March 25
Not really a surprise, but Sandy Alderson acknowledged that both Lucas Duda and Ike Davis are both going to be on the Opening Day roster.
He declined to comment on who would be the first baseman, but most likely they will share time at first and also designated hitter.
Josh Satin will still get most of the playing time against lefthanded pitchers.
March 22
Ike Davis and Lucas Duda combined to go 0-for-9 with five strikeouts giving manager Terry Collins an ominous feeling about the direction of the Mets first base competition. But what a difference a day makes as both players delivered solid efforts on Friday and showed some muscle in the Mets’ 9-1 win over the Twins.
Lucas Duda started at first base for the first time since March 3 and went 1-for-3 with a two-run opposite-field home run. Not to be outdone, Ike Davis, who was the designated hitter, went 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and two RBIs.
“I thought they were outstanding,” Collins said. “Ike with three hits, he hit the ball to different parts of the park.
“And that’s the Lucas Duda that got to the big leagues: a guy who can hit with power the other way. I am very happy with the way they swung the bats.”
Collins insists that he has no idea who his first baseman will be and says that it will come down to the wire.
As for what happens to the loser in this competition, general manager Sandy Alderson said that both Davis and Duda could head north when the team breaks camp in seven days.
Several reports surfaced at the beginning of the week that Alderson was reengaging with teams that had previously shown any interest in either first basemen over the Winter, although as one beat writer said, it’s a little bit too late to be peddling these guys now.
I’d bet anything that Davis will get the starting job at first, sending Duda to the bench for limited duty. At least for the first week of the season, the Mets could go with a six-man bench until they need a fifth starter. But I’d love to see what they do after that?
Both players have options, so if they need to one of them could go to the minors.
At least for now, the two of them are back on the field, running and swinging a bat. We can take some solace in that.
