2021 Mets Report Card: J.D. Davis, 3B

Player Data: Age: 28 (4/27/1993), B/T: R/R

Primary Stats: 73 G, 211 PA, .285 BA, .384 OBP, .436 SLG, .820 OPS, 51 H, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 24 BB, 68 SO

Advanced Stats: 130 wRC+, 32.2% K%, 11.4% BB%, .426 BABIP, .339 xwOBA, 1.6 fWAR, 0.8 bWAR

2021 Salary: $2.1 million

Grade: C

2021 Review

For J.D. Davis, the 2021 season can only be summed up as a big “what if” due to injuries. Acquiring Davis was one of the few good trades of the Brodie Van Waganen era, and Davis was expected to get a majority of the playing time at third base even after struggling in the shortened 2020 season.

There was reason to believe Davis could make progress on both sides of the ball in 2021. His 2020 season was a difficult season to judge due to the start-and-stop-and-start-again caused by COVID-19, and there was hope that he could improve at third base playing next to an elite defender in Francisco Lindor. Unfortunately for Davis and the Mets, injuries prevented him from making the jump the Mets had hoped for.

Davis only played 73 games in 2021 due to three separate stints on the injured list. On April 6, in just his first at bat of the second game of the season, he was hit in the left hand by a pitch from Phillies’ right-hander Chase Anderson. He was placed on the injured list with a left hand contusion and returned on April 17.

The Mets went back to Philadelphia on May 1, and Davis was once again removed from the game before being placed on the I.L. with a left hand sprain. He had a slash line of .405/.500/.641 on the season in his limited time between injuries. This injury kept him out until after the All-Star break.

When Davis returned on July 16, it did not take long to see that his injury was still affecting him. He struggled in July before turning it around in August, but even through his success, he was noticeably struggling to handle velocity due to his injury. By the end of the season, he had fallen behind Jonathan Villar on the depth chart due to Villar’s strong play coupled with a disappointing September from Davis. The Mets placed Davis on the I.L. one last time on September 26, ending his season. After dealing with the hand injury all year thinking it would not require surgery, he had the surgery to repair the torn ligament in his hand on October 5.

In the field, Davis only played third base in 2021 after playing both third and left field in 2019 and 2020. Defense has always been the biggest question mark in his game, and 2021 was no different. After posting a -9 DRS in 220 innings at third base in 2019 and a -8 DRS in 269 1/3 innings at third in 2020, Davis posted a -7 DRS in 382 2/3 innings this season.

While playing with great defenders like Lindor and eventually Javier Báez could have helped him improve on his defense, he unfortunately didn’t have a chance to play beside either of them healthy aside from the first seven innings of Opening Day. While he wasn’t great in left field either, he was a better outfielder than third baseman in the past, posting a -8 DRS in 2019 in 585 1/3 innings and just a -1 DRS in 52 innings in left field in 2020. Luis Rojas told the media Davis could see time in the outfield upon returning from injury, so a return to the outfield after a disappointing year at third base may not be out of the question.

Even with the large amount of time missed and a portion of the season where the injury clearly affected him at the plate, Davis had a productive season when he was on the field. His 32.2% strikeout rate and .426 BABIP indicate that Davis may have had some luck on his side to be as productive as he was in his small sample, but it is safe to assume that he will be able to improve on that strikeout rate when his hand is healed.

When looking back at the 2021 season for Davis, it is impossible to overlook the impact his injury had on his performance. In 2019, Davis looked like he could be a legitimate difference maker for the Mets after slashing .307/.369/.527 with an .896 OPS over 410 at bats with 22 home runs and 45 total extra base-hits. Despite having an overall productive year offensively, the missed time and inconsistency due to injuries will be the lasting memory of J.D. Davis in 2021.

“I’ve always said that it kind of bothered me, and here and there it would flare up,” Davis told SNY when speaking about his injury. “I tried to gut it out. The team needed me, and I just tried to play games under the circumstance. Sometimes, I guess, it just doesn’t come through.”

2022 Outlook

With plenty of changes coming this winter, Davis is a candidate to be traded before the 2022 season. He said himself that he believes it is “50/50” that he will return next season due to all the turnover that is expected to come. The Mets have already been linked to Kris Bryant for a long time, and with Lindor and Báez gelling together, Carlos Correa completing the Puerto Rican infield will be a tempting idea after he said he would be open to playing third base.

Davis should be fully recovered from the surgery in time for spring training. With the injury that hurt his bat speed behind him and the designated hitter likely coming to the National League, he should be able earn himself a significant number of at bats and make an impact in 2022. Whether that comes as a Met or with another organization will become more clear after the Mets find their new president of baseball operations.