Ike Davis may have saved his hold on a major league job and saved the Mets the cost of a plane ticket to Las Vegas, with his two groundball singles last night.
Sandy Alderson was expected to meet with Terry Collins after the game to discuss Davis’ fate, a team source told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York.
“When he came up with the bases loaded, I said, ‘If there’s anybody watching, if there’s a baseball ‘God,’ this kid needs to get a base hit,’” manager Terry Collins said after the game. “And he got it.”
Davis told reporters that an adjustment he made to his swing on Friday night is paying off. He has three hits and a walk in six plate appearances in two games since.
“After the 0-for-4, ‘not-finished’ game — I actually went 1-for-5 that game with four K’s — I hit seriously for probably two hours,” Davis said. “The next day I felt like I tore everything in my side. Right after that game, I said, ‘I can’t do this anymore. Something is going to change.'”
I was afraid this might happen. Ike Davis may have been credited with two hits, but neither were line drives or hit particularly hard.
His first groundball single might have been an out if Dan Uggla hadn’t bounce the throw to first base. The second hit, which scored two runs, just barely eluded the outstretched glove of Freddy Freeman. If the bases were not loaded and fielders were playing at their regular depth it could have easily been a groundout.
Either way, it now seems that Davis will be spared a demotion and we can only hope that this adjustment he made will lead to Davis driving the ball and becoming the power-hitting presence the Mets need in the middle of their lineup. I’m not convinced anything’s changed, but hopefully I’m wrong.
