Ike is a terrific first baseman, and unless the second coming of the “Mex” comes along, then Ike Davis will be playing for the Mets for years to come.
Yes Ike is the 1B of the future or at least he should be!
Both Duda and Ike have sufferred due to the fact we have no credible Power RH bat to seperate the two of them because Wright is batting third and you can’t bat Duda or Ike 2nd to split them up.
I don’t really put much into Righty left splits on an individual basis, but I do believe you need to seperate R/L whenever possible to throw the Pitcher off his game.
Pitchers have to pitch differently to a righy than they do a lefty. Thier available pitches need to be worked on different sides of the plate depending on who they are facing.
And when you put two lefties together in a lineup the Pitcher gets a whole batter to work out his feel for those locations and makes better pitches vs one of the batters.
But split the two lefties (or righties) and the Pitcher is forced to change where he has to throw the ball to get the out and by doing that you increase the chance he loses the feel and throws a mistake!
So while I don’t always bow down to the Righty hits lefties better (or the opposite) for individual performance asa way of life (it has some validity for sure just not as much as some give it) the key is to have a balanced lineup so the Pitcher can’t get comfortable vs righties or lefties because he faces them consecutivly.
I do put more stock in the R/L splits for substitution I should point out.
But as far as a regular lineup it’s really most important for balance and keeping the pitcher having to change his approach because he needs to do different things vs Lefties than he has to do for Righties.